Qatar’s Al Attiyah to lead strong line-up at Jordan Rally

Doha, Qatar: Qatar s rally ace Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah will be chasing a staggering 16th victory at the Jordan Rally, the second round of the FIA Midd...

Doha, Qatar: Qatar’s rally ace Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah will be chasing a staggering 16th victory at the Jordan Rally, the second round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) which will be held on May 17 and 18.

The Jordan Motorsport announced that the rally has attracted an impressive 29 entries and competitors from eight nations. They will battle it out over two days and 15 demanding special stages in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea areas.

Al Attiyah is a record-breaking 19-time regional rally champion and the Qatari heads an entry that includes seven Rally2 cars, 10 running in the NR4 group, a Rally5 machine and the remainder of the field consisting of Jordanian crews competing for national honours.

Al Attiyah, who will be chasing a staggering 16th victory in Jordan, faces competition from Oman’s Abdullah Al Rawahi, the winner of last year’s Jordan Rally with whom he shared last season’s MERC Drivers’ Championship in a dead heat. Al Rawahi is also the defending Jordanian national champion.

Both drivers are entered in a pair of Škoda Fabia RS Rally2s with competition in the premier category coming from a pair of QMMF-backed Škodas for Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and Khalid Al Suwaidi, local driver Bader Al Fayez, Qatari veteran Nasser Khalifa Al Atya and Denis Krotov at the wheel of an SRT-run Fabia Rally2 Evo – Krotov making a surprise switch from the world of cross-country rallying to try his hand at the MERC for the first time.