DEAD SEA, JORDAN – Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah won 11 of the 12 gravel stages on his way to a comfortable 17th Jordan Rally victory on Saturday.
The win was the Škoda Fabia RS driver’s record 90th MERC rally victory as he closes in on an unprecedented 20th regional title since 2003. His new partnership with Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera remains perfect, with wins at all four rounds of the 2025 FIA Middle East Rally Championship so far – Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and now Jordan.
I am so happy to win again here in Jordan for the 17th time. This means a lot to me. This year we have won every rally so far. It feels like a good year, leading the Middle East Championship and leading the W2RC. For this rally, I will give it 10 out of 10. Today, we controlled the pace and tried to make a gap in case we had a puncture.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
Al-Rawahi second, Al-Kuwari third
Abdullah Al-Rawahi and Jordanian co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud kept the pressure on throughout day one, but a costly puncture on Saturday’s opening Panorama stage and another problem on stage 10 were too much for the 2023 champion, who finished second.
It was a long two days for us. The first day was quite good, especially with the pace and we were very close to Nasser. Unfortunately, today we had some punctures and we lost some time. Overall, we are very happy with our performance. It has been the closest we have been to him in the battle.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi
We don’t really have enough seat time in the car. After this rally I have three months off not really driving my car. My car is also an older generation and there is experience difference between me and Nasser. That is why it is good that he is in the championship. He helps us to push and get closer to him. It is still good. We wanted to win but we are still happy.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi
Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Irish co-driver Lorcan Moore tried different set-ups on their Citroën C3 and, while they could not match the leading pair, did enough to complete the podium.
Abu Hamdan fourth after Al-Rashed’s exit
Rakan Al-Rashed’s main aim was to finish, again partnered by Portugal’s Hugo Magalhães in a Jameel Motorsport Toyota GR Yaris. Cruelly, an accident on the penultimate stage caused heavy damage and put him out. Lebanese driver Bassel Abu Hamdan and co-driver Firas Elias moved up to fourth in their Škoda Fabia.
MERC2 battle blown open
Oman’s Abdullah Al-Zubair and co-driver Taha Al-Zadjali led MERC2 from start to finish, boosting his title push. Compatriot Zakariya Al-Aamri had arrived with a 15-point lead, but Al-Zubair’s win and fifth overall have thrown the fight wide open with two rounds left. Al-Aamri was second in class and eighth overall.
We are happy with this result, It is a very difficult race. It is also very hot. It was our first time here. The first day we were flat out and won every stage. Today, we took it slow. We had a good lead and the strategy paid off.
Abdullah Al-Zubair
Titles for Al-Atya and Al-Mohannadi
Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya continued his consistent run, bringing his Ford Fiesta home sixth with Lebanese co-driver Ziad Chehab – enough for the Qatari veteran to clinch the inaugural FIA Master MERC Championship with two rounds remaining.
Jordanians Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez and Shadi Shaban were seventh and ninth. Tenth place gave Rashid Al-Mohannadi the FIA MERC4 class win over Saad Al-Harqan and Payyaakkal ‘Saneem’ Panikkaveettil, and sealed the title in his Peugeot 208 with two rounds to spare.
Al-Rawahi won the second round of the Jordan National Championship, ahead of Shaker Jweihan and Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez.
How Saturday unfolded
The 17.12km Panorama stage opened the final morning, with Palestine’s Hamada Uda the only non-restarter. Temperatures were already 31°C at the start, peaking at 37°C in the afternoon. Despite the loose surface, Al-Attiyah set an 11min 38.0sec time to smash the stage record by six seconds. Al-Rawahi lost 32.3 seconds with damage to his front-right tyre, letting Al-Attiyah extend his lead to 45.8 seconds. Al-Kuwari was second fastest but well behind the leading pair, Al-Zubair led MERC2 from sixth overall, and Mohammed Al-Shorafa retired with broken steering.
On the first Suwayma run, Al-Attiyah clocked 5min 47.0sec to lead by 52.5 seconds, with just half a second between Al-Kuwari and Al-Rashed. He completed a clean sweep of the morning on Wadi Nar, beating Al-Rawahi by six-tenths to go into midday service 53.1 seconds ahead. Ihab Al-Shurafa lost more than 30 minutes with mechanical problems on stage nine.
The stages are really nice to drive. Just we need to be clever and not make a big push and make mistakes. It is easy to get a puncture here. We finish the three stages in the morning and the second loop should be better.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
The first stage this morning we got a puncture and lost over 30 seconds. When you try to keep up and push this can happen sometimes. We were able to continue but the gap is bigger. It’s not impossible but it was closer before. Now we are trying to maintain our speed. We have three more stages to go.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi
It is going very well. Today is a very nice day, much faster and easier than yesterday. We are taking it quite safe. We have a good lead. That is the way to go today. The podium is the most important.
Abdullah Al-Zubair
On stage 10, the Panorama repeat, Al-Attiyah stopped the clock in 11min 40sec. More bad luck cost Al-Rawahi a minute, dropping him 1min 54.9sec behind, while Al-Rashed beat Al-Kuwari by five seconds for second fastest. On the penultimate stage, Suwayma 2, Al-Attiyah added 7.1 seconds to lead by 2min 02.0sec, while Al-Rashed lost more than two minutes. There was no late drama on Wadi Nar: Al-Attiyah also won the Power Stage and took victory by 2min 54.8sec.
The FIA Middle East Rally Championship continues in Lebanon on September 5–7.
Final results (unofficial)
- Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah / Candido Carrera (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) – 2hr 13min 47.7sec
- Abdullah Al-Rawahi / Ata Al-Hmoud (Škoda Fabia R5 Rally2) – 2hr 16min 42.5sec
- Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari / Lorcan Moore (Citroën C3 Rally2) – 2hr 19min 01.3sec
- Bassel Abu Hamdan / Firas Elias (Škoda Fabia R5 Rally2) – 2hr 33min 25.3sec
- Abdullah Al-Zubair / Taha Al-Zadjali (Subaru Impreza N14) – 2hr 37min 26.0sec
- Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya / Ziad Chehab (Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally2) – 2hr 38min 58.3sec
- Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez / Vili Oslaj (Škoda Fabia Rally2) – 2hr 40min 34.9sec
- Zakariya Al-Aamri / Mohammed Al-Mazroui (Subaru Impreza N14) – 2hr 41min 53.0sec
- Shadi Shaban / Samer Issa (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) – 2hr 42min 10.2sec
- Rashid Al-Muhannadi / Gary McElhinney (Peugeot 208 Rally4) – 2hr 46min 12.6sec
Lebanon’s Shadi El Fakih and Joseph Kmeid finished 12th (2hr 59min 54.3sec), and Joanna Hassoun with Jordan’s Sami Fleifel was 17th (3hr 50min 48.1sec, not registered for MERC).