DEAD SEA, JORDAN – Abdullah Al-Rawahi became the first Omani ever to win the Jordan Rally after a dramatic fightback by Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah was ended by punctures on the closing stages on Saturday.
Leading into the final six stages in the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley in their Škoda Fabia Evo, Al-Rawahi and Ata Al-Hmoud saw Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel cut the gap to 1min 20sec by midday service. The Oman Rally Team crew then checked out of service three minutes late for a 30-second penalty, reducing the margin to 50 seconds, but Al-Attiyah had to change a punctured tyre on the first stage of the afternoon.
It was Al-Rawahi’s third career MERC win, drawing him level with the late Björn Waldegård, Jean-Pierre Nasrallah and Abdullah Bakhashab in the regional Hall of Fame, and Al-Hmoud became the first Jordanian to win his home rally since Amjad Farrah and Khalid Zakaria in 2004.
It’s been a very tough weekend for us. The stages were really nice and we enjoyed them. We managed to win this rally. The second day was difficult, actually starting first on the road. Nasser was trying to keep the pressure but we held on. Well done to my team. They have worked really hard this weekend. It’s an amazing feeling.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi
When I started rallying my first rally was here in Jordan, so it’s a big thing for me. I have been gaining so much experience against the champion. Every rally we learn a lot, especially from the pressure we were in this weekend. We won the first rally and now this one. We will keep pushing and see what happens.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi
This is my favourite race but, this year, it was not easy. Day one and day two, we were struggling a little bit with the problems. Today we had two flat tyres in the same stage and we tried to manage three stages with punctures and we had only one spare. We made it happen. It was important to finish and we finished second. Well done to Abdullah, he did an amazing race. Still, we are leading the championship and we look ahead to Lebanon. I am disappointed at one point but, on the other, I am happy to finish.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thefiri and Qatar’s Nasser Al-Kuwari won MERC2 for the third straight event and were third overall, 6min 49.2sec ahead of Jordan’s Shaker Jweihan and Oman’s Taha Al-Zadjali.
Very happy to win in MERC2. It was a tough day because I keep pole position and it was difficult to drive. Finally, we finished without any issues and we look forward to the next round.
Meshari Al-Thefiri
After Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez and Emad Juma went off on the second stage of the morning, Shadi Shaban and Samer Issa took fifth, with Lebanon’s Ahmad Khaled and Joseph Kmeid sixth and fourth in MERC2, and young Jordanian Mustafa Al-Atari seventh.
Saturday as it happened
Baumel calculated they needed around 25 seconds per stage. Al-Attiyah beat Al-Rawahi by 33.6 seconds on Bahath (12.58km), took another 19 seconds on Suwayma, and was 21.9 seconds faster on Ma’in (17.00km) to trail by 1min 20sec at service. Zakariya Al-Aamri retired, Jweihan picked up a four-minute tyre barcode penalty, and defending MERC2 champion Issa Abu Jamous broke down.
Today it was a good start. We closed the gap but it is not really enough because we have short stages. We see in the afternoon. We try to push. This is the situation in the Jordan Rally at this moment and we try to win again.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
Starting as the first car is always a tough challenge. I didn’t get a chance before to do that so it’s a huge pressure but we tried to defend our lead and keep a steady pace. Three more stages to go. Nasser was on a different strategy on the first loop, going a bit softer tyres, so I think we will be quite similar now. I think it will be closer this time.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi
After the 30-second penalty cut the gap to 50 seconds, Al-Attiyah’s puncture on the second Bahath run cost him 2min 02.9sec, leaving him 2min 52.9sec behind with two stages left. With one spare, he eased off on Suwayma and crawled through the final Ma’in stage, losing another 3min 34sec but holding second by 1min 33sec. Al-Rawahi won by 7min 04.2sec. The MERC resumes in Lebanon on September 15–17.