Sensational Al Attiyah seals 80th MERC win

Doha: Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah overcame the most difficult challenge of his career at the Qatar International Rally to record a 16th victory at his home event and achieve a stunning milestone of 80 wins in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) since 2003.

Driving his customary Autotek Volkswagen Polo GTI, Al Attiyah only hit the front on the eighth of 12 gravel special stages in the Qatar deserts and survived a front puncture in stage nine to press home his advantage over the final three stages. Mads Ostberg pushed him all the way to the penultimate stage, but Al Attiyah hung on doggedly and eventually secured a winning margin of 4min 38.4sec after the Norwegian retired.

The success was a 28th for co-driver Mathieu Baumel in the MERC and his fifth in Qatar, while Al Attiyah’s 80th success as a driver equalled the number of wins achieved last month by French legend Sébastien Loeb in the FIA World Rally Championship.

“It is a good feeling,” said Al Attiyah, who duly extended his lead in the regional series. “I am really happy to win Qatar Rally. This is my home and in front of my people. This was not an easy race. It was tricky. The pace that we did from yesterday to today, me and Kris and Mads, was very hard. This was a fantastic win. I was trying to keep one pace. It was amazing.”

Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel pose for a picture with QMMF President Abdulrahman Al Mannai and QMMF Executive Director Amro Al Hamad. 

Al Attiyah added: “The first stage in the morning we were really careful. We lost four seconds and then we really pushed and took a lot of risks. The last one, in the middle of the stage, we have a flat tyre on the front and we carry on. We were lucky because Mads also had the same. We take 18 seconds. It was good, but it was very hard. We try to keep going like this. Still nine seconds and three stages. It’s still everything open.”

Ostberg and Ilka Minor certainly took the fight to Al Attiyah, led overnight and extended their advantage on the first stage of the morning. The Norwegian lost his way for a few seconds in stage eight and then a rear puncture cost him his lead before the regroup. He pushed hard during the afternoon to try and hunt down a charging Al Attiyah, but it was in vain and a heavy impact in the penultimate stage damaged the Škoda Fabia R2 evo, caused a water leak from a fractured pipe and sidelined the former FIA WRC2 World Champion within sight of the finish.

Oman’s Abdullah Al Rawahi was patient and stayed clear of trouble as chaos ensued around  him. He and Jordanian co-driver Ata Al Hmoud were rewarded with a stunning second place in their Oman Rally Team-run Škoda Fabia R2 evo and a useful haul of championship points.

Al Rawahi said: “Quite happy. The guys in front were pushing too much and a few of them had technical problems. I was trying to be clean and take advantage of anyone who made mistakes. Overall, on the second day, the times were quite close and I am happy with my performance. It was really important that we finished second.”

Andorra-based Ulsterman Kris Meeke and co-driver Chris Patterson led after two stages on Friday before rolling out of contention for the win in stage four. Meeke climbed from fifth to third during the final day and then overcame a damper issue on the final loop of three stages to regain third overall and the final place on the podium.

The former WRC star said: “Normally I like to be at the races. We were early on but I made that silly mistake on stage four. The speed was good all weekend. We had an issue at the rear to carry through the final stages, so we had to take it easy. Anything can happen here. We saw Nasser had his issues but still got through. He has proven why he is the king of the desert."

Transmission issues accounted for Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and cost the Qatari a potential podium finish, while a broken wheel hub was the cause of Khaled Al Suwaidi’s retirement from fifth overall.

Kuwait’s Meshari Al Thefiri was the class of the MERC2 field in his fourth-placed Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. He and co-driver Nasser Al Kuwari completely dominated the category to secure a winning margin of 11min 56.5sec over Oman’s Zakariya and Mohammed Al Aamri.

Jordan’s Issa Abu Jamous moved ahead of fellow countryman Ihab Al Shorafa on the final loop of stages, when the latter suffered tyre issues. They reached the finish in sixth and seventh overall. Qatar’s Mohammed Al Attiyah was eighth and Germany’s Edith Weiss came home in ninth.

Ahmed and Firas Allouh overcame a dramatic first day of the Qatar National Rally to edge the win over their Qatari Can-Am rivals, Ahmad Al Muhannadi and Mubarak Al Khelaifi. Lebanon’s Kahy dropped 17 minutes to his rivals on the first run through Umm Birka and finished third.

Action in the 2022 FIA Middle East Rally Championship resumes in Kuwait on March 17-19.

2022 Qatar International Rally – positions after SS12
1. Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah (QAT)/Mathieu Baumel (AND) Volkswagen Polo GTI     1hr 44min 44.5sec
2. Abdullah Al Rawahi (OMN)/Ata Al Hmoud (JOR) Škoda Fabia R2 evo    1hr 49min 22.9sec
3. Kris Meeke (AND)/Chris Patterson (IRL) Škoda Fabia R2 evo    1hr 50min 51.5sec
4. Meshari Al Thefiri (KWT)/Nasser Al Kuwari (QAT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X    2hr 08min 19.3sec
5. Zakariya Al Aamri (OMN)/Mohammed Al Aamri (OMN) Subaru Impreza    2hr 20min 15.8sec
6. Issa Abu Jamous (JOR)/Emad Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX    2hr 28min 50.2sec
7. Ihab Al Shorafa (JOR)/Yousef Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX    2hr 29min 53.3sec
8. Mohammed Al Attiyah (QAT)/Savvas Laos (CYP) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X    2hr 32min 48.3sec
9. Edith Weiss (QAT)/Serena Mattivi (ITA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X    2hr 34min 32.9sec

2022 Qatar National Rally – positions after SS12
1. Ahmed Allouh (QAT)/Firas Allouh (QAT) Can-Am Maverick X3    2hr 42min 13.4sec
2. Ahmad Al Muhannadi (QAT)/Mubarak Al Khelaifi (QAT) Can-Am Maverick X3    3hr 03min 07.1sec
3. Henry Kahy (LEB)/Carlos Hanna (LEB) Can-Am Maverick X3    3hr 27min 13.3sec