LUSAIL, QATAR – Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera won five of the 13 special stages on the way to a resounding victory at the Qatar International Rally on Saturday.
The win, the second of the Qatari’s 2025 bid for a 20th FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) title, was his 18th in Qatar from 25 starts and the 88th of his MERC career, in his Autotek-run Škoda Fabia RS.
I am really happy to win this race. It is a home rally and we did a good job. I am happy with Candido and the team. It is a nice start for 2025. Just 0.8 (seconds) between me and Mads on the Power Stage. It was a good level.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
The start of the new partnership is very good. I am very happy with two victories with Nasser. It’s very easy to work with him. It’s good for the championship. It’s good for me because it’s a long time since I was reading the pace notes in English. It’s different rallies, very strategic, with the flags and fences. But I am very happy.
Candido Carrera
Eight stage wins for Østberg
On his fourth visit, Mads Østberg finished second for the third year running. Friday punctures ended his challenge, but he and Sergiu Itu won eight of the 13 stages, including all six on the final day, to finish 1min 12.8sec behind.
Eight stage wins but that doesn’t count. It takes only one stage to lose the rally. I have learned that on more than one occasion. It’s a shame, but I look at the positives. To be here and to enjoy this rally is really amazing. I take that from here and even just to fight with Nasser on these stages and compare our stage times is really an adventure. I love it. We can see that we have the speed. We just need to nail the strategy. We tried something else this year and it didn’t pay off at all. We need to go home and investigate and try again.
Mads Østberg
Al-Kuwari holds off Al-Rawahi by 3.3sec
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Lorcan Moore lost second to Østberg on the first stage of the morning but held off a fierce late charge from Abdullah Al-Rawahi and Ata Al-Hmoud to keep third by just 3.3 seconds in their Citroën C3.
Very close. Abdullah gave us a hard time. He was very fast. He was pushing like hell. We were pushing but not with any risks. I like to be safe. I don’t like to break the cars. mechanics working with me like that, you know. I am very happy. It was a very difficult rally. With the Citroën, we don’t have any reference on this type of rally. It was a hard rally for the car but it performed very well, suspension, handling, everything was very good. I learned more and more. Hopefully, in Saudi and Jordan we will be a bit faster because I think the car will be better there.
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari
We pushed like crazy, just three seconds away. Unfortunately, we lost some time on one stage and we had a lot of punctures on the first day, Anyway, I am happy with this performance. The pace is there but I got some penalties and I was quite unlucky with the punctures.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi
Rakan Al-Rashed managed his pace sensibly on his Qatar debut to finish fifth with Hugo Magalhães. Added to his second place in Oman, it puts the Saudi in a strong position to challenge Al-Attiyah this season.
I am happy to be here. Obviously, it’s unclear where my pace is. I am still getting confused. After this rally we are going to have to review all the weekend and see where we can improve. I’m happy that we finished and looking forward now to my home event.
Rakan Al-Rashed
Class winners and Lebanese crews
Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya and Lebanon’s Ziad Chehab lost sixth to Denis Krotov’s SRT Škoda but finished seventh to win the Masters category again. Rashid Al-Muhannadi took a second straight MERC4 win in eighth.
MERC2 became a duel between Omanis Abdullah Al-Zubair and Zakariya Al-Aamri; when mechanical problems stopped Al-Zubair before the penultimate stage, Al-Aamri took the class win and 10th overall behind Jordan’s Shadi Shaban. Lebanon’s Jad Al-Aawar and Ahmad Khaled were second and fourth in MERC2, 11th and 13th overall, with Kuwait’s Jassim Al-Muqahwi between them. Academy rookies Saad Al-Harqan and Mohammed Al-Marri finished 14th and 15th on their debuts, Al-Harqan winning the Junior MERC category.
The 50th anniversary rally was held under the chairmanship of QMMF President Abdulrahman Al-Mannai, senior committee member Abdulrazaq Al-Kuwari and QMMF Executive Director Amro Al-Hamad. Minister of Sports and Youth Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and Minister of Municipality Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah attended the start.
How Saturday unfolded
Twenty-five of the 28 starters began the final day on an Umm Birka stage shortened to 8.85km for technical reasons. Østberg went fastest to pass Al-Kuwari, while a puncture cut Al-Attiyah’s lead to 1min 42.1sec. Østberg also won Ras Laffan and Al-Thakhira as Al-Attiyah reached midday service 1min 35.4sec ahead.
In the afternoon Østberg won every stage again, and Al-Rawahi closed to within 7.8sec of Al-Kuwari. On the final Al-Thakhira Power Stage, Al-Attiyah clocked 7min 14.4sec; Østberg was eight-tenths quicker but not registered for MERC points, and Al-Kuwari held on despite losing 4.5sec to Al-Rawahi.
The MERC now heads to Saudi Arabia for the first time since 2010, for the new Jeddah-based round on 1–3 May.
Final classification (unofficial)
- Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah / Candido Carrera – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 – 1hr 42min 15.0sec
- Mads Østberg / Sergiu Itu – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 – 1hr 43min 27.8sec (not registered for MERC)
- Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari / Lorcan Moore – Citroën C3 Rally2 – 1hr 44min 37.4sec
- Abdullah Al-Rawahi / Ata Al-Hmoud – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 – 1hr 44min 40.7sec
- Rakan Al-Rashed / Hugo Magalhães – Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – 1hr 50min 35.0sec
- Denis Krotov / Yury Kulikov – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 – 1hr 52min 01.1sec
- Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya / Ziad Chehab – Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally2 – 1hr 53min 35.7sec
- Rashid Al-Muhannadi / Gary McElhinney – Peugeot 208 Rally4 – 2hr 07min 17.2sec
- Shadi Shaban / Samer Issa – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX – 2hr 07min 36.9sec
- Zakariya Al-Aamri / Mohammed Al-Mazroui – Subaru Impreza N14 – 2hr 08min 55.0sec
- Jad Al-Aawar / Vicken Kanledjian – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X – 2hr 13min 53.0sec
- Jassim Al-Muqahwi / Suleiman Al-Helal – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X – 2hr 14min 48.9sec
- Ahmad Khaled / Samer Sfeir – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X – 2hr 15min 50.9sec
28 starters, 21 finishers. Lebanon’s Shadi El Fakih and Joseph Kmeid finished 19th in their Renault Clio.