Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel won all six gravel stages on the first leg of the 2022 Jordan Rally to lead by 6min 12.1sec at the end of the day.
Driving an Autotek Volkswagen Polo GTi, the Qatari was never troubled as he closes in on an 18th FIA Middle East Rally Championship title.
We controlled the race from the beginning. We know the stages very well and the performance was good. Jordan Rally is never easy. I tried to beat my times from last year and I did. I am happy. If you go more easy, you start to make mistakes. I had a good speed and a good rhythm.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
Feghali leads MERC2
Lebanon’s Alex Feghali got the better of defending champion Meshari Al-Thefiri in MERC2. With co-driver Joseph Matar, he was third fastest on five stages and second on one to lead the showroom category by 59.4 seconds at the end of the day.
It was good. I started the stages pretty fast and the pace was quick. We just kept the pace. We will go flat out in places we can go and will try and take the podium.
Alex Feghali
Behind third-placed Al-Thefiri and his Qatari co-driver Nasser Al-Kuwari, talented young Jordanian Shaker Jweihan was flying the flag for his country until he retired after an accident on the Jordan River stage.
We had an electric issue in the second stage and this made us slow down. Alex had a big gap on the first loop and he was comfortable. Let’s see, we fix the car now and we see on Saturday. I have nothing to lose and I will push, push.
Meshari Al-Thefiri
Young Omani Abdullah Al-Rawahi chased Al-Attiyah from the start, setting second fastest time on four stages with Jordanian navigator Ata Al-Hmoud, before retiring from second overall after an accident on the second run through Jordan River.
The attrition on the second loop lifted Khaled Juma and Tareq Al-Taher to fourth overall and third in MERC2 in their Mitsubishi. Hamada Odeh and Mohammed Al-Thefiri completed the top six, with MERC2 title rivals Ihab Al-Shorafa and Issa Abu Jamous unofficially seventh and eighth.
Local driver Asef Aref did not start the fourth stage in his Renault Clio RS in MERC3 for two-wheel-drive cars.
Delays on stage three proved costly for Qatar’s Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya and Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini, who dropped to 12th in their Ford Fiesta R5. The former MERC runner-up then did not start the second loop after suffering from fatigue in the energy-sapping heat.
Friday as it happened
Al-Attiyah took the lead on the opening Yakrut test, 9.9 seconds ahead of Al-Rawahi, with Feghali pipping Al-Thefiri for third and the early MERC2 lead. Kuwait’s Yousef Al-Dhafeeri was the only driver to lose significant time, dropping more than five minutes to his MERC2 rivals.
The giant 40.79km Jordan River stage was next, with survival the aim for most crews. Al-Attiyah stretched his lead over Al-Rawahi to 28 seconds with a time of 28min 29.4sec, Feghali extended his MERC2 lead over Al-Thefiri to 29.3 seconds, and the impressive Jweihan moved up to fifth overall.
Al-Attiyah completed the first loop with the fastest time through the Baptism Site special and returned to service 43.8 seconds ahead of Al-Rawahi. Feghali’s MERC2 lead grew to 48.3 seconds. Al-Atya lost six minutes on the stage, while Salamah Al-Ghammaz crashed out of the national event and Bader Al-Fayez did not start SS3.
Al-Attiyah went 3.6 seconds faster on his second pass through Yakrut to lead by 53.4 seconds, then cut 17 seconds from his morning time on Jordan River to reach the Baptism Site with a commanding 5min 36.3sec lead over Feghali after Al-Rawahi’s accident.
The stage also claimed Jweihan, who dropped out of the top five. Shadi Shaban stopped at the scene of Jweihan’s accident and did not set a time on the final stage, though he completed stage six and his time for the day is likely to be decided by the stewards.
Saturday
Saturday starts with the first of two passes through the 12.69km Bahath stage, followed by the 11.08km Suwayma test and the 17.00km Ma’in 1, before a return to service before midday. The three stages are repeated in the afternoon, with the podium finish at 16.30hrs beside the Dead Sea.