Omani rally legend Hamed Al-Wahaibi returns to international competition at this weekend’s Nicosia-based Cyprus Rally, round four of the 2021 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC).
Absent from MERC stages since the 2011 Dubai International Rally in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, Al-Wahaibi saw his planned comeback halted by a testing accident in Jordan in May. Now he is looking forward to Cyprus’s famously demanding gravel stages.
The 53-year-old tested on the island on Tuesday and Wednesday with New Zealand navigator Tony Sircombe, his former co-driver on WRC rounds.
I am excited to be back in Cyprus again after all these years. It is such a great place with very good people and culture. The roads are fantastic, but very slow and twisty. It requires a different rhythm. There is a different flow. A different driving technique is needed here.
Hamed Al-Wahaibi
I have been out of rallying for a long time. I cannot wait to get started. My goal is to get to the finish and have a clear run and gain the miles that I have lost through the years. I want to get the confidence back. We are doing the stages two times. It is really difficult to push, especially on stages like these. You need a lot more precise notes and we will have a big disadvantage against the guys who have been doing this rally year-after-year.
Hamed Al-Wahaibi
The team is good, the car feels great. What happened in Jordan was a setback for me. That’s why here it is like starting again at my first event.
Hamed Al-Wahaibi
He drives a Motortune-run Škoda Fabia 1.6 with logistical support from Omani delivery and logistics company Asyad Express and Sandan, a new industrial area near Muscat.
The opposition
Rivals in the strong 32-car field include multiple regional champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (Volkswagen), his cousin Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya (Ford), Oman Rally Team’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi, Turkey’s Raul Denktas (Hyundai i20), and local Petrolina Racing Team pair Alex Tsouloftas and Simos Galatariotis in Volkswagen Polo R5s, plus many local drivers.
The route
The rally starts with a ceremonial start in central Nicosia at 19.00hrs on Friday. The Cyprus Automobile Association (CAA) has prepared 12 gravel stages.
Saturday’s opening leg has two loops of Nikatari (6.19km), Kapouras (20.07km) and Kourdali (21.21km). Sunday features two runs through Lythrodontas (13.01km), Ayios Ephifanios (19.02km) and Ayia Marina (10.96km), with the ceremonial finish at 18.00hrs in Nicosia.