The Oman International Rally returns to the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) calendar on February 6th-8th for the first time since 2015.
Organised by the Oman Automobile Association (OAA), the special stage rally has been one of the regional series’ most popular rounds since 1984, offering some of the finest rallying roads in the Middle East: fast, smooth, flowing gravel through the Hajar mountains.
The event moves from its former end-of-season slot to host the MERC opener for the first time. The series then heads to Qatar, Lebanon and Jordan before concluding in Cyprus at the start of October. Oman counts for the MERC, MERC 2, MERC 3 and MERC Junior Championships for Drivers.
The format
After the ceremonial start (15.00hrs) at OAA headquarters on Thursday, February 6th, crews tackle a short special stage (15.45hrs), followed by two legs of six stages each on February 7th and 8th. There are 201 competitive kilometres in a compact 532.40km route.
The event is organised under the chairmanship of Rtd. Brigadier Salim Ali Al-Maskry, with Anwar Ali Soomar as Rally Director and Ahmed Abdullah Al-Zadjali as Clerk of the Course.
A rich history
First held as a non-championship event in 1979, when Swedes Harri Kallström and Claes Billstam won in a Datsun 160 J, the rally has attracted many famous names. Past winners include Swedish legend Björn Waldegård (1988), local hero Tony Georgiou (1992) and Qatar’s Saeed Al-Hajri (1983, 1984 and 1985).
The two dominant forces, though, have been the UAE’s Mohammed Ben Sulayem and Qatar’s defending regional champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah. Ben Sulayem won seven times between 1986 and 1998, and Al-Attiyah has five wins (2003-2006 and 2015). The event was not held between 2008 and 2013, nor since the Qatari’s last win with Matthieu Baumel in a Ford Fiesta RRC.