Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah holds the Palestinian flag ahead of Jordan Rally.
The 2021 Jordan Rally got underway on the shores of the Dead Sea yesterday.
Twelve cars and competitors from eight nations will now tackle 10 demanding gravel stages today and tomorrow in the Dead Sea, Mount Nebo and Jordan River areas close to the lowest geographical point on earth.
Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah will be hoping to extend his eight-point lead in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship in the absence of closest rivals, Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and Khalid Al Suwaidi, who pushed him hard at the opening round in Qatar at the end of January.
On this occasion the 13-time winner of the Jordan Rally faces competition from former QMMF President Nasser Khalifa Al Atya and Oman Rally Team driver Abdullah Al Rawahi. Meshari Al Thefiri has won the last three MERC2 championships in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X and the Kuwaiti takes a nine-point advantage in the secondary ‘showroom’ category into the opening stages today.
His two closest rivals, Rashid Al Mohannadi and Zakariya Al Ofi, have not made the trip to the Hashemite Kingdom but local drivers Shabi Shaban and Ihab Al Shourafa and the Lebanese trio of Alex El Feghali, Ahmed Khaled and Shadi El Fakih will be hoping to push him all the way.
Lebanon’s defending champion Henry Kahy faces local driver Asem Aref in the MERC3 section for twowheel drive cars and Saudi Arabia’s Saleh Al-Saif rounds off the starting line-up in a T4 Can-Am Maverick X3. Today, crews tackle two loops of three special stages, starting with a run through the 9.8km of Syagha from 09.19hrs.
The brand new challenge of Adasiyah (34.70km) follows at 09.58hrs and the loop is completed with a blast through the 11.34km of the Baptism Site special from 11.17hrs.
After a return to the Dead Sea Service Park for a mid-leg regroup and chance to refettle the cars, the loop of three speed tests are repeated at 12.58hrs, 13.37hrs and 14.56hrs, respectively
