Akeel, on the wheel of a BBR Motorsport Taurus T3 Max and navigated by skilled Frenchman Stéphane Duplé, drove a near-perfect occasion, taking the lead on stage one following a one-minute penalty for Yasir Seaidan and a roll for Dakar winners Nicolas Cavigliasso and Valentina Pertegarini.
Taking a lead of over 4 minutes into the ultimate stage, Akeel stored it clear to come back dwelling 3m28s away from teammate Pau Navarro.
The elusive maiden victory leaves Akeel and Duplé fourth – three factors behind third place – within the W2RC Challenger standings heading into the third spherical in South Africa.
Does this imply a title push?
“That’s the goal, for positive,” Akeel says. “After I went to Abu Dhabi, I used to be about 60 factors behind the chief and now we’re 30 factors behind. So, it’s not unattainable to battle for the title, but it surely gained’t be simple.
“It’ll most likely go right down to the ultimate spherical in Morocco, however the man in third is the man who wins probably the most levels, so these three factors usually are not going to be simple to achieve.
“My goal is to select up as many classes, as many factors as I can, however there are such a lot of variables, so I’m not going to be as choosy as I used to be in Dakar. I simply have to study and preserve progressing all year long.”
The highest 4 crews usually are not solely driving the identical equipment, however are a part of the identical BBR Motorsport group, no much less, which means there can be little or no to decide on between them.
Fairly the place the playing cards will fall after Might’s inaugural South Africa Safari Rally will probably set the tone for the remainder of what guarantees to be an intriguing W2RC marketing campaign.
