Latest news with #JordanRally
Gulf Today
01-06-2025
- Automotive
- Gulf Today
Qatari driver Al Attiyah notches up 17th victory at Jordan Rally
Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah won all but one of the 12 gravel special stages on his way to a comfortable 17th victory in the Jordan Rally on Saturday. The success took the iconic Škoda Fabia RS driver to a record 90th career MERC rally win, as he closes in on an unprecedented 20th regional title since 2003. The new partnership with his Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera has a 100% winning record with the duo now taking victories at the opening four rounds of this year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and now Jordan. Al-Attiyah: 'I am so happy to win again here in Jordan for the 17th time. This means a lot to me. This year we have won every rally so far. It feels like a good year, leading the Middle East Championship and leading the W2RC. For this rally, I will give it 10 out of 10. Today, we controlled the pace and tried to make a gap in case we had a puncture.' Abdullah Al-Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud maintained the pressure on the Qatari throughout day one but a time-consuming puncture delayed the Omani on Saturday's opening Panorama stage and a second issue on stage 10 proved too much for the 2023 regional champion. He finished second overall. Al-Rawahi said: 'It was a long two days for us. The first day was quite good, especially with the pace and we were very close to Nasser. Unfortunately, today we had some punctures and we lost some time. Overall, we are very happy with our performance. It has been the closest we have been to him in the battle. 'We don't really have enough seat time in the car. After this rally I have three months off not really driving my car. My car is also an older generation and there is experience difference between me and Nasser. That is why it is good that he is in the championship. He helps us to push and get closer to him. It is still good. We wanted to win but we are still happy.' Qatar's Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and his Irish co-driver Lorcan Moore tried different set-ups with their Citroën C3 but struggled to match the pace of the leading duo on this occasion. They did enough to round off the podium places. Rakan Al-Rashed's main target was to finish the event and the Saudi again teamed up with Portugal's Hugo Magalhāes in a Jameel Motorsport Toyota GR Yaris. Cruelly, his Yaris sustained substantial damage after an accident on the penultimate stage he was forced out. Lebanese driver Bassel Abu Hamdan and his co-driver Firas Elias benefitted from his demise to round off the top four in a Škoda Fabia. Oman's Abdullah Al-Zubair led the MERC2 field from start-to-finish with co-driver Taha Al-Tadjali to strengthen his push for the overall title. Fellow countryman Zakariya Al-Aamri had arrived in Jordan with a 15-point lead over Al-Zubair but his rival's success and fifth place overall has thrown the battle wide open with two rallies remaining. Al-Aamri finished second in the category and eighth overall. Al-Zubair said: 'We are happy with this result, It is a very difficult race. It is also very hot. It was our first time here. The first day we were flat out and won every stage. Today, we took it slow. We had a good lead and the strategy paid off.' Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya continued his run of consistent form to bring his Ford Fiesta to the Dead Sea finish in sixth overall with co-driver Ziad Chehab. That result was sufficient for the Qatari veteran to seal success in the inaugural FIA Master MERC Championship with two rounds to run. The Jordanian duo of Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez and Shadi Shaban were classified in seventh and ninth overall. Tenth place was sufficient for Rashid Al-Mohannadi to take victory over Saad Al-Harqan and Payyaakkal 'Saneem' Panikkaveettil in the FIA MERC4 category and to seal the championship title in his Peugeot 208 with two rounds to spare. Al-Rawahi earned victory in the second round of the Jordan National Championship with Shaker Jweihan claiming second place ahead of Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez. A first pass through the iconic Panorama stage of 17.12km opened proceedings on the final morning. Palestine's Hamada Uda was the only driver not to restart. Outside temperatures were already up to 31°C at the start of the stage with a peak of 37°C in the afternoon. Surface cleaning was evident on the opener but Al-Attiyah laid down the gauntlet with a time of 11min 38.0sec. That smashed the existing stage record by six seconds. Al-Rawahi dropped 32.3 seconds with tyre damage on a front-right wheel and that enabled Al-Attiyah to extend his lead to 45.8 seconds. Al-Kuwari was second quickest but remained a long way behind the leading duo. Al-Zubair continued to dominate MERC2 from sixth overall but Mohammed Al-Shorafa was in trouble and retired with broken steering.
Qatar Tribune
01-06-2025
- Automotive
- Qatar Tribune
Al Attiyah earns his 17th Jordan Rally triumph
Tribune News Network Dead Sea Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah won all but one of the 12 gravel special stages on his way to a comfortable 17th victory in the Jordan Rally on Saturday, The success took the iconic Skoda Fabia RS driver to a record 90th career MERC rally win, as he closes in on an unprecedented 20th regional title since 2003. The new partnership with his Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera has a 100% winning record with the duo now taking victories at the opening four rounds of this year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and now Jordan. Al Attiyah said, 'I am so happy to win again here in Jordan for the 17th time. This means a lot to me. This year we have won every rally so far. It feels like a good year, leading the Middle East Championship and leading the W2RC. For this rally, I will give it 10 out of 10. Today, we controlled the pace and tried to make a gap in case we had a puncture.' Abdullah Al Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata Al Hmoud maintained the pressure on the Qatari throughout day one but a time-consuming puncture delayed the Omani on Saturday's opening Panorama stage and a second issue on stage 10 proved too much for the 2023 regional champion. He finished second overall. Al Rawahi said: 'It was a long two days for us. The first day was quite good, especially with the pace and we were very close to Nasser. Unfortunately, today we had some punctures and we lost some time. Overall, we are very happy with our performance. It has been the closest we have been to him in the battle. 'We don't really have enough seat time in the car. After this rally I have three months off not really driving my car. My car is also an older generation and there is experience difference between me and Nasser. That is why it is good that he is in the championship. He helps us to push and get closer to him. It is still good. We wanted to win but we are still happy.' Qatar's Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and his Irish co-driver Lorcan Moore tried different set-ups with their Citroen C3 but struggled to match the pace of the leading duo on this occasion. They did enough to round off the podium places. Rakan Al Rashed's main target was to finish the event and the Saudi again teamed up with Portugal's Hugo Magalhaes in a Jameel Motorsport Toyota GR Yaris. Cruelly, his Yaris sustained substantial damage after an accident on the penultimate stage he was forced out. Lebanese driver Bassel Abu Hamdan and his co-driver Firas Elias benefitted from his demise to round off the top four in a Skoda Fabia. Oman's Abdullah Al Zubair led the MERC2 field from start-to-finish with co-driver Taha Al Tadjali to strengthen his push for the overall title. Fellow countryman Zakariya Al Aamri had arrived in Jordan with a 15-point lead over Al Zubair but his rival's success and fifth place overall has thrown the battle wide open with two rallies remaining. Al Aamri finished second in the category and eighth overall. Al Zubair said: 'We are happy with this result, It is a very difficult race. It is also very hot. It was our first time here. The first day we were flat out and won every stage. Today, we took it slow. We had a good lead and the strategy paid off.' Nasser Khalifa Al Atya continued his run of consistent form to bring his Ford Fiesta to the Dead Sea finish in sixth overall with co-driver Ziad Chehab. That result was sufficient for the Qatari veteran to seal success in the inaugural FIA Master MERC Championship with two rounds to run. The Jordanian duo of Sheikh Bader Al Fayez and Shadi Shaban were classified in seventh and ninth overall. Tenth place was sufficient for Rashid Al Mohannadi to take victory over Saad Al Harqan and Payyaakkal 'Saneem' Panikkaveettil in the FIA MERC4 category and to seal the championship title in his Peugeot 208 with two rounds to spare. Al Rawahi earned victory in the second round of the Jordan National Championship with Shaker Jweihan claiming second place ahead of Sheikh Bader Al Fayez. This year's Jordan Rally was supported by Zain Jordan, Guarantee Travel Group, Hala and Bliss FM, Markazia and Toyota Gazoo Racing Jordan. The FIA Middle East Rally Championship continues in Lebanon on September 5th-7th.
Qatar Tribune
31-05-2025
- Automotive
- Qatar Tribune
Nasser Al Attiyah wins his 17th Jordan Rally title
DOHA: Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah cruised to a comfortable 17th victory in the Jordan Rally on Saturday. The success took the iconic Škoda Fabia RS driver to a record 90th career MERC rally win, as he closes in on an unprecedented 20th regional title since 2003. The new partnership with his Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera has a 100% winning record with the duo now taking victories at the opening four rounds of this year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and now Jordan. Al Attiyah said, 'I am so happy to win again here in Jordan for the 17th time. This means a lot to me. This year we have won every rally so far. It feels like a good year, leading the Middle East Championship and leading the W2RC. For this rally, I will give it 10 out of 10. Today, we controlled the pace and tried to make a gap in case we had a puncture.' Qatar's Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and his Irish co-driver Lorcan Moore tried different set-ups with their Citroen C3 but struggled to match the pace of the leading duo on this occasion. They did enough to round off the podium places. Abdullah Al Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata Al Hmoud maintained the pressure on Al Attiyah throughout day one but a time-consuming puncture delayed the Omani on Saturday's opening Panorama stage and a second issue on stage 10 proved too much for the 2023 regional champion. He finished second overall. Qatar's Nasser Khalifa Al Atya continued his run of consistent form to bring his Ford Fiesta to the Dead Sea finish in sixth overall with co-driver Ziad Chehab. That result was sufficient for the Qatari veteran to seal success in the inaugural FIA Master MERC Championship with two rounds to run.
Observer
31-05-2025
- Automotive
- Observer
2nd Place for Al Rawahi on day 6 of Jordan Rally
DEAD SEA, Jordan: A puncture on the first special stage of the final morning proved to be mightily expensive for the Oman Rally Team's Abdullah al Rawahi and it ultimately cost him the chance to threaten the 19-time FIA Middle East champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah for victory at the Jordan Rally. Al Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata Al Hmoud pushed as hard as they could when conditions permitted but they were always running the risk of collecting a flat tyre on the day's six demanding gravel special stages in the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley areas of the Hashemite Kingdom. Another time delay with a flat tyre on the 10th stage eventually decided the outcome in Al Attiyah's favour and Al Rawahi had no alternative but to bring his Autotek Škoda Fabia R5 to the finish in second overall. Nevertheless, his day's result also netted a second Jordan National Championship event win of the weekend. Al Rawahi said: 'It was a long two days for us. The first day was quite good, especially with the pace and we were very close to Nasser. Unfortunately, today we had some punctures and we lost some time. Overall, we are very happy with our performance. It has been the closest we have been to him in the battle. 'We don't really have enough seat time in the car. After this rally I have three months off not really driving my car. My car is also an older generation and there is experience difference between me and Nasser. That is why it is good that he is in the championship. He helps us to push and get closer to him. It is still good. We wanted to win but we are still happy.' Abdullah al Rawahi on day two in Jordan A first pass through the iconic Panorama stage of 17.12km opened proceedings on the final morning. Outside temperatures were already up to 31°C at the start of the stage with a peak of 37°C in the afternoon. Surface cleaning was evident on the opener but Al Attiyah laid down the gauntlet with a time of 11min 38.0sec. Al Rawahi dropped 32.3 seconds with tyre damage on a front-right wheel and that enabled Al Attiyah to extend his lead to 45.8 seconds. The first pass through Suwayma was next in the itinerary. Al Attiyah stopped the clocks in 5min 47.0sec and was able to extend his advantage over Al Rawahi to 52.5 seconds with another stage win. Wadi Nar was the last stage of the loop. Al Attiyah made it a clean sweep of morning stage wins and headed for the midday service and regroup with an advantage over Al Rawahi of 53.1 seconds. He beat the Omani by just six-tenths of a second in the special. After the opening loop of three stages, Al Rawahi said: 'The first stage this morning we got a puncture and lost over 30 seconds. When you try to keep up and push this can happen sometimes. We were able to continue but the gap is bigger. It's not impossible but it was closer before. Now we are trying to maintain our speed. We have three more stages to go.' A second delay occurred in the afternoon with another puncture but the Omani held on to take second place and maintain his push for a podium finish in this year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship. Abdullah al Rawahi during the race The Oman Rally Team has backing from Al Manar Investments, the Oman Automobile Association, WMS, Zamakan, OQ, Strike, Size, the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture of Oman and National Finance. The FIA Middle East Rally Championship continues in Lebanon on September 5th-7th. 2025 Jordan Rally – positions after SS12 (unofficial): 1. Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah (QAT)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2 2hr 13min 47.7sec 2. Abdullah al Rawahi (OMA)/Ata Al Hmoud (JOR) Škoda Fabia R5 Rally 2 2hr 16min 42.5sec 3. Abdulaziz Al Kuwari (QAT)/Lorcan Moore (IRL) Citroën C3 Rally 2 2hr 19min 01.3sec 4. Bassel Abu Hamdan (KSA)/Firas Elias (LBN) Škoda Fabia R5 Rally 2 2hr 33min 25.3sec 5. Abdullah al Zubair (OMA)/Taha al Zadjali (OMA) Subaru Impreza N14 2hr 37min 26.0sec 6. Nasser Khalifa Al Attiyah (QAT)/Ziad Chehab (LBN) Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally 2 2hr 38min 58.3sec 7. Shaikh Bader Al Fayez (JOR)/Vili Oslaj (SLO) Škoda Fabia Rally 2 2hr 40min 34.9sec 8. Zakariya al Aamri (OMA)/Mohammed al Mazroui (OMA) Subaru Impreza N14 2hr 41min 53.0sec 9. Shadi Shaban (JOR)/Samer Issa (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX (NAT) 2hr 42min 10.2sec 10. Rashid Al Muhannadi (QAT)/Gary McElhinney (IRL) Peugeot 208 Rally 4 2hr 46min 12.6sec, etc
Muscat Daily
31-05-2025
- Sport
- Muscat Daily
Oman's Al Rawahi finishes second in Jordan Rally, compatriot Al Zubair wins MERC2
Dead Sea, Jordan – Qatar's Nasser Saleh al Attiyah won all but one of the 12 gravel special stages on his way to a comfortable 17th victory in the Jordan Rally on Saturday. Abdullah al Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata al Hmoud maintained the pressure on the Qatari throughout day one but a time-consuming puncture delayed the Omani on Saturday's opening Panorama stage and a second issue on stage 10 proved too much for the 2023 regional champion. He finished second overall. Al Rawahi said: 'It was a long two days for us. The first day was quite good, especially with the pace and we were very close to Nasser. Unfortunately, today we had some punctures and we lost some time. Overall, we are very happy with our performance. It has been the closest we have been to him in the battle. 'We don't really have enough seat time in the car. After this rally I have three months off not really driving my car. My car is also an older generation and there is experience difference between me and Nasser. That is why it is good that he is in the championship. He helps us to push and get closer to him. It is still good. We wanted to win but we are still happy.' Al Rawahi also earned victory in the second round of the Jordan National Championship with Shaker Jweihan claiming second place ahead of Sheikh Bader al Fayez. Oman had plenty more to celebrate as Abdullah al Zubair led the MERC2 field at Jordan Rally from start-to-finish with co-driver Taha al Tadjali to strengthen his push for the overall title. Fellow countryman Zakariya al Aamri had arrived in Jordan with a 15-point lead over Al Zubair but his rival's success and fifth place overall has thrown the battle wide open with two rallies remaining. Al Aamri finished second in the category and eighth overall. Al Zubair said: 'We are happy with this result, It is a very difficult race. It is also very hot. It was our first time here. The first day we were flat out and won every stage. Today, we took it slow. We had a good lead and the strategy paid off.' For Al Attiyah, the Jordan win took him to a record 90th career MERC rally win, as he closes in on an unprecedented 20th regional title since 2003. The new partnership with his Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera has a 100% winning record with the duo now taking victories at the opening four rounds of this year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and now Jordan. 'I am so happy to win again here in Jordan for the 17th time. This means a lot to me,' said al Attiyah. 'This year we have won every rally so far. It feels like a good year, leading the Middle East Championship and leading the W2RC. For this rally, I will give it 10 out of 10. Today, we controlled the pace and tried to make a gap in case we had a puncture.' Qatar's Abdulaziz al Kuwari and his Irish co-driver Lorcan Moore tried different set-ups with their Citroën C3 but struggled to match the pace of the leading duo on this occasion. They did enough to round off the podium places.
