CHAIRMAN: DR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: PROF. KHALID MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

Sports / Qatar Sport

Al Attiyah becomes Middle East Rally champion for 16th time

Published: 12 Nov 2020 - 11:06 am | Last Updated: 05 Nov 2021 - 07:11 pm
Peninsula

The Peninsula

Qatar's champion driver Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah clinched his 16th Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) title following the cancellation of the Lebanon International Rally.

The third and final round of the MERC was cancelled following Lebanon's decision to close the country from November 14-30.

The 49-year-old, a 3-time Dakar Rally champion, and his French navigator Mathieu Baumel won the first round of the championship in Oman before the Qatar and Jordan rounds were cancelled due to the pandemic, and then won the two stages of the Cyprus rally on October 18. The Lebanon event had been scheduled to take place from November 13-15.