Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah leads international Jordan Rally entry

AMMAN — Twenty-five crews and competitors from seven nations grace the entry list for the Jordan Rally, round three of the 2023 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), which takes place on 18-20 May, according to the Jordan Rally Media Service. Multiple regional champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah heads the field in his Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.

He faces competition from Oman’s Abdullah Al Rawahi in a Škoda Fabia R5, 16 crews competing in a variety of Mitsubishis and Subarus in the MERC2 category and seven local teams running at the rear of the field. 

Attiyah again teams up with Andorra-based co-driver Mathieu Baumel, as the Qatari chases a record-breaking 16th win in the Hashemite Kingdom and his partner aims for personal win number eight.  Rawahi and local co-driver Ata Al Hmoud will offer the closest realistic challenge on an event where 15-time Rally of Lebanon winner Roger Feghali heads the impressive line-up of MERC2 contenders in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X. Main competition for the Lebanese is likely to come from regular MERC2 series front-runner and multiple champion Meshari Al Thefiri.

A strong Jordanian line-up consists of entries from Shaker Jweihan, Issa Abu Jamous, Ameer Nassif, Shadi Shaban, Sheikh Bader Al Fayez, Fadi Darshan, Sami Fleifel, Ihab Al Shorafa and the talented young Mustafa Al Atari. Also registered in the MERC2 section are Palestine’s Hamada Odeh, Lebanese series regular Ahmad Khaled, Kuwait’s Yousef and Salem Al Dhafeeri and Oman’s Zakariya Al Aamri. The Jordanian septet of Feisal Al-Ghammaz, Nancy Al Majali, Ibrahim Al Ali, Asem Aref, Hashem Kalbouneh, Ghaith Qubti and Ziad Miqdad will run in a National Rally behind the FIA field. Jordan Motorsport has again laid on 12 special stages and 205.22km competitive kilometres in a total route of 588.88km. Support for this year’s event comes from Zain Jordan, Hala and Bliss FM.