The Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) held its third round in conjunction with the WRC Jordan Rally. The logistical nightmares suffered by the WRC teams (through no wrongdoing or poor planningby the organisers or teams) saw the rally’s Day One action cancelled.
Day Two (which effectively became Day One) saw the MERC competitors struggle for supremacy, but it was Nasser Al-Attiyah (Ford Fiesta S2000) finish the first day with a resounding 10min 442.3sec lead over his rivals.
Day Three, the final leg of the rally, took in eight stages. Al-Attiyah’s seemingly unchallengeable lead was cut down in one stage. Only 5km into the day’s first stage, Al-Attiyah’s Ford Fiesta was struck with engine problems. With a misfire that arose at the end of the previous day, his efforts came to nought as he was reduced to a spectator. Al-Ketbi (Skoda Fabia S2000) claimed the overall lead of the rally, 07min 45.9sec over Mubarak and then Al-Qassimi a very distant third.
By the mid-day service, Al-Ketbi had survived a puncture and still enjoyed a cushion of 09min 36.3sec over his rivals.
The Emirati driver coasted through the final stages to finish the event with a 10min 50.2sec lead.
The punishing conditions for the WRC cars and WRC entries seemed to affect the regional runners too, despite them having more experience over these roads and in these unique conditions.
Had the 2010 Dakar Rally Champion not have retired with engine woes, it wold have been interesting to see how much further he would have finished ahead of his rivals. However, this sport is highly unpredictable and that is what makes this sport as exciting and captivating as it is. It is also interesting to note that this is Skoda’s first win in the MERC with their mighty Fabia S2000.
OVERALL CLASSIFICATION
01) R. Al-Ketbi/K. Al-Kendi
Skoda Fabia S2000 – 03h 19m 52.9s
02) A. Al-Qassimi/S. Lancaster
Ford Fiesta S2000 – 03h 30m 43.1s
03) M. Mubarak/S. Al-Melaifi
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X – 03h 33m 10.3s
04) M. Saleh/A. Ghaziri
Subaru Impreza WRX STi – 03h 33m 35.5s
05) M. Tantash/Z. Abu Zeid
Subaru Impreza WRX STi – 03h 34m 27.4s
06) E. Al-Nejadi/A. Al-Sharah
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX – 03h 39m 40.0s
07) M. Al-Nejadi/A. Al-Khrass
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX – 03h 41m 04.2s
08) N. Al-Majali/N. Shnoudeh
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX – 03h 51m 53.8s
09) R. Hijazi/R. Mansour
Subaru Impreza WRX STi – 03h 59m 25.7s
10) M. Hatk/F. Hakki
Fiat Stilo – 04h 24m 1.4s