Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah waves a flag at the start of the Jordan Rally, yesterday.
Doha, Qatar: The Jordan Rally got underway with a ceremonial start and the spectacular backdrop of the Dead Sea yesterday evening.
Twenty-four cars (16 FIA and eight National) and competitors from nine countries will tackle 15 demanding special stages in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea areas over the next two days to determine the outcome of round two of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC).
Abdullah Al Rawahi is the defending Jordanian national champion and the winner of last year’s MERC event in the Hashemite Kingdom. He is the second seed this weekend behind 19-time regional champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and is quietly confident that he can progress his title defence this weekend.
Al Rawahi said: “Nasser is a fantastic driver. Hopefully we can battle and have a good pace."
Al Attiyah retired from the opening round in Qatar trying to push for additional points on the final Power Stage but the Qatari will be hoping to give his new Škoda Fabia RS a winning debut in Jordan.
Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah (fourth left) speaks prior to the start of the Rally.
Al Attiyah said: “This is always one of the favourite rallies for all the drivers. The organisers have done a good job to build the stages. We try to enjoy this race and to win. I am actually happy to share the title last year with Abdullah. He’s improved every race and this is what we need for the Middle East. We are looking for more drivers to compete at this level."
“Last year, we got a few problems and finished second but this year is completely different. We try to be clever with the new Škoda Fabia. We make a good test, 30km. I like the car a lot. Abdullah has more points than me but, if you look at the Dakar Rally, I had no points from there either and I am now leading the World Championship (W2RC) and I won the last two races. I need to be clever for this race - maximum points - and then Lebanon, Cyprus and Oman.”
Jordan Motorsport hosted the official pre-event press conference on the podium prior to the ceremonial start ceremony.
Al Rawahi and Al Attiyah were joined by the Qatari duo of Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and Khalid Al Suwaidi and a quartet of leading Jordanian drivers – Bader Al Fayez, Shaker Jweihan, Shadi Shaban and Husam Salim.
Today, the Mount Nebo area hosts the opening Panorama and Bahath stages before competitors return to the Dead Sea area to complete the morning’s loop with a pass through the Baptism Site special, named after the famous biblical location situated close by.
A lunchtime service precedes a repeat run through each of the three speed tests and a short blast through a 3.3km super special at the Dead Sea to round off the day’s proceedings from 16.35hrs.
