Abdulaziz Al Kuwari has claimed his maiden MERC rally win and gave the Mini its first S2000 win too. The Qatari was able to defend the comeback from his fellow country man and Multiple champion Nasser Al Attiyah to keep the crown in Qatar. Nasser finished 2nd to collect valuable points from the rally despite many problems. His comeback from super rally was hampered with a lot of problems but managing second place was dignifying enough. The result looks good fro the championship especially seing a new face on the highest step of the podium and it promises to give a championship to follow. Nasser though was very fast to reduce the 5 min deposite that he started with on the begining of the second day to just two and half by its end.
Nicholai Georgiou claimed a very respectable 3rd place on his EVO 9 prepared by MotorTune and sponsored by Rayes Racing Parts. The Lebanese driver along with his Lebanese team showed experience and mastery of all conditions and went to on to win the Group N category and and collect valuable points for the championship. The points collected by Nick would allow him to chase after a win in the MERC 2012 championship. Burcu Cetinkaya took her EVO 10 to 4th place displaying skillful driving and good composure to show the guys there, how things are really done. 2010 MERC champion, Misfer Al Marri went on to recover to 5th place on his EVO 10 prepared by MotorTune too.
Ten Cars finished the race and all 10 collected points.
The final Standings:
2012 Qatar International Rally – positions after SS12
1. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Mini S2000 2h 24m 55.2s
2. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Giovanni Bernacchini (ITA) Peugeot 207 S2000 2h 27m 20.1s
3. Nicholai Georgiou (LBN)/Nabil Njeim (LBN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2h 34m 41.3s
4. Burcu Cetinkaya (TUR)/Cicek Guney (TUR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2h 37m 04.3s
5. Misfer Al-Marri (QAT/Nicola Arena (ITA) Mitsubishi Lancer R4 2h 42m 50.7s
6. Meshari Al-Thafiri (KWT)/Mubarak Al-Thafiri (KWT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2h 51m 48.4s
7. Hani Al-Bast (HKJ)/Ata Al-Hmoud (HKJ) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 2h 57m 50.6s
8. Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Ramy Menhem (LBN) Subaru Impreza 2h 58m 24.4s
9. Edith Weiss (GER)/Vicky Psarall (GRE) Subaru Impreza 3h 07m 34.0s
10. Rasheed Alaa (HKJ)/Ramzi Mansour (HKJ) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 3h 20m 54.5s
2012 FIA Middle East Rally Championship
Positions after round 1 of 7
Drivers’ Championship
1. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT) 25 pts
2. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT) 18 pts
3. Nicholai Georgiou (LBN) 15 pts
4. Burcu Cetinkaya (TUR) 12 pts
5. Misfer Al-Marri QAT) 10 pts
6. Meshari Al-Thafiri (KWT) 8 pts
7. Hani Al-Bast (HKJ) 6 pts
8. Khalfa Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT) 4 pts
9. Edith Weiss (GER) 2 pts
10. Rasheed Alaa (HKJ) 1 pt
Co-drivers’ Championship
1. Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) 25 pts
2. Giovanni Bernacchini (ITA) 18 pts
3. Nabil Njeim (LBN) 15 pts
4. Cicek Guney (TUR) 12 pts
5. Nicola Arena (ITA) 10 pts
6. Mubarak Al-Thafiri (KWT) 8 pts
7. Ata Al-Hmoud (HKJ) 6 pts
8. Ramy Menhem (LBN) 4 pts
9. Victoria Psarali (GRE) 2 pts
10. Ramzi Mansour (HKJ) 1 pt