LUSAIL, QATAR – WRC stars Mads Østberg, Pierre-Louis Loubet and Mārtiņš Sesks headline the entry for the 2024 Qatar International Rally, announced by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) for next weekend’s opening round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC).
Twenty-two crews from 17 nations will contest the three-day event in Qatar’s northern deserts: eight Rally2 cars, 10 MERC2 contenders, one Rally4 Fiesta and three SSVs in the T4 category, which regional rally regulations permit.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah heads the field in his Autotek Motorsport Volkswagen Polo GTI, chasing an unprecedented 18th home win and a seventh with Mathieu Baumel.
Loubet and Sesks will experience fast, open desert gravel against the region’s best for the first time, while Østberg returns for a third visit. In 2022 he and Ilka Minor led overnight before a rear puncture and a heavy impact that broke a water pipe ended their run within sight of the finish; last year he and Patrik Barth finished second to Al-Attiyah.
Oman’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi and Jordan’s Ata Al-Hmoud, who shared last year’s title with Al-Attiyah and Baumel, drive the fifth Rally2 car. Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Khalid Al-Suwaidi drive Volkswagens and Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya a Ford Fiesta MkII, with co-drivers James Fulton, Ross Whittock and Ziad Chehab respectively.
With defending MERC2 champion Meshari Al-Thefiri absent, Jordan’s Shaker Jweihan, Husam Salim and Issa Abu Jamous and Kuwait’s Jassim Al-Muqahwi lead the category in Mitsubishi Lancers, against Lebanon’s Ahmad Khaled, Jordan’s Shadi Shaban and Ihab Al-Shurafa, Oman’s Zakariya Al-Aamri, Qatar’s Mohammed Al-Atteya and India’s Fabid Ahmer.
UAE championship pairing Payyaakkal Panikkaveettil and Musa Sherif make their Qatar debut in a two-wheel-drive Ford Fiesta, and Qatar’s Khalid Al-Mohannadi and Italians Stefano Marrini and Filippo Epis contest T4.
The QMMF has laid on 13 stages and 201.04 competitive kilometres in a 622.53km route, with designated spectator points to be shared on social media during rally week. The event runs under the chairmanship of QMMF President Abdulrahman Al-Mannai, senior committee member Abdulrazaq Al-Kuwari and Executive Director Amro Al-Hamad.