SOHAR (OMAN): Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah stormed to a comfortable victory in the 29th Oman International Rally on Saturday.
Partnered by Spanish navigator Candido Carrera – who sealed his sixth MERC victory alongside the Qatari – Al-Attiyah won 10 of the event’s 13 gravel stages on his way to a 92nd career MERC win and a record-breaking ninth success in Oman to follow his sensational sixth Dakar Rally success just seven days ago.
His Autotek Škoda Fabia RS suffered three slow punctures during the course of the three-day Sohar-based opening round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) through the awe-inspiring Hajar mountains. But time-consuming flat tyres for his Omani rival Abdullah Al-Rawahi gave Al-Attiyah a winning margin of 2min 08.8sec.
Al-Attiyah said: “Another record. I hope there will be a lot of records. We are very happy to be here in Oman and to help the Middle East Championship and to continue. We did a great race without any mistakes. We saved the tyres on the first two stages this afternoon to push on the Power Stage.”
A delighted Carrera added: “I am happy with this win. Every time here we win, only missing in Lebanon last year. The feeling with Nasser is amazing. I loved this rally and I really likes these stages. It was a very good week and a good start to the year.”
Al-Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud won the third, 11th and 12th stages and pushed Al-Attiyah close on several other speed tests, despite the two-time event winner being out of the sport for over half a year through injury. Three costly punctures ruined the Omani’s challenge but he managed to finish as runner-up.
Al-Rawahi said: “I think we had a good pace. We didn’t have much time to prepare for the new car and, coming back from injury, I wasn’t quite ready. I didn’t want to miss this rally. I’m quite disappointed to lose time with punctures but we can be satisfied with the comeback.”
Veteran Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya is attempting to defend his FIA MERC Master Driver title. He and co-driver Ziad Chehab got their campaign off to the perfect start with the final place on the podium in a Motortune Ford Fiesta.
Jordan’s Shaker Jweihan and Mustafa Juma finished fourth and dominated the MERC2 category in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. They finished 11min 16.5sec in front of the fifth-placed Kuwaiti crew of Jassim Al-Muqahwi and Sulaiman Al-Helal.
The Jordanian pairing of Sami Fleifel and Ibrahim Ali were sixth and second of the registered MERC2 crews. Mohammed Al-Shorafa and Yazan Juma completed all 13 stages to earn seventh.
Hamza Bakhashab returned to action under the Rally2 ruling on Saturday. He and his Irish team-mate Lorcan Moore set competitive times on the final day after crashing and breaking the suspension on the Toyota GR Yaris on Friday. The Saudi said: “The goal was to finish and learn as much as possible. It was a nice rally. The stages were amazing. A lot of very high-speed and technical, a mix of both. It was a very good opportunity to learn here.”
Shadi El Fakih had suffered fuel pump problems on the opening super special, missed the rest of the opening leg and returned with Joseph Kmeid in his Renault Clio to make the finish in a distant ninth.
Overnight leader Zakariya Al-Ofi stopped in the first stage of the morning and his demise lifted Saif Al-Harthy into the lead in the Oman National Rally. The Can-Am Maverick driver held on to earn a flattering winning margin of 7min 07.sec over Salim Al-Touqi’s Mitsubishi. Fahad Al-Balushi rounded off the podium finishers in a Can-Am.
Saturday – as it happened
The second loop of stages on Friday decimated the field: neither of the QMMF Peugeots were able to restart after engine issues. Similar problems sidelined Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez’s Škoda and Ihab Al-Shorafa sustained rib fractures in his seventh stage accident and also retired.
That meant just 10 FIA cars started the eighth Al-Akak (25.30km) stage with 10 of the 13 starters following in the Oman National Rally.
Al-Attiyah had to work hard for his stage win: Al-Rawahi was only 4.7 seconds behind the Qatari but the defending champion’s overall advantage grew to 45.9 seconds. After additional spare parts arrived overnight, Bakhashab began his fight back through the field with the third quickest time. Jweihan extended his comfortable lead in MERC2, as all 10 crews completed the stage.
Yanboa (13.84km) was the second stage of the loop and just two seconds separated the leading duo with Al-Attiyah earning another stage win to stretch his advantage to 47.9 seconds. Both Al-Attiyah and Al-Rawahi sustained slow punctures. Jweihan again got the better of his MERC2 rivals to retain fourth place behind Al-Atya.
Rahab (18.92km) was the last stage of a rapid-fire morning loop before the return to Sohar for service. Al-Attiyah stopped the clocks in 9min 56.9sec, beat a troubled Al-Rawahi by 1min 30.8sec and headed to the regroup with a lead of 2min 18.7sec seconds.
Al-Rawahi sustained a second puncture in as many stages and had to refit a punctured tyre to make it back to Sohar. He said: “We had two punctures. One in the middle one and one on the last stage. We had to come back to the service (refitted a punctured tyre). I’m glad we made it.”
Nine cars safely made it to the midday point. Zakariya Al-Aamri suffered engine issues on the road section after the stage and was forced to retire from sixth place.
MERC2 leader Jweihan said: “Three rough stages to go. The stages are smashed, honestly. There are a lot of ruts and jumps and flats. You cannot go flat out in our car. We have a comfortable lead. Hopefully everyone comes back safe and sound but we are waiting for a mistake from the guys up front to get to the podium. If that happens, that would be good.”
The second pass through Al-Akak opened the afternoon’s action. Al-Rawahi was able to take the stage win and trim 7.2 seconds off a cautious Al-Attiyah’s advantage. Al-Atya consolidated his grip on third and Jweihan was untroubled on his march to MERC2 success.
A second run through Yanboa was the penultimate stage. Al-Rawahi was quickest again as Al-Attiyah erred on the side of caution to preserve his Fabia’s tyres. The Omani won the stage by 5.2 seconds but Al-Attiyah took a lead of 2min 06.3sec into the final stage. Jweihan stretched his MERC2 cushion over Al-Muqahwi to 10min 31sec.
Al-Attiyah safely negotiated the re-run of Rahab and confirmed a ninth victory in Oman. Maximum Power Stage points went to the Qatari with a time of 9min 48.3sec, although Al-Rawahi secured the runner-up spot with the second quickest time. Al-Atya rounded off the podium and fourth-placed Jweihan secured success in MERC2.
The event ran with invaluable support from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, the Al-Batinah North Governorate and Toyota Oman.
Action in the MERC resumes with the Qatar International Rally on February 4th-7th.
2026 Oman International Rally – positions after SS13:
1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2
1hr 55min 41.1sec
2. Abdullah Al-Rawahi (OMA)/Ata Al-Hmoud (JOR) Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2
1hr 57min 49.9sec
3. Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya (QAT)/Ziad Chehab (LBN) Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally 2
2hr 14min 53.2sec
4. Shaker Jweihan (JOR)/Mustafa Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
2hr 17min 22.8sec
5. Jassim Al-Muqahwi (KUW)/Sulaiman Al-Helal (KUW) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
2hr 28min 39.3sec
6. Sami Fleifel (JOR)/Ibrahim Ali (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo
2hr 33min 32.0sec
7. Mohammed Al-Shorafa (JOR)/Yazan Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2hr 57min 50.9sec
8. Hamza Bakhashab (KSA)/Lorcan Moore (IRL) Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2
3hr 02min 09.4sec
9. Shadi El Fakih (LBN)/Joseph Kmeid (LBN) Renault Clio Rally 5
3hr 40min 02.8sec
Zakariya Al-Aamri (OMA)/Mohammed Al-Mazroui (OMA) Subaru Impreza WRX STi RETIRED – after SS10
2026 Oman National Rally – positions after SS13 (SS7 cancelled):
1. Saif Al-Harthy (OMA)/Saif Al-Hinai (OMA) Can-Am Maverick
2hr 13min 06.0sec
2. Salim Al-Tauqi (OMA)/Issa Al-Wardi (OMA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII
2hr 20min 13.5sec
3. Fahad Al-Balushi (OMA)/Jaber Al-Siyabi (OMA) Can-Am Maverick
2hr 21min 08.3sec
4. Emad Al-Balushi (OMA)/Harib Al-Maymani (OMA) Can-Am Maverick
2hr 25min 35.3sec
5. Hafidh Al-Naamani (OMA)/Mohamed Al-Sawafi (OMA) Can-Am Maverick
2hr 59min 38.7sec
6. Bashar Al-Qassmi (OMA)/Nasr Al-Qassmi (OMA) Toyota Yaris
3hr 03min 01.3sec
Ghaith Al-Qassmi (OMA)/Bassam Al-Qassmi (OMA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII RETIRED – after SS12
Mus’ab Al-Zadjali (OMA)/Sultan Al-Battashi (OMA) Kia Rio RETIRED – after SS12
Mohammed Al-Harthy (OMA)/Ahmed Al-Mamari (OMA) Can-Am Maverick RETIRED – after SS10
Zakariya Al-Ofi (OMA)/Ammar Al-Balushi (OMA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX RETIRED – SS8
Hamood Al-Tauqi (OMA)/Hazza Al-Touqi (OMA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII
RETIRED – before SS8
Haitham Soomar (OMA)/Taha Al-Zadjali (OMA) Toyota Yaris
RETIRED – before SS8
