Defending regional champion and 14-time event winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah heads an impressive entry for the forthcoming Jordan Rally, round four of the 2022 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), on May 19th-21st.
Jordan Motorsport confirmed on Friday that 26 crews from 10 nations will contest the three-day event, based at the Crowne Plaza Jordan Dead Sea Resort and Spa, with 12 demanding gravel stages in the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley areas.
The contenders
Al-Attiyah, partnered by Andorra-based co-driver Mathieu Baumel, faces R5 opposition from Oman’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi and fellow Qatari Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya, who are third and fourth in the MERC standings, 55 and 60 points behind the leader respectively.
Subject to final FIA technical checks, 14 teams are provisionally entered in the NR4 group, where points are at stake for both the overall series and the FIA MERC2 Championship. Local driver Issa Abu Jamous leads MERC2 by 26 points and is also second in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship.
The Jordanian and co-driver Emad Juma head a field that includes Lebanon’s talented young Alex Feghali, Kuwait’s defending MERC2 champion Meshari Al-Thefiri, Oman’s Zakariya Al-Aamri and Jordanians Shadi Shaban, Khaled Juma, Ihab Al-Shorafa and Bader Al-Fayez.
Versions of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution dominate the entry, with 15 of the Japanese four-wheel-drive cars. Former MERC3 champion Asem Aref leads the two-wheel-drive category in his Renault Clio RS.
Format
The provisional timetable features three demanding gravel stages, each run twice, in the Jordan Valley on Friday (May 20th) and two loops of three shorter tests (Bahath, Suwayma and Ma’in) on Saturday (May 21st), before the podium finish from 16.30hrs. Of the 598.22km route, 205.54km is timed.