The modern and bustling Lusail Boulevard will host the start of the 50th anniversary running of the Qatar International Rally on Thursday evening.
Twenty-eight crews and competitors from 19 nations are expected to cross the start podium from 18.00hrs onwards before tackling a short special stage of 4.36km at the LCSC Karting Academy. The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) has then laid on a further six gravel special stages through the northern desert, which will be repeated twice over Friday and Saturday.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah arrives at the start of his home rally with an eight-point lead in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) after his recent win in Oman. The Qatari will be bidding to rewrite his own history with an 18th win at the rally since 2003, while his new Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera will be aiming for win number two in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.
There is strength in depth throughout a quality field of drivers with seven crews entered in Rally2 cars. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari is the defending regional champion but began the defence of his title with an unfortunate late retirement in Oman. That left the Qatari and his Irish co-driver Lorcan Moore without a point to show for their efforts after the first run in a new Citroën C3.
Abdullah Al-Rawahi celebrated his 28th birthday on Wednesday, but there is nothing the joint 2023 MERC champion would like more than to earn a large haul of championship points in Qatar. He and Jordanian co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud won four stages in Oman two weeks ago, but a suspension breakage cost the Omani dearly, and he languishes in seventh place in the Drivers’ Championship after round one.
Saudi driver Rakan Al-Rashed made an impressive return to the MERC in Oman and shadowed Al-Attiyah to the finish to snatch second place in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. He and Portuguese co-driver Hugo Magalhães (winner of the event with Rashid Al-Naimi in 2017) hope for another podium finish this weekend.
Veteran Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya won the event back in 1993 and is chasing both MERC points and the inaugural Masters MERC Championship this year. The Qatari started the season superbly with a podium finish with Ziad Chehab and already has a six-point lead over Ibrahim Al-Muhanna in the new Masters section.
Norwegian star Mads Østberg has entered the event for a fourth successive season in a bid to upstage the local contingent. On his debut in 2022, he led before suffering a cruel water leak after an impact, and he went on to finish second in 2023 and 2024 behind Al-Attiyah and Pierre-Louis Loubet. This year, he again wheels out a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 and teams up with Romania’s Sergiu Itu for the first time at this event. Like several of his rivals, Mads performed a shakedown test near Lusail on Tuesday.
Denis Krotov and Yury Kulikov complete the line-up of Rally2 machines in their Škoda Fabia RS. Better known for his exploits in cross-country rallying, Krotov was in Qatar last November and won the International Baja in a Mini JCW Rally 3.0i. He also finished fourth overall at the Jordan Rally last year with Kulikov.
A high attrition rate affected crews running in the FIA MERC2 category in Oman recently, but Abdullah Al-Zubair emerged relatively unscathed and led the way by six points from fellow countryman Zakariya Al-Aamri after round one.
In Qatar, the Omani faces competition from Mohammed Al-Atteya, Lebanon’s Ahmad Khaled and Jad Al-Aawar, Kuwait’s Jassim Al-Muqahwi, India’s Mohammed Mansoor Parol and the Jordanian duo of Shadi Shaban and Ihab Al-Shorafa. The Italian trio of Simone Temeroli, Stefano Marrini, and Christiano Gabbarrini are also included in the group but are not registered for MERC points.
A fine fourth place on his debut in a new Peugeot 208 Rally4 has given Rashid Al-Muhannadi a six-point lead over defending champion Shadi El-Fakih in the FIA MERC4 Championship. The Qatari team up again with Irishman Gary McElhinney at an event where he is joined by Mohammed Al-Marri and Saad Al-Harqan.
They will be making their competition debuts in a pair of 208 Rally4s as a reward for winning through the recent Qatar Motorsports Academy Stars selection process at Lusail. The young rookies will be co-driven by the experienced French duo of Yannick Roche and Pierre Delorme, as they make their first steps into international rallying at the start of a potential full programme of regional events this season.
Indian driver Payyaakkal ‘Saneem’ Panikkaveettil has also entered a Ford Fiesta in the Rally4 category with his co-driver Musa Sherif.
Rounding off the entry are four SSVs: Ibrahim Al-Muhanna holds eighth in the Drivers’ Championship after Oman, and Yosra Jazzar is 10th. They drive a pair of Can-Am Maverick X3s alongside the Italian duo of Mirko Carrara and Marco Marotta, although the two Europeans are not registered for the MERC.
The 50th anniversary rally is being held under the chairmanship of QMMF President Abdulrahman Al-Mannai, senior committee member Abdulrazaq Al-Kuwari, and the QMMF’s Executive Director Amro Al-Hamad.
Tomorrow (Thursday), several leading drivers will attend the pre-event press conference on the start podium at Lusail Boulevard from 17.30hrs before the ceremonial start takes centre stage at 18.00hrs.
Competitors will tackle the opening timed super special stage at the LCSC Karting Academy, near the service park, from 19.15hrs.
2025 FIA MERC Drivers’ standings after Round 1
01: Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT) – 35pts
02: Rakan Al-Rashed (KSA – 27pts
03: Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya (QAT) – 23pts
04: Rashid Al-Muhannadi (QAT) – 19pts
05: Shadi Shaban (JOR) – 17pts
06: Abdullah Al-Zubair (OMA) – 16pts
07: Abdullah Al-Rawahi (OMN) – 15pts
08: Ibrahim Al-Muhanna (KSA) – 13pts
09: Shadi El-Fakih (LBN) – 9pts
10: Yosra Jazzar (KSA) – 7pts