Al-Attiyah won the Cyprus Rally 2020

18 October 2020

Press Release

Al-Attiyah won the Cyprus Rally 2020

Nasser Al-Attiyah won the Cyprus Rally for the 7th time in his career and the second time in a raw (this is his third victory during the last four years). He was driving a Volkswagen Polo R5, co-driver by the Frenchman Mathieu Baumel. This is his second victory this year in the Middle East Rally Championship out of two events. The third and final round of the MERC is Rally of Lebanon in November. Al-Attiyah is the record man of the Cyprus Rally. Sebastian Loeb has four victories. Al-Attiyah won in Cyprus for the 16th time – he won nine times the Troodos Rally. He is on the way for his 16th title in the Middle East Rally Championship – 10th consecutive.

The current leader of the local championship Panagiotis Yiangou / Panagiotis Kyriakou, finished in the second place with a Hyundai i20. They had a steady race and despite the problems they faced in the last Saturday’s stage, they counterattacked on Sunday and finished second, taking the prize "Loris Ellinas" given to the first Cypriot crew, in honor of the first winner of the Cyprus Rally in 1970.

The podium was completed by Christos Demosthenous / Costas Pavlou with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. They made a lasting counterattack after S.S. 2 when they had fallen 12th. Sunday morning started on the 4th.

Two other Cypriot Lancer followed with Savvas / Papandreou in 4th place and Roussos / Giannakou in 5th. The two 2WD category was won by Chrysostomos Panteli / Thomas Theofanous with Ford Fiesta in front of Televantos / Stavrou with Peugeot 208.

21 crews started the race, 13 of which managed to finish the first day. Utilizing the Rally2 regulation, six of those who left, returned on Sunday (18/10) to finish 16. The race covered a total of 510 km of which 178 km were the ten special stages. The last one, which was the Eneos Super Special Stage, was not made due to the decision taken by the Government on Saturday (17/10), banning from Sunday (18/10) the presence of spectators at all sporting events, all over Cyprus.

Tsouloftas was faster

It has always been not enough to be the fastest to win the Cyprus Rally. But usually Al-Attiyah did it too, reaching the finish line first, being faster and more durable. This year was not one of those years. The driver from Qater was happy to drive with consistency without “hurting” the Volkswagen Polo. He won only three stages, thus in one stage they have shared the victory with Alex Tsouloftas.

The Cypriot driver, who also raced with a Volkswagen Polo won the first three races (in the third he had the same time as Nasser) and another three on Sunday (18/10). However, his fight was lost when in S.S. 4 broke the rear right axle and retired on the next stage. The 2018 winner Simos Galatariotis, was also very fast on Sunday (18/10), winning a special stage and finishing in the top three in three more. On the first day he went off the road on the first route and could not return.

Overall Classification

- Panteli / Theofanous won the 2WD category in front of Televantos / Stavrou.

- Al-Rawahi / Al-Hmoud with Ford Fiesta was second in the standings among the crews of the Middle East Rally Championship and are still second in the standings of the Championship.

- Al-Thefiri / Al-Kuwari with Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X won the ERC2.

- Tsouloftas / Elias won the prize "Kokis Ionidis" which was awarded to the fastest crew of the last special stage.

- Yiangou / Kyriakou awarded the "Loris Ellinas" prize that went to the first Cypriot crew.

RESULTS SPECIAL STAGES

S.S. 1 THOMASSON MACHINERY Ay. Epiphanios 1 – 18,26km

S.S. 2 SIGAN Xyliatos 1 – 19,65km

S.S. 3 ANCO Asinou 1 – 14,99km

S.S. 4 THOMASSON MACHINERY Ay Epiphanios 2 – 18,26km

S.S. 5 SIGAN Xyliatos 2 – 19,65KM

S.S. 6 ANCO Asinou 2 – 14,99KM

S.S. 7 CABLENET Lefkara 1 – 21,56KM

S.S. 8 SMARTWAY Analyontas 1 – 14,38KM

S.S. 9 CABLENET Lefkara 2 – 21,56km

S.S. 10 SMARTWAY Analyontas 2 – 14,38km

The 49th Cyprus Rally was organized by the Cyprus Automobile Association with Gold Sponsor CABLENET and Sponsors ENEOS Lubricants and Psaltis Auto Parts.

The event was supported by the Municipality of Aglantzia, the Cyprus Police, the natural mineral water AGROS, the Shark Energy Drink and the companies Thomason Machinery, Sigan, Anco, Smartway Motors and STS Events.

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