DEAD SEA, JORDAN – Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera won all six tough special stages to build a commanding lead after the first leg of the Jordan Rally on Friday.
The Autotek Motorsport Škoda Fabia RS driver was in a league of his own on round three of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), reaching the overnight halt with an advantage of 1min 12.8sec.
It was a good feeling all day and we won every stage. We have a good gap now, a good lead. Now we try to keep going like this. We pushed from the morning and we took a good time. We managed the times this afternoon and will try and do the same tomorrow. We sent the data to the engineer just to check everything is okay.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
Tyre gamble costs Al-Rawahi
The day’s stages ran through the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea areas. Oman’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi and Ata Al-Hmoud admitted that choosing medium tyres for the opening loop of three stages in their Oman Rally Team Škoda Fabia RS was a mistake. The Omani was 51.4 seconds behind Al-Attiyah at the midday regroup and could not claw any time back in the afternoon.
We took the wrong tyre choice this morning. We went with the medium compound. We knew it was going to be a risk and we kind of lost the grip after the first stage. We wanted to take the risk. We knew it was going to work or go bad!
Abdullah Al-Rawahi
Bakhashab comfortable in third
Saudi Arabia’s Hamza Bakhashab, contesting his first full MERC season in a Jameel Motorsport-supported Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, settled into a comfortable third place with Irish co-driver Lorcan Moore.
Very fun day and an amazing pace. I beat my record for Baptism. I had a 6.05 in mind and I got a 6.02. Lorcan did a great job. It’s good to have my father (Abdullah) here. We just keep going now for tomorrow.
Hamza Bakhashab
Jweihan controls MERC2
Jordan’s Shaker Jweihan, who dominated MERC2 at the first two rounds during the winter, made a similar start on home gravel with Mustafa Juma in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. He judged his pace perfectly to look after the car, steered clear of rocks dragged onto the racing line by the Rally2 cars ahead, and held fifth place.
Behind him, Saudi Arabia’s Bassel Abu Hamdan (Volkswagen) and local star Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez (Škoda) fought for much of the day. Abu Hamdan and Firas Elias came out on top against the Jordanian and his experienced co-driver Joseph Matar, and the Saudi passed Jweihan on stage six to take fourth.
Uda impresses, Al-Atya struggles
One of the drives of the day came from Palestine’s Hamadeh Uda, who climbed to seventh with Zeid Abu Zeid in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X.
Mohammed Al-Marri got the better of Qatari team-mate Rashid Al-Muhannadi in the battle of the QMMF Peugeot 208 Rally4s. Al-Marri ended the day eighth, ahead of Jordanians Shadi Shaban and Samer Issa, while Al-Muhannadi was 11th.
Championship leader Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya and Lebanese co-driver Ziad Chehab had brake problems from the start and a scare when they almost went into a wadi. They could not match the pace of their title rivals all day and dropped to 10th.
Mohammed Al-Shorafa and Samer Sfeir finished the day 12th in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. Oman’s Zakariya Al-Aamri could not match Jweihan in MERC2 but settled into a safe rhythm to hold 13th with Mohammed Al-Mazroui, ahead of Jordanians Sami Fleifel and Issa Abu Jamous. Farah Zakaria and Dolyne Schlink were the last classified FIA runners in 16th in their Can-Am Maverick X3. Lebanon’s Shadi El-Fakih retired his Renault Clio RS on stage five with technical problems.
Al-Rawahi wins national round
Al-Rawahi’s small consolation was a comfortable win in round two of the Jordan National Rally Championship, more than five minutes clear of runner-up Bassel Abu Hamdan and round one winner Jweihan. Karim Badawi retired his Suzuki on the opening stage and was soon followed by Fadi Dahshan’s Mitsubishi, while Bader Al-Helalat (Mitsubishi) dropped out on stage three.
Saturday
The final day features two runs through Panorama (16.95km), Suwayma (11.12km) and Rawda (26.97km), before the ceremonial finish at the HoverUp Park north of the Dead Sea from 18.30hrs. The second pass through Rawda is the Power Stage, with bonus points for the fastest crews.
Jordan Rally 2026: positions after SS6 (unofficial)
- 1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Candido Carrera (ESP), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 – 59min 39.8sec
- 2. Abdullah Al-Rawahi (OMA) / Ata Al-Hmoud (JOR), Škoda Fabia R5 – 1hr 00min 52.6sec
- 3. Hamza Bakhashab (KSA) / Lorcan Moore (IRL), Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – 1hr 02min 34.8sec
- 4. Bassel Abu Hamdan (KSA) / Firas Elias (LBN), Volkswagen Polo Rally2 – 1hr 05min 53.6sec
- 5. Shaker Jweihan (JOR) / Mustafa Juma (JOR), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X – 1hr 05min 57.4sec
- 6. Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez (JOR) / Joseph Matar (LBN), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 – 1hr 07min 58.5sec
- 7. Hamadeh Uda (PLE) / Zeid Abu Zeid (JOR), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X* – 1hr 09min 51.1sec
- 8. Mohammed Al-Marri (QAT) / Pierre Delorme (FRA), Peugeot 208 Rally4 – 1hr 10min 52.0sec
- 9. Shadi Shaban (JOR) / Samer Issa (JOR), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX* – 1hr 11min 19.0sec
- 10. Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya (QAT) / Ziad Chehab (LBN), Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally2 – 1hr 12min 54.2sec
- 11. Rashid Al-Muhannadi (QAT) / Florian Barral (FRA), Peugeot 208 Rally4 – 1hr 12min 57.3sec
- 12. Mohammed Al-Shorafa (JOR) / Samer Sfeir (LBN), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX – 1hr 13min 44.7sec
- 13. Zakariya Al-Aamri (OMA) / Mohammed Al-Mazroui (OMA), Subaru Impreza N14 – 1hr 14min 10.2sec
- 14. Sami Fleifel (JOR) / Ameer Nassif (JOR), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X – 1hr 15min 30.0sec
- 15. Issa Abu Jamous (JOR) / Daoud Abu Jamous (JOR), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX – 1hr 15min 33.4sec
- 16. Farah Zakaria (JOR) / Dolyne Schlink (LBN), Can-Am Maverick X3 – 1hr 18min 12.3sec
- Retired: Shadi El Fakih (LBN) / Joseph Kmeid (LBN), Renault Clio RS Rally5 – SS5
*Not registered for the MERC.
Jordan National Rally round 2: top five (unofficial)
- 1. Abdullah Al-Rawahi / Ata Al-Hmoud, Škoda Fabia R5 – 1hr 00min 52.6sec
- 2. Bassel Abu Hamdan / Firas Elias, Volkswagen Polo Rally2 – 1hr 05min 53.6sec
- 3. Shaker Jweihan / Mustafa Juma, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X – 1hr 05min 57.4sec
- 4. Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez / Joseph Matar, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 – 1hr 07min 58.5sec
- 5. Hamadeh Uda / Zeid Abu Zeid, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X – 1hr 09min 51.1sec