September 5, 2016 – Nasser Al-Attiyah has won his 12th Middle East Rally Championship title despite retiring from the fourth round of the season – Rally of Lebanon – this past weekend.
Al-Attiyah and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel had been running 2nd overall and more than 1 minute behind Abdo Feghali before retiring their Skoda Fabia R5 in Sunday’s opening special stage (SS8) in Zandouka. Abdo went on to win the event, but was later given a 5-minute time penalty for driving on a wheel rim and therefore dropped to 2nd place.
With the cancellation of the final two rounds in Oman and Dubai, the MERC season will finish with the Cyprus Rally next month, but Al-Attiyah has now confirmed his 12th title in low-key fashion.
