Competitors will be flagged away from the ceremonial start of the 26th Kuwait International Rally at Kuwait Motor Town from 17.30hrs on Thursday evening.
Kuwait returns to the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) for the first time since 2018 with a 14-car entry from eight nations.
Al-Attiyah top seed
Seven-time winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah is top seed with regular French co-driver Mathieu Baumel in an Autotek Volkswagen Polo GTI. The Qatari leads Oman’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi by 24 points in the MERC Drivers’ Championship after early-season wins in Oman and Qatar, and is chasing his 81st MERC win, while Baumel seeks his 29th.
Five RC2 rivals and eight MERC2 entrants will push the Qatari over 10 gravel stages in the deserts south of Kuwait City.
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and 2012 winner Khaled Al-Suwaidi are delighted to be back after impressive drives in Qatar last month in their SRT Škoda Fabia R2 evos. They are joined in RC2 by veteran Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya in a Motortune-run Ford Fiesta R5 and defending MERC2 champion Meshari Al-Thefiri, who won his class in Qatar but switches to an SRT-prepared Škoda Fabia for the first time on his home rally.
Apart from Al-Attiyah, the RC2 teams tested on Tuesday morning. Autotek’s Ken Skidmore confirmed Al-Attiyah’s air freight arrived on Monday evening and the team hoped to finish preparations before a short test.
The team has been working really hard to get the car ready and we tested on Tuesday. We changed a few things to make it suitable for these conditions. Kuwait Rally is really fast, quite similar to Qatar but less rough. We are expecting the same strategy as Qatar. Hopefully we can achieve a good result here as well. It has been a while since we have been here in Kuwait. I think we are ready. Hopefully we can do a great job.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi
MERC2
Jordan’s Ihab Al-Shorafa leads compatriot Issa Abu Jamous by six points in the 2022 MERC2 standings. With Qatar category winner Al-Thefiri moving up a class, the two Jordanians will look to fend off Oman’s Zakariya Al-Amri, Kuwait’s Jassim Al-Muqahwi, Mohammed Al-Thefiri and Yousef Al-Dhafeeri, and fellow Jordanians Khalid Juma and Shadi Shaban.
We are leading the MERC2 standings. My target in Kuwait is to finish on the podium in the first three places in our category and collect as many points as I can. I am gaining new experience in desert rallies and my experience with Yousef (Juma) is a huge plus. We have harmony and understanding. This will give us stability and consistency. In Jordan, I will change the car from Evo 9 to 10 and continue the championship in Lebanon and Cyprus.
Ihab Al-Shorafa
Kuwait’s deserts are generally smoother and faster than Qatar’s, so punctures should be less of a risk, but the gravel trails are not as flowing or easy to read as the smoother stages in Oman and present their own challenge.
The rally is organised by the Kuwait International Motorsport Club (KIMC) in co-operation with the Kuwait International Automobile Club (KIAC), under the patronage of His Excellency Ali Husain Ali Al-Mousa, Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Youth Affairs.
Kuwait’s Emad Bukhamseen is the new chairman of the organising committee, with board members Issa Hamzeh, Mohammed Bukhamseen, Garbis Karzelian, Clerk of the Course Hamad Marafie, Hamad Al-Saif, Meshari Al-Sabti and Fuad Abu Arja.
Crews tackle six timed stages on Friday and four more on Saturday before the finish at Kuwait Motor Town.