Leon, Mexico: An engine problem cost Barwa World Rally Team driver Nasser Al-Attiyah more than 10 minutes at Saturday's final service which was enough to force him to retire from third place. Nasser Al-Attiyah had been planning to drive a Ford Fiesta S2000 in the SWRC in Corona Rally Mexico, but with just two weeks to go before the start, having secured backing from the Volkswagen Group, he switched to a Skoda Fabia S2000, run by Rene Georges Rally Sport.
On the first day Nasser Al-Attiyah and Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini did not feel confident with the car and decided from the first stage that they just wanted to clear the first three stages and then see how it was going. On the later stages they felt their pace had improved throughout the day and proved that with a fastest time on the Super Special. "When we started this morning I didn't have any confidence and I had a spin early on so I decided to just clear the stages in one piece and re-focus in the afternoon. We've been able to push a bit harder now and I'm quite happy,â said Nasser.
On the second day Nasser and Giovanni have been learning a lot with their Skoda Fabia S2000 and every stage there has been a bit of improvement with the set-up and the handling. They were only two minutes behind the lead pair and were remaining well cushioned in third on their first event in a Skoda Fabia S2000. But at Saturday's final service an engine problem cost Nasser Al-Attiyah and Giovanni Bernacchini an important third place.
