AMMAN, JORDAN – Jordan Motorsport announced that the Jordan Rally has drawn an impressive 29 entries from eight nations. Crews will contest two days and 15 demanding stages in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea areas in round two of the 2024 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) on May 17–18.
Record 19-time regional champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah heads an entry of seven Rally2 cars, 10 NR4 cars, one Rally5 car and a group of Jordanian crews competing for national honours. The event is held under the patronage of HRH Prince Feisal Al-Hussein, Chairman of Jordan Motorsport.
Chasing a staggering 16th Jordan win, Al-Attiyah faces Oman’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi, last year’s Jordan Rally winner, defending Jordanian national champion and his co-champion in last season’s MERC after a dead heat. Both drive Škoda Fabia RS Rally2s.
Other premier-class contenders are QMMF-backed Škoda drivers Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Khalid Al-Suwaidi, local driver Bader Al-Fayez, Qatari veteran Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya and Denis Krotov, who switches from cross-country rallying to try the MERC for the first time in an SRT-run Fabia Rally2 Evo.
Jordanians dominate the showroom NR4 group, with Issa Abu Jamous leading Ameer Nassif, Shadi Shaban, Shaker Jweihan, Husam Salem, Ihab Al-Shorafa and Fadi Dahshan in a fleet of Mitsubishis. Lebanon’s Ahmad Khaled and Oman’s Zakariya Al-Aamri, in the only NR4 Subaru Impreza, complete the 10-car group, while Shadi Al-Fakih drives a Renault Clio as the sole two-wheel-drive Rally5 entry.
Five Jordanian crews will run behind the main event in Group M2 with their own classification: Salamah Al-Gammaz and Feisal Al-Gammaz in older Mitsubishi Evolutions and Asem Aref, Amjad Al-Shaikh and Bader Al-Helalat in Subaru Imprezas. Six Jordanian and Palestinian crews run at the rear in Group 2: Hashem Kalbouneh (Black Iris), Al-Hassan Khatib (Toyota FJ), Adnan Tiaha (Mitsubishi Pajero), Hassan Al-Keid (BMW Buggy), Juma Ferwan (Nissan Navarra) and Mahmoud Al-Jabbarin (Hyundai Buggy).
Under new Clerk of the Course Loai Marei and deputy Khaled Zakariya, the route features 15 stages and an increased 223.96 competitive kilometres in a compact 532.39km route.