AMMAN, JORDAN – The Jordan Rally, one of the most iconic events in the Eastern Hemisphere and a three-time former round of the FIA World Rally Championship, starts at the lowest point on earth on Thursday evening.
An entry of 29 cars from nine nations will take the start from a purpose-built podium in the service park, with the Dead Sea and West Bank as the backdrop. Crews then face 15 demanding loose-surface stages in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea areas in round two of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), held under the patronage of HRH Prince Feisal Al-Hussein, Chairman of Jordan Motorsport.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah is chasing an unprecedented 20th MERC title since 2003 and a 16th Jordan win. Last year he shared the Drivers’ Championship with Abdullah Al-Rawahi, who took his first Dead Sea win. A puncture and then suspension damage sidelined the Qatari at his home round in February, so he starts without a point – but he and Giovanni Bernacchini have a new Autotek Motorsport-run Škoda Fabia RS.
Round one winner Pierre-Louis Loubet never planned a full programme, and Qatar runner-up Mads Østberg, who had planned to enter an SRT Škoda, was stopped by logistical issues. SRT will instead run a Fabia Rally2 Evo for Denis Krotov and Yury Kulikov. Krotov, better known for cross-country rallies with Overdrive Racing and the X-Raid Mini JCW Team, was eighth in last year’s FIA W2RC.
QMMF-supported Škodas are entered for Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, fourth in the standings, with British co-driver Marshall Clarke, and two-time Kuwait International Rally winner Khalid Al-Suwaidi with Ross Whittock, fresh from overall victory at the Manx National Rally with James Williams. Bader Al-Fayez teams up with Lebanon’s Joseph Matar in a Škoda for the host nation, and Qatari veteran Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya and Ziad Chehab run their Motortune Ford Fiesta.
Local drivers lead MERC2: Shaker Jweihan holds a six-point lead over Shadi Shaban, with Husam Salim third. Ten drivers contest the class, including Ameer Nassif, Ihab Al-Shorafa, Fadi Dahshan, Palestine’s Hamada Odeh, Lebanon’s Ahmad Khaled and Oman’s Zakariya Al-Aamri.
The route
Clerk of the Course Loai Marei, deputy Khaled Zakariya and their team have devised 195.20 competitive kilometres in a compact 575.48km route. Friday morning opens with the Panorama and Bahath stages near Mount Nebo and the Baptism Site special, repeated after lunchtime service and followed by a 3.3km Dead Sea super special ending at 16:35.
Saturday’s 109.42 competitive kilometres comprise two passes each through Shuna – the event’s longest stage at 20.93km – Rawda, Turki and Suwayma, before the podium finish at 18:00 and press conference at 18:30.