TERUEL (SPAIN): Qatar’s Adel Abdulla ceded his T2 category advantage in Spain’s Baja Aragón Teruel late on Saturday afternoon and could not regain the time over Sunday’s final stage. The Doha-based driver eventually reached the finish in second position in his Nissan Patrol Y62.

Adel said: “Yesterday we started well and we took it easier in the rough places. But, at km 85, I felt something wrong with the rear wheel. I thought it was a flat tyre. We stopped where it was easier to change it and then, suddenly, the wheel came off. We found that all the six bolts had been cut completely. It was really strange. We don’t know what the problem was. Maybe the nuts were not the right size for the bolts.

“Jean-Michel fixed it and we took some bolts from the other wheel. But we lost a lot of time. The ground was not firm and it was difficult to lift the car. We had the same problem 30km from the finish with the right wheel and we stopped before that wheel came off. We took three nuts from the front right wheel and we continued to the finish.

“Today we decided to push to the maximum to try and gain at least one place back. We caught Al-Shegawi in the first 30km and we drove very fast. My co-driver Jean-Michel did a great job.”

Adel’s challenge for T2 honours this season is being supported by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF), Ooredoo Qatar and Nissan Qatar.