Qatar’s Attiyah wins Jordan Rally

DEAD SEA — Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah  on Friday cruised to victory and secured an 11th regional title in 13 years after winning the Jordan Rally, Round 6 of the 2015 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC),  with the participation of 14 teams.

Attiyah and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel took control of the rally after clocking 3h07m51.2s in their Ford Fiesta RRC, leaving Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and co-driver Marshall Clarke in their Ford Fiesta RRC in second place (3h37m22.2s).

Meanwhile, Jordan’s Husam Salem and co-driver Nancy Majali delivered on their promise and took the third spot on the podium after clocking 3h41m37.6s in their Mitsubishi Evo 9.

Salem’s podium finish follows Ameer Najjar’s historical moment when he came second in the 2008 version of the Jordan Rally and closes the host’s six-year dry gap.

Jordan’s Khaled Juma and co-driver Faris Al Tal came fourth in their Mitsubishi Evo 7 (3h43m30.6s), followed by Ihab Al Shorafa and co-driver Rakan Khair in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX (4h06m11.4s). Asem Aref and co-driver Moad Arja came in seventh in their Fiat Stilo (5hr 21min 27.8sec).

Attiyah proved to be worthy of the title after winning 18 of the 21 rally stages. Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Rajhi overcame Attiyah and placed himself in front of the MERC champion in SS17 Syagha (9.6km) and SS18 Rama 2 (8.55km).

The last stage SS12 Baptism 2 (11.68km) was won by Kuwari.

HRH Prince Feisal, president of Jordan Motorsport kept a close eye on the event with visits to the service park encouraging drivers on their achievements and efforts. 

“Several Arab drivers were absent from this year’s rally which gave other drivers the opportunity to move forward and have a chance to be on the podium,” the prince said.

And regarding hosting a round of the WRC. 

“We are in negotiations with the FIA and the WRC promoters regarding hosting a WRC round so maybe we will have it next year or the year after. The economic situation is hard on everyone, but we hope for the best,” the prince said.

Attiyah expressed his happiness and satisfaction with the event saying: “There were many retirements but some returned and took part in the rally. I am happy to win the rally which proved to be a very challenging, especially the heat and the slippery track but we managed to overcome all these and take the win,” he said.

“On Friday I chose soft tyres for the first five stages and Saturday I used harder tyres on the front and soft on the rear. The problem is that with the soft tyres there is a lot of movement and it does not suit the stages, especially the later stages. But this is another fantastic win for me and another Middle East Championship title. I am very happy,” Attiyah, who clinched the FIA World Cup in Morocco last week, added.

WRC Promoter Managing Director Oliver Ciesla, told The Jordan Times that it is quite impressive to see the Jordan Rally fulfilling its objectives.

“As long as the rally secures the different elements of being a successful event then it is a good thing despite all the conditions such as desert stages or tough terrain, and this is what makes the rally special,” he said.

Salem told The Jordan Times that it was really a very “solid rally”.

“The rally was solid in all its aspects. We had a modest beginning, but managed to be on the podium. We are proud of our achievement this year and proud of the strategy we adopted. We aimed for the podium and we got it. The stages were so challenging and inviting at the same time and this put us in a much focused mode regarding the 21 stages,” he said.

Veteran Majali, who said she is enjoyed every minute in this very competitive rally, was happy to have such a great achievement.

“We had a great rally and although our results did not come out as we expected, our overall results are good and we did finish in second place on Friday,” she added.

The event on Friday witnessed exciting action with Attiyah finishing first in a day plagued with retirements and mechanical issues.

Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Rajhi’s Ford Fiesta RRC did not start on Friday due to the damage his car sustained on Thursday, but he clocked 4h58m20.6s and finished in sixth place overall.

Qataris Khalid Al Suwaidi and Rashid Al Naimi suffered mechanical issues and Abdulaziz Al Kuwari lost 23 minutes in the fifth timed test, when he clouted a small rock and broke a wheel rim. 

Naimi told The Jordan Times that it was a very challenging event.

“We did our best during the challenging first stages but this is a very difficult rally and I can easily say it is very hard and tough and really hot and that car could not take it. We hope to come next year and continue what we started,” he said. 

“There were a lot of blind crests and I saw a ditch and we hit it hard and we damaged the engine. We are out of the rally. This is rallying and anything could happen,” he added.

Meanwhile, Kuwari’s car hit small rock and damaged the wheel.

“We stopped after it happened and went out of the car to change the tyre, but we got stuck between stones and rocks. I tried to drive and could not until some spectators came. They were watching and then they helped get us out. I drove on the tyre until the tyre went out. Then, we stopped and changed the tyre,” he said.

Othman Naseef, Jordan Motorsport CEO said that the rally was a challenging event for all.

“We are happy that everything went according to the plan set. The rally proved to be the rally to beat due to its challenging stages and the heat in addition to the level of competition,” he said.

“Attiyah did an excellent job in winning the rally which as we have seen it was not an easy job; the most important thing is that we did not have any serious issues or accidents,” he added. 

Jordan’s Lina Hadidi and co driver Barkev Shadian in their Subaru Impreza WRX did well and came first in Group S, followed by Basheer Azar and co-driver Bilal Majdalawe in their Subaru Impreza WRX (4h11m15.7s) and Raed Habaybeh and co-driver Marina Habaybeh in their Subaru Impreza (5h 47m05.1s).

“I am really excited as this is my first Jordan Rally, which I learned so much from it. Next year it will be even better with a different car,” Hadidi said.