Olympic hero
Al-Attiyah
expects tough
WRC return

The Qatar World Rally Team driver won the bronze medal in the skeet shooting event during a break from the WRC. His return on ADAC Rallye Deutschland will mark his first start in a World Rally Car on a Tarmac event and his second on the Trier-based contest. Al-Attiyah admits he will have his work cut out as a result when the action gets underway with the first of 15 stages on Friday morning.

“Gravel is the surface on which I am most at ease,” he said. “This will be my first ever Tarmac rally in a World Rally Car and I still need to do a lot more work to make progress. I have only raced in Germany once before so I’ll be mainly looking to get back into the swing of things and listen to the advice from the team, who have a huge amount of experience at this rally.”

Of his exploits in the Olympics, the former Dakar winner said: “The last few months have been incredible. I prepared very seriously for the Olympic Games and I achieved my dream in winning a bronze medal. I then stayed in London to soak up the fantastic atmosphere. I am very determined to try and win the gold medal in Rio in four years time. But before that, I’m very pleased to return to rallying.”