Al-Attiyah reveals opening morning strain

Event leader Nasser Al-Attiyah has revealed the struggled he faced running first on the road on the opening day of the FxPro Cyprus Rally.

Although significant asphalt sections lessened the impact of running first on the road on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event, the Qatari still encountered significant amounts of loose-surface gravel in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000.

“It really was not easy,” said Al-Attiyah. “It was very slippery but you had to push because in this situation you can lose too much time if you don’t.”

Al-Attiyah, whose lead stands at 19.2 seconds after four special stages, was planning to make the settings of his Autotek Motorsport-run car softer for the afternoon loop of stages.