Juma wins Jordan Rally Championship title

AMMAN — Khaled Juma on Friday captured the Jordan Rally Championship title after winning the fourth round in preparation for the Jordan Rally.

Juma and co-driver Imad Juma clocked 1h02m02s in their Mitsubishi Evo 7, followed by Basheer Azar and co-driver Bilal Majdalawieh (1h08m39s) in their Subaru Impreza and Ihab Shurafa and co-driver Rakan Khair (1h09m50s) in their Mitsubishi Evo 9.

Raed Habaybeh and co-driver Marena Habaybeh (1h12m15s) in their Subaru Impreza settled for fourth place.

Juma expressed his happiness to The Jordan Times after the win saying it was very exciting.

“I have a clear ticket for the Jordan Rally as I have built great confidence, and hopefully with more practice I can reserve a place at the podium,’ he said.

“I am happy that I won the fourth round and captured the title. It was such a challenging event and very focused rally and this gives me a lot of hope for the next event,” he added.

With this win, Juma heads the standings with 100 points followed by Azar with 46 points and Ihab Shurafa with 45 points.

“It was the final rehearsal for us before the Jordan Rally. We had the chance to feel and focus more on the route of the rally and this is a chance that is priceless. We hope to have a strong presence in the coming event and make our Jordan proud,’ Juma said.

Drivers had to cover a total distance of 310.76km with six special stages (73.6km) on gravel tracks around the Dead Sea area. Drivers passed through Turky 1 & 2 (9.43km), Shouneh 1 &2 (15.309km) and Baptism site (11.80km). 

The Jordan Rally will be held October 15-17.