DEAD SEA, JORDAN – Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Candido Carrera were locked in a gripping fight with Oman’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi and Jordanian co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud over Friday’s first six stages of the Jordan Rally.
Al-Rawahi led by 0.8 seconds after the morning loop in the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley areas, but Al-Attiyah used a cleaner road in the afternoon and set-up changes to his Autotek-run Škoda Fabia RS to take a 13.5-second overnight lead.
It was very interesting. It was hard today to push all the time because of tyre damage on the long one. We knew if we pushed, we would destroy the tyres for the last two stages. The rhythm was good but we had a little high temperature. There could be a problem with the radiator cooling but we change it now. I am quite happy to have a lead. Abdullah is doing an amazing job. We need to be smart to win this race.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
Al-Rawahi, who suffered a slow puncture at the end of stage four, was delighted.
I think this rally overall is very tough and it is not easy to challenge Nasser over these stages. He has won it (Jordan) 16 times. Being just behind him and able to take some time, I am above happy. Tomorrow, is another day. We must also remember that I have an older car. I think we should be happy with the result today. I think we are on the limit. I don’t think we can push any harder and we don’t want mistakes.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi
The pair were in a class of their own, and Al-Rawahi also won the opening round of the Jordan National Championship. Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Lorcan Moore were a distant third in their Citroën C3.
It was a tough day. We tried our best but it was not our day. There is a big gap behind me. We will try to change some things on the car to make it more driveable. We were not as fast as Nasser and Abdullah. Let’s see, we have one more day here.
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari
HRH Prince Feisal Al-Hussein, Chairman of Jordan Motorsport, visited teams and officials at the Dead Sea service park after three stages with his daughter Princess Sarah bint Feisal and his young sons, HRH Prince Abdullah Ibn Feisal and HRH Prince Mohammed Ibn Feisal.
The chasing pack
Rakan Al-Rashed and Hugo Magalhães overcame a couple of delays to hold a solid fourth in their Jameel Motorsport Toyota GR Yaris. Lebanon’s Bassel Abu Hamdan is fifth in his Škoda Fabia, and Oman’s Abdullah Al-Zubair leads MERC2 in sixth overall in his Subaru Impreza.
Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya is seventh in his Ford Fiesta as he chases Master MERC points. Shadi Shaban is eighth and finished second to Al-Rawahi in national round one. Zakariya Al-Aamri keeps the pressure on Al-Zubair in ninth, Ihab Al-Shorafa completes the top 10, and 11th-placed Rashid Al-Mohannadi remains on course to wrap up MERC4 with two rounds to spare.
How Friday unfolded
Tal Hilali, the longest stage of the rally, combined part of the old Bahath stage with new sections. Despite sweeping the road, Al-Attiyah attacked and stopped the clock in 24min 59.0sec – just six-tenths quicker than Al-Rawahi. Al-Kuwari was third, 36.3 seconds back, with a cautious Al-Rashed already adrift in fourth. Defending MERC2 champion Shaker Jweihan was sidelined by a mechanical failure, Al-Zubair took an early MERC2 lead and Kuwait’s Jassim Al-Muqahwi lost time.
On the 11.08km Karameh stage, Al-Attiyah averaged 88km/h for a 7min 33.3sec time, beating Al-Rawahi by a tenth; just 0.7 seconds separated them after 43km. Al-Rashed found his pace and beat Al-Kuwari by 9.1 seconds, though the Qatari stayed third.
A 5min 57.9sec time on the Baptism Site stage sent Al-Rawahi back to the Dead Sea service with a 0.8-second lead. Al-Kuwari and Al-Rashed held third and fourth, with Abu Hamdan and Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez fifth and sixth. Lebanon’s Joanna Hassoun went OTL (over time limit) and Mohammed Al-Shorafa was delayed by mechanical issues.
The strategy this morning was not easy. We open but we didn’t take any risks. We have a good pace. Now I would like to change a few things for the clean line and we try and push now.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
It was a good day for us so far. The stages are quite tough and very tricky. We had a few moments but the times are good overall and we are leading after the first loop. I think we just need to keep focused and try to do our best. We need to be very consistent with our performance. You have no other choice but to go flat out. This afternoon, the same.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi
The first stage was very difficult with a lot of rocks on the road. The other two cars left a lot of rocks. We tried to avoid them. The grip was also very low but we try to improve now on the second loop.
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari
After set-up changes at service, Al-Attiyah was 37 seconds quicker on the second Tal Hilali run and beat Al-Rawahi by 6.4 seconds to lead by 5.6. Al-Rashed lost four minutes and Al-Fayez also dropped a lot of time. Eight seconds faster on the Karameh repeat, Al-Attiyah stretched the gap to 8.8 seconds, and his fifth stage win of the day on the Baptism Site re-run made it 13.5 seconds at the overnight halt.
Saturday
Saturday’s three stages run twice, starting with Panorama from 09:09, followed by Suwayma and Wadi Nar, then repeated in the afternoon before the ceremonial finish at the Dead Sea.
Positions after SS6 (unofficial)
- Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah / Candido Carrera (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) – 1hr 16min 10.7sec
- Abdullah Al-Rawahi / Ata Al-Hmoud (Škoda Fabia R5 Rally2) – 1hr 16min 24.2sec
- Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari / Lorcan Moore (Citroën C3 Rally2) – 1hr 18min 29.6sec
- Rakan Al-Rashed / Hugo Magalhães (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) – 1hr 23min 46.9sec
- Bassel Abu Hamdan / Firas Elias (Škoda Fabia R5 Rally2) – 1hr 27min 24.3sec
- Abdullah Al-Zubair / Taha Al-Zadjali (Subaru Impreza N14) – 1hr 27min 43.4sec
- Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya / Ziad Chehab (Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally2) – 1hr 28min 01.5sec
- Shadi Shaban / Samer Issa (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) – 1hr 28min 47.6sec
- Zakariya Al-Aamri / Mohammed Al-Mazroui (Subaru Impreza N14) – 1hr 31min 25.9sec
- Ihab Al-Shurafa / Ahmad Jankhout (Škoda Fabia Evo Rally2) – 1hr 32min 51.6sec
Lebanon’s Shadi El Fakih and Joseph Kmeid are 14th (1hr 45min 00.1sec).