Al-Attiyah gets Skoda for IRC debut

Nasser Al-Attiyah will make his Intercontinental Rally Challenge debut on Rally Argentina next month, driving a Skoda Fabia S2000 for the Belgian Rene Georges Rally Sport team.

The highly-regarded Qatari, 39, is a hero in Argentina after he finished runner-up to Carlos Sainz on the Dakar Rally, which started and finished in the capital Buenos Aires last month.

He is also no stranger to the Villa Carlos Paz-based Rally Argentina, having won Group N on the event when it counted towards the World Rally Championship in 2009. He has experience of Super 2000 technology after winning the Qatar International Rally in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta last month.

Al-Attiyah, a six-time Middle East rally champion, will also contest other selected rounds of this year’s IRC and his programme will be confirmed after Rally Argentina.