Less than seven months after his ninth win on the shores of the Dead Sea, Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah returns to the Hashemite Kingdom for the Jordan Rally this weekend.
One of the most popular rounds of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) is back in its regular May slot. Competitors from 11 nations face 19 special stages and 222.77 competitive kilometres in a 640.63km route through the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley areas, the 198th event in MERC history.
Al-Attiyah chases records
Al-Attiyah holds the record of 62 regional championship wins and is chasing Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s record of 12 Jordan wins. He passed the UAE driver’s long-standing record of 60 wins in February and wants to push on towards an unprecedented 100.
Its always important to take a close look at the stages to make sure that there are no significant changes and the winter weather has not altered the nature of the roads.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, partnered by Matthieu Baumel, winner of 11 MERC rallies
The rivals
Arch-rival Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari has had a difficult start to 2016 in a Skoda Fabia R5. He crashed heavily out of his home event, hospitalising navigator Marshall Clarke, and has since regrouped. A Rally Mexico retirement was followed by third in WRC 2 in Argentina, but he has no MERC points after missing Kuwait at the last minute. He is again partnered by Irishman Killian Duffy.
The third R5 and Al-Attiyah’s last realistic challenger is former Kuwait Rally winner Khalid Al-Suwaidi, in a Ford Fiesta, partnered by the top seed’s former co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini, with whom Al-Attiyah won 24 MERC rounds.
A strong MERC 2 field in Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions and Subaru Imprezas makes up most of the entry. Qatar’s Rashed Al-Nuami leads the secondary championship by two points from Abdullah Al-Kuwari, while local hopes rest with Husam Salem, Khaled Juma, Ihab Al-Shorafa and Lina Hadadi.
Jordanians Asem Aref and Musa Djiyerian bring up the rear in a diminutive Renault Clio; Aref was seventh overall in a two-wheel-drive Fiat Stilo last October.
The event starts on Thursday afternoon with a podium Q&A with leading drivers from 15.00hrs, the ceremonial start at 16.15hrs and a 2.37km super special in Abdali, Amman’s new business, commercial and leisure hub.