Daunting new stage to kickstart Jordan Rally action
Tribune News Network
Dead Sea (Jordan)
A first pass through the daunting new 32km Tal Hilali special stage will kickstart the action at the 2025 Jordan Rally on Friday morning.
Competitors led by 16-time event winner Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and his Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera will then tackle a further 11 gravel stages over two days before the ceremonial finish at the lowest place on earth on Saturday afternoon.
Twenty-one FIA cars and an additional seven crews competing only in two separate national rallies will compete this weekend.
The event was officially flagged away from a new start venue at the Royal Automobile Club of Jordan (RACJ) after the pre-event press conference on Thursday evening. Teams had put their cars through customary technical scrutineering at the Dead Sea where a couple of potential front-runners were upbeat about their chances for the weekend.
Oman's Abdullah Al Rawahi won the event outright in 2023 on his way to the MERC title.
He said: 'This year has been very tough for us. We haven't had the results I was expecting. We have been trying really hard to push and close the gap to Nasser in terms of pace. Every year we try to learn more and more. The first three rallies didn't go as expected, especially in Oman. The first day we had to retire, in Qatar we got faster and faster and then we had punctures in Saudi Arabia.
'Jordan is where I started. It is different to other years but I love the terrain and the stages. They are tough. It is very slippery and the notes have to be precise. We are coming here to try and take the win. I am prepared better than last year where we were leading and had to retire.'
Defending regional champion Abdulaziz Al Kuwari praised the condition of the rally tracks.
The Citroën C3 driver said: 'I would like to thank the people who prepared the stages. They are amazing.'
Thirty-five-year-old Rakan Al Rashed is taking part in the event for the third time after retiring a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX in 2016 and 2017 alongside Finnish co-driver Jarkko Kalliolepo. He is aiming for a podium finish on Saturday evening to continue his quest to become the regional champion.
Rashid Al Muhannadi could mathematically confirm the FIA MERC4 title this weekend with two rounds to spare in the absence of rookie rival Mohammed Al Marri.
The Qatari said: 'This is my first time in Jordan. The stages are nice but quite demanding and technical. I like the rally. I am looking to forward to it and I hope to win the championship.'
On Friday, the opening Tal Hilali special starts at 09.44hrs and features a small section of the former Bahath special in the Jordan Valley and precedes runs through a high-speed Karameh (11.08km) stage and a special at the Baptism Site (11.34km) close to the Dead Sea.
The three stages will then be then repeated in the afternoon after a return to the Dead Sea for a midday regroup and service.
Follow the race live: https://live.chronomoto.com/jordanrally/
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Qatar Tribune
11 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Piastri beats Norris for Spanish GP pole
DPA Barcelona Championship leader Oscar Piastri conjured up a special lap to beat McLaren team-mate Lando Norris on Saturday and take pole position for the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix. The Australian was a mere 0.017 seconds behind Norris after his first flying lap in Q3, but put up a better performance in his second attempt to clock 1 minute 11.546 seconds and claim his fourth pole of the season. Former F1 driver David Coulthard praised Piastri's performance, saying: 'I think this is one of those moments where you go 'I remember where I was when I saw one of the best shootouts for pole position in some time'.' Piastri replied that his lap 'wasn't perfect.' 'But happy with what I put in. It has been a good weekend so far,' he said. Norris, who had benefited from a little tow from Piastri in the first lap, finished 0.209 behind his team-mate. The Red Bull of four-time defending champion Max Verstappen completed the top three, 0.302 off the pace. 'Oscar drove very well. The pace was there, just a couple of mistakes and yeah, didn't do it,' said Norris, who took pole in Spain last year but was beaten by Verstappen. The Dutchman, however, thinks that it will be 'tough to beat' McLaren this time in Sunday's race. 'We were lacking all weekend compared to them, but we executed well and that third position is where we should be. I'm here, squeezing everything out of the car,' Verstappen said. His performance was at least much better than the one of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who will start the race in last. Following Norris' win in Monaco last weekend, Piastri retained his lead in the standings, but only three points ahead of his team-mate. McLaren have dominated the season, with Piastri winning four and Norris two of the eight races so far. Verstappen is the only non-McLaren driver to claim victory at a grand prix this year, having won in Japan and Imola. The Mercedes of George Russell qualified fourth, followed by the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli. Charles Leclerc was seventh after he failed to resume the session following his first lap in Q3, but Ferrari did not explain why he had not returned to the track. Pierre Gasly of Alpine was eighth and Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls was ninth. Home favourite Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin was 10th quickest as he was cheered by the Spanish crowd. But compatriot Carlos Sainz was only 18th with the Williams. Starting Grid Front row: Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren), Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren) 2nd row: Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull), George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 3rd row: Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Ferrari), Kimi Antonelli (ITA/Mercedes) 4th row: Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari), Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine) 5th row: Isack Hadjar (FRA/RB), Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin) 6th row: Alex Albon (THA/Williams), Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA/Sauber) 7th row: Liam Lawson (NZL/RB), Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin) 8th row: Oliver Bearman (GBR/Haas), Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Sauber) 9th row: Esteban Ocon (FRA/Haas), Carlos Sainz (ESP/Williams) 10th rowcTypeface:> Franco Colapinto (ARG/Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/Red Bull).
Qatar Tribune
11 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Al Attiyah earns his 17th Jordan Rally triumph
Tribune News Network Dead Sea Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah won all but one of the 12 gravel special stages on his way to a comfortable 17th victory in the Jordan Rally on Saturday, The success took the iconic Skoda Fabia RS driver to a record 90th career MERC rally win, as he closes in on an unprecedented 20th regional title since 2003. The new partnership with his Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera has a 100% winning record with the duo now taking victories at the opening four rounds of this year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and now Jordan. Al Attiyah said, 'I am so happy to win again here in Jordan for the 17th time. This means a lot to me. This year we have won every rally so far. It feels like a good year, leading the Middle East Championship and leading the W2RC. For this rally, I will give it 10 out of 10. Today, we controlled the pace and tried to make a gap in case we had a puncture.' Abdullah Al Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata Al Hmoud maintained the pressure on the Qatari throughout day one but a time-consuming puncture delayed the Omani on Saturday's opening Panorama stage and a second issue on stage 10 proved too much for the 2023 regional champion. He finished second overall. Al Rawahi said: 'It was a long two days for us. The first day was quite good, especially with the pace and we were very close to Nasser. Unfortunately, today we had some punctures and we lost some time. Overall, we are very happy with our performance. It has been the closest we have been to him in the battle. 'We don't really have enough seat time in the car. After this rally I have three months off not really driving my car. My car is also an older generation and there is experience difference between me and Nasser. That is why it is good that he is in the championship. He helps us to push and get closer to him. It is still good. We wanted to win but we are still happy.' Qatar's Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and his Irish co-driver Lorcan Moore tried different set-ups with their Citroen C3 but struggled to match the pace of the leading duo on this occasion. They did enough to round off the podium places. Rakan Al Rashed's main target was to finish the event and the Saudi again teamed up with Portugal's Hugo Magalhaes in a Jameel Motorsport Toyota GR Yaris. Cruelly, his Yaris sustained substantial damage after an accident on the penultimate stage he was forced out. Lebanese driver Bassel Abu Hamdan and his co-driver Firas Elias benefitted from his demise to round off the top four in a Skoda Fabia. Oman's Abdullah Al Zubair led the MERC2 field from start-to-finish with co-driver Taha Al Tadjali to strengthen his push for the overall title. Fellow countryman Zakariya Al Aamri had arrived in Jordan with a 15-point lead over Al Zubair but his rival's success and fifth place overall has thrown the battle wide open with two rallies remaining. Al Aamri finished second in the category and eighth overall. Al Zubair said: 'We are happy with this result, It is a very difficult race. It is also very hot. It was our first time here. The first day we were flat out and won every stage. Today, we took it slow. We had a good lead and the strategy paid off.' Nasser Khalifa Al Atya continued his run of consistent form to bring his Ford Fiesta to the Dead Sea finish in sixth overall with co-driver Ziad Chehab. That result was sufficient for the Qatari veteran to seal success in the inaugural FIA Master MERC Championship with two rounds to run. The Jordanian duo of Sheikh Bader Al Fayez and Shadi Shaban were classified in seventh and ninth overall. Tenth place was sufficient for Rashid Al Mohannadi to take victory over Saad Al Harqan and Payyaakkal 'Saneem' Panikkaveettil in the FIA MERC4 category and to seal the championship title in his Peugeot 208 with two rounds to spare. Al Rawahi earned victory in the second round of the Jordan National Championship with Shaker Jweihan claiming second place ahead of Sheikh Bader Al Fayez. This year's Jordan Rally was supported by Zain Jordan, Guarantee Travel Group, Hala and Bliss FM, Markazia and Toyota Gazoo Racing Jordan. The FIA Middle East Rally Championship continues in Lebanon on September 5th-7th.
Qatar Tribune
13 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Nasser Al Attiyah wins his 17th Jordan Rally title
DOHA: Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah cruised to a comfortable 17th victory in the Jordan Rally on Saturday. The success took the iconic Škoda Fabia RS driver to a record 90th career MERC rally win, as he closes in on an unprecedented 20th regional title since 2003. The new partnership with his Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera has a 100% winning record with the duo now taking victories at the opening four rounds of this year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and now Jordan. Al Attiyah said, 'I am so happy to win again here in Jordan for the 17th time. This means a lot to me. This year we have won every rally so far. It feels like a good year, leading the Middle East Championship and leading the W2RC. For this rally, I will give it 10 out of 10. Today, we controlled the pace and tried to make a gap in case we had a puncture.' Qatar's Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and his Irish co-driver Lorcan Moore tried different set-ups with their Citroen C3 but struggled to match the pace of the leading duo on this occasion. They did enough to round off the podium places. Abdullah Al Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata Al Hmoud maintained the pressure on Al Attiyah throughout day one but a time-consuming puncture delayed the Omani on Saturday's opening Panorama stage and a second issue on stage 10 proved too much for the 2023 regional champion. He finished second overall. Qatar's Nasser Khalifa Al Atya continued his run of consistent form to bring his Ford Fiesta to the Dead Sea finish in sixth overall with co-driver Ziad Chehab. That result was sufficient for the Qatari veteran to seal success in the inaugural FIA Master MERC Championship with two rounds to run.
