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Nasser wins Jordan Rally

Dead Sea, Jordan: Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah matched another major milestone in the history of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship by equalling Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s 12 victories at the Jordan Rally on Saturday.

Nasser and French navigator Matthieu Baumel began the final day with a lead of 4min 20.9sec and reached the Dead Sea finish of a rally that had been modified because of freak heavy rains on Thursday evening with a winning margin of 8min 03.2sec.

The success was Nasser’s record-breaking 67th in MERC history and a 16th for Baumel, who drew level with John Spiller as the fourth most successful co-driver in regional history behind Ronan Morgan (41 wins) and a tying Giovanni Bernacchini and Chris Patterson (25 wins apiece).

A delighted Nasser said: “I think we did a clever race. I am happy with the performance and to equal the record of wins here is a nice feeling. We already have the record of winning the most number of Middle East rallies. We will try and get the new record for the Middle East Championships this year.”

Vojtech Stajf and Marketa Skacelova overcame a substantial first-day time loss because of a puncture to regain second place in their Skoda Fabia R5. A good tyre choice worked in their favour as they set a target of overhauling Kuwait’s Meshari Al Thefiri. The Czech belied his limited experience of gravel rallying to shadow Nasser to the finish.

Al Thefiri and navigator Nasser Al Kuwari were the class of the MERC 2 field in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X and the Kuwaiti was rewarded with a maximum haul of showroom class points and third overall.

The Jordanian crew of Khaled and Emad Juma had hoped to challenge Al Thefiri over the closing stages, but had to be satisfied with fourth overall and maximum points on the second round of the Jordan National Championship. Local rivals Ahmad and Shadi Shaban finished fifth and Ihab Al-Shorafa and Yousef Juma were classified in sixth place.

Lebanon’s Henry Kahy had to send his Skoda Fabia to Jordan via Jeddah and his hard work with Jordanian co-driver Musa Djiyerian was rewarded with seventh overall and two-wheel drive honours.

Oman’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi and Zakariah Al-Ofi missed most of the opening day after sliding into a ditch, but the youngster recovered well to overtake Asem Aref and Faris Al-Tal over the first loop of stages in his Subaru Impreza STi. An ECU issue eventually sidelined the Omani and lifted Aref’s Renault Clio RX back into eighth place.

Salameh Al-Gammaz led the way in the Jordan National category from Zeid Miqdad, Tareq Al-Taher and Raed Al-Advan, but Juma was registered for both rallies and claimed maximum points in the local series. Al-Gammaz slotted into third position.

The 36th edition of the Jordan Rally ran 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.

2018 Jordan Rally – Top five positions after SS14 (unofficial):

1. Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Ford Fiesta R5 1hr 56min 30.3sec

2. Vojtech Stajf (CZE)/Marketa Skacelova (CZE) Skoda Fabia R5 2hrs 04min 33.5sec

3. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KWT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hrs 06min 50.3sec

4. Khaled Juma (JOR)/Emad Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hrs 14min 16.1sec

5. Ahmed Shaban (JOR)/Shadi Shaban (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hrs 18min 45.2sec

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