AMMAN, JORDAN – Jordan Motorsport has confirmed that this weekend’s fourth round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) will start from the Royal Automobile Club of Jordan (RACJ) for the first time since the early 1990s.
The long-time headquarters of one of Asia’s most iconic rallies will host the pre-event press conference at 18:45 and the ceremonial start at 19:15 on Thursday evening, at the club on Amman’s Seventh Circle.
Car show for Independence Day
Fans will also enjoy a display of drift cars and other machines at a car show at the RACJ, extending last Sunday’s Jordan Independence Day celebrations. It opens to the public from 18:00 on Thursday.
The RACJ served as rally HQ for many years, in the era when current FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem battled the Victory Team’s Sheikh Suhail Al-Maktoum and Khalifa Al-Mutawei, Qatar’s Abbas Al-Mosawi and Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Bakhashab.
The return comes as motorsport grows in popularity across Jordan and the region. Just over a month after a record entry at the Aqaba-based Jordan Baja, 22 crews are on the recce for the FIA event, joined by nine more entered only in the weekend’s two national rallies.
The route
Crews face 197.60 competitive kilometres in a 546.06km route, opening with a new 32km stage at Tal Hilali on Friday morning (09:44). It includes a short section of the former Bahath stage in the Jordan Valley and is followed by the high-speed 11.08km Karameh stage and the Baptism Site stage (11.34km) close to the Dead Sea – the lowest place on earth. The three stages are repeated in the afternoon after a midday regroup and service at the Dead Sea.
Saturday’s three stages also run twice, beginning with Panorama (17.12km) from 09:09. First passes through Suwayma (11.19km) and Wadi Nar (16.07km) complete the morning loop, with all three repeated in the afternoon before the post-event press conference and the traditional ceremonial finish at the Dead Sea.