Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi has left for Lisbon to tackle round six of the World Rally Championship (WRC), the Vodafone Rally de Portugal, over the coming weekend and will be looking to carry the momentum forward following a strong personal sixth-place finish at the last round in Argentina.

While personally the result in Argentina provided Sheikh Khalid with immense satisfaction, the Abu Dhabi Racing boss, who has been responsible for the partnership with Citroen Total at the WRC, was overjoyed with the team’s first 1-2 finish in almost two years.

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Sheikh Khalid says the Argentina results mark a fresh beginning for the team, who have struggled to compete against Volkswagen’s Polo Rs and the Fiestas of M-Sport ever since nine-time world champion Sebastien Loeb bid adieu to the WRC to pursue a racing career in the World Touring Cars Championship.

The event will also see Abu Dhabi Racing junior driver Mohamed Al Mutawaa, 22, and co-driver Stephen McAuley kick off their Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC) campaign in a Citroen DS 3 R3-Max.

Al Mutawaa will become the first Emirati driver to participate in a full JWRC season which features 18 drivers from various European countries.

Rally de Portugal runs from May 21-24.