The third and final round of national qualifiers for the Toyota GAZOO Racing MENA Esports Cup has ended, with sim racers from Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Mauritania securing their places in the finals. The finals take place in Amman, Jordan, between 6 and 8 October. The championship is officially sponsored by Toyota Motor Corporation through Toyota GAZOO Racing.
After a successful first edition last year, the cup returned with more participants and a new format built around national qualifying rounds, giving every driver a fair shot at representing their country.
How the qualifiers worked
In each country, drivers had a 10-minute practice session, then a seven-minute qualifying session to set the grid for a seven-lap Sprint Race at Japan’s Autopolis International Racing Course. The Sprint result decided the grid for the Feature Race.
In Oman, Wassif Al Kharusi won ahead of Mohamed Al Barwani, with Lahmeed Al Balushi third and first reserve. Faesal Al Yafei topped Qatar from Khalid Al Maraghi, with Soud Al Thani third. Wesam Khalil led in Saudi Arabia ahead of Abdulaziz Rayes and Hatem Al Hamley. In Bahrain, Ebrahim Almubarak qualified first, Hassan Ebrahim second and Sadeq Marhoon third as first reserve. Mohamed El Hanefi won in Mauritania ahead of Ahmed Chash. Palestine will again be represented by last year’s qualifiers, Martin Handal and Issa Handal.
2022 finalists
- Jordan: Ghaith Abu Taa – Izz Bustami (third place: Moath Shishani)
- Egypt: Hazem Zaki – Mohamed Wasel (third place: Mohamed Raafat)
- Lebanon: Karl Etyemezian – Wassim Abou Khalil
- Cyprus: Yiannis Hadhicharalambous – Panagiotis Petsas (third place: Demosthenis Michael)
- Kuwait: Khaled Dashti – Mahdi Bulayyan (third place: Abdullrahman Al Thefiri)
- UAE: Salem Al Mesmari – Sultan Khalifa (third place: Hamad Al Marzooqi)
- Morocco: Reda Hsaine – Yassine Ounassi
- Oman: Wassif Al Kharusi – Mohamed Al Barwani (third place: Lahmeed Al Balushi)
- Qatar: Faesal Al Yafei – Khalid Al Maraghi (third place: Soud Al Thani)
- Saudi Arabia: Wesam Khalil – Abdulaziz Rayes (third place: Hatem Al Hamley)
- Bahrain: Ebrahim Almubarak – Hassan Ebrahim (third place: Sadeq Marhoon)
- Mauritania: Mohamed El Hanefi – Ahmed Chash
- Palestine: Martin Handal – Issa Handal
About the cup
The cup started in Amman in 2021 as the Toyota GAZOO Racing MENA Digital Cup, organised by Jordan Motorsport with FIA backing. That first edition brought together 22 contestants from 11 countries – Jordan, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Palestine, Cyprus, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon and Mauritania – racing on Gran Turismo Sport. The 2022 edition runs under the supervision of Jordan Motorsport as FIA representative and is organised by Desert Fox Racing, with Egypt and Morocco joining the line-up.