Al-Attiyah can’t wait to get back to gravel

Qatar World Rally Team driver Nasser Al-Attiyah, who finished 21st on Rally Sweden, is convinced he can fight for the top positions once the World Rally Championship gets back to the more familiar surroundings of gravel.

Sweden was Al-Attiyah’s first outing in a World Rally Car and his very first experience of a Citroen, after he returned from an event that could not have been more different: the Dakar.

He pledged to take a cautious approach to Sweden’s snowy stages - and his careful run to the finish paid dividends, as having scored his first manufacturer points for the Qatar World Rally Team, the 41-year-old now feels well prepared for the forthcoming gravel rounds of the championship.

“I just wanted to try out different set-ups in Sweden to get a feel for how they affected the car,” said Al-Attiyah, who will once again represent Qatar at skeet shooting in the London Olympics this summer. “I learned a lot in Sweden and I really wasn’t pushing too hard. Now I can’t wait to get onto gravel. The car feels fantastic and I’m sure that on a surface that is more familiar to us, we’ll be able to push harder and get some good results. We still have to learn the car, but I hope it is not too long before we are fighting at the front.”

Al-Attiyah, co-driven by Italy’s Giovanni Bernacchini, will take part in all the remaining rounds of this year’s championship.