[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

Ik denk niet dat alle X-Raid wagens nog in koers zijn. De snelste, maar ook onstuimige, rijder, Al Attiyah, staat immers bij de opgevers van etappe 8.

Al Attiyah heeft opgegeven omdat hij te veel tijd verloren had om een goed resultaat te behalen. Dat is de spirit toch niet

Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and French co-driver Alain Guehennec decided to withdraw from the 28th Dakar Rally at the rest day in Nouakchott. The defending Middle East champion had shown an impressive pace from the start of the 15-day African classic, but had lost ground on the leaders over the last few days because of clutch and engine problems.

He had arrived at the bivouac in Nouakchott late on Saturday evening and the X-Raid mechanics were convinced that his engine could be repaired in time to take the start of Monday's special stage between Nouakchott and Kiffa. But a shattered Nasser decided that he was too far back to continue.

"We have not been able to have a clear run for a few days since the engine problem in Morocco," said Nasser. "The mechanics are tired and have worked very long hours on the car. Each day we have started and then been forced to stop for assistance since the engine problem. The car is not running properly and it is putting additional strain on the team each day, when they could be concentrating on the other three cars in our team. I think I proved that we have the speed and the ability to win the Dakar and that the car has great potential. But it was not meant to be this year. I am disappointed, but we will see in the future."