Prince Feisal Al Hussein flags Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah from the starting point of the Jordan Rally yesterday.
DEAD SEA, JORDAN: Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah cruised to the fastest time of 1min 35.9sec through the 1.71km Vestel super special stage that kick-started the 2018 FIA Middle East Rally Championship on the shores of the Dead Sea in Jordan yesterday.
The Ford Fiesta R5 driver is chasing a 14th regional title and a record-equalling 12th win in Jordan.
The Qatari driver and French navigator Mathieu Baumel will take a lead of just 1,4 seconds over the Czech duo of Vojtch Stajf and Marketa Skacelova into the gravel stages today after tackling the opening stage in torrential rain. The Škoda Fabia R5 crew are taking part in the Hashemite Kingdom for the first time.
“This is only my second gravel rally after the Shiraz International in Iran last year,” said Stajf. “I was talking to Nasser there last year and he suggested that I take part in some rallies in the Middle East. I am a tarmac driver but I approached my sponsors and here we are. The goal is not to try and beat Nasser. The goal is to learn as much as I can and be as close to him as I can on these very difficult stages.”
Cars were flagged away from the ceremonial start podium by HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, Chairman of Jordan Motorsport, in gloomy weather conditions, as dark storm clouds gathered menacingly in the Dead Sea area.
Minutes earlier, Meshari Al Thefiri, Abdullah Al Ruwaihi, Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah, Vojtch Stajf, Ahmad Shaban and Asem Aref had attended an official Q&A session with the media on the start podium.
First blood in the competitive MERC 2 category fell to Kuwait’s Meshari Al Thefiri after the rain began to intensify as the stage progressed and was falling heavily with sporadic thunder and lightning for the later cars through the super special stage. Jordan’s Ahmad Shaban finished the stage three seconds behind the Kuwaiti and Khaled Juma was a further 1.8 seconds adrift.
Twenty-one-year old Omani Abdullah Al Rawahi completed his first ever MERC stage in seventh position after stalling close to the stage finish.
Lebanon’s Henry Kahy and Jordanian co-driver Musa Djiyerian got their regional rallying campaign in a Group A Škoda Fabia underway with the eighth quickest time.
Local driver Asem Aref, co-driven by Faris Tal, guided his little two-wheel drive Renault Clio RX safely through the opener at the rear of the field.
Tarek Al Taher clocked the fastest time in the saturated opening super special stage to lead Salamah Al Gammaz by 12.6 seconds. Al Edwan left the track and rolled in the slippery conditions and lost over two and a half minutes.
The 36th edition of the Jordan Rally is running with the support of Kroon Oil, VESTEL, Hilton Dead Sea Resort and Spa, the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre managed by Hilton, Guarantee travel group, Hala and Bliss FM.
Today crews will tackle two runs through three special stages, commencing with the 19.0km of the Mahes test at 10.04hrs. Palms (30.2km) and the Baptism Site (11.70km) follow at 10.47his and 11.45hrs, respectively.
The three stages are repeated in the afternoon at 13.25hrs, 14.03hrs and 15.01hrs after a return to the Dead Sea service area at lunchtime.
