The Mini Family crew of Jakub "Kuba" Przygonski (Poland) and co-driver Tom Colsoul (Belgium) achieved victory on Sunday at the 7th edition of the Qatar Cross Country Rally – Round 4 of the 2018 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup. Taking the win in Qatar after five days and just under 2000 km was Przygonski and Colsoul’s goal following their second place result in the 2017 edition. With their win, Przygonski regains the lead in the 2018 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup.

The five stage race held no real dramas for Przygonski and Colsoul, who drove a superb race and without falling foul of missing vital waypoints, unlike many of their competitors. Indeed, despite the desert heat, sand and rocky trails, the pair had nearly a faultless race to finish just over 40 minutes ahead of the second-placed car. The Mini-crew profited also from the retirement of the local hero Nasser Al Attiyah in his Toyota, who was leading the race until the last stage.

Przygonski: "We can fight for the win in the World Cup, which is something we will definitely try to manage"

"We are so happy to have won this rally," said Jakub Przygonski. "It is one of the toughest races in the World Cup season. It was a great race for us – we were really pushing from the beginning. We did not have any big issues with navigation or the X-raid Mini. I do feel for some of the other competitors who received penalties... but this is motorsport, where anything can happen!"

"Now we are leading the World Cup. After four races it is a good sign for us – it shows we can fight for the win in the World Cup, which is something we will definitely try to manage."

2018 Qatar Cross-Country Rally – Final positions after SS5 CARS

01) Przygonski, Jakub / Colsoul, Tom I X-raid Mini I 14:14:46 I 00:00:00
02) Vasilyev, Vladimir / Zhiltsov, Konstantin I X-raid Mini I 14:54:59 I 00:40:13
03) Seaidan, Yasir / Lichtleuchter, Laurent I Toyota Hilux Overdrive I 16:30:02 I 02:15:16
04) Domzala, Aron / Marton, Maciej I Toyota Hilux Overdrive I 16:48:36 I 02:33:50
05) Prokop, Martin / Pabiska, David I Ford F-150 Evo I 16:50:51 I 02:36:05
06) Shegawi, Ahmed / Kuzmich, Alexej I Nissan Patrol Y61 (T2) I 25:22:18 I 11:07:32
07) Van Loon, Erik / Rosegaar, Wouter I Toyota Hilux Overdrive I 114:05:03 I 100:20:17

2018 Qatar Cross-Country Rally – Final positions after SS5 SSV

01) Fournier, Claude / Delaunay, Sebastien I Polaris RZR 1000 I 22:40:34
02) Pena Campo, Jose Luis / Tornabell, Rafael I Polaris RZR 1000 I 25:26:42
03) Navarro, Santiago / Lopez, Pedro I Yamaha XYZ 1000R I 213:45:18

2018 Qatar Cross-Country Rally – Final positions after SS5 BIKES/QUADS

01) Giemza, Maciej I KTM 450 Rally Replica I 21:50:07
02) Maksimov, Aleksandr I Yamaha YFM 700R I 26:17:16
03) Koolen, Kees I Barren Racer BR 1690 I 26:48:06

FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies – Standings after RD-4 (unofficial)

01) Jakub Przygonski (POL) I 144 pts
02) Martin Prokop (CZE) I 113 pts
03) Vladimir Vasilyev (RUS) I 111 pts
04) Yasir Seaidan (SAU) I 58 pts
05) Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT) I 30pts, etc





Photos: QMMF, Orlen Team

QATAR CROSS COUNTRY RALLY   QMMF

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