Al Rawahi holds second place at the Jordan Rally
JORDAN: Oman Rally Team star Abdullah al Rawahi delivered one of the best performances of his career on the first day of the Jordan Rally.
After six demanding gravel stages in the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley areas, the Autotek Škoda Fabia driver trailed the 19-time FIA Middle East champion Nasser Saleh al Attiyah by just 13.5 seconds. This was despite a slow puncture towards the end of the last stage.
Al Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata al Hmoud are bidding to win the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) title for a second time, as well as trying to win the event in Jordan once again. The performance today also netted them the win in the opening round of the Jordan National Championship.
At the end of a dramatic day, where Al Attiyah and Al Rawahi were the class of the entire field.
Al Rawahi said: 'I think this rally overall is very tough and it is not easy to challenge Nasser over these stages. He has won it 16 times. Being just behind him and able to take some time, I am very happy. Tomorrow, is another day. We must also remember that I have an older car. I think we should be happy with the result today. I think we are on the limit. I don't think we can push any harder and we don't want mistakes.'
Al Rawahi was in scintillating form on the opening loop of three stages where he was more than a match for the road-sweeping Al Attiyah. The duo was separated by just 0.6 seconds on the 32 km opening speed test at Tal Hilali and then by a mere one-tenth of a second on stage two. But Al Rawahi was faster than his Qatari rival on the third stage of the loop at the historic Baptism Site and edged into a slender 0.8-second lead at the midday point.
Ata al Hmoud and Abdullah al Rawahi (R)
Al Rawahi said: 'It was a good day for us so far. The stages are quite tough and very tricky. We had a few moments but the times are good overall and we are leading after the first loop. I think we just need to keep focused and try to do our best. We need to be very consistent with our performance. You have no other choice but to go flat out. This afternoon, the same.'
Saturday's remaining three stages are repeated twice with action getting underway with a run though the Panorama stage of 17.12 km. The first passes through the Suwayma and Wadi Nar specials complete the morning's loop. The three timed tests are repeated in the afternoon before the post-event press conference and traditional ceremonial finish at the Dead Sea.
2025 Jordan Rally — positions after SS6 (unofficial):
1. Nasser Saleh al Attiyah (QAT)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2 1 hr 16 min 10.7 sec
2. Abdullah al Rawahi (OMA)/Ata al Hmoud (JOR) Škoda Fabia R5 Rally 2 1 hr 16 min 24.2 sec
3. Abdulaziz al Kuwari (QAT)/Lorcan Moore (IRL) Citroën C3 Rally 2 1 hr 18 min 29.6 sec
4. Rakan al Rashed (KSA)/Hugo Magalhães (POR) Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2 1 hr 23 min 46.9 sec
5. Bassel Abu Hamdan (KSA)/Firas Elias (LBN) Škoda Fabia R5 Rally 2 1 hr 27 min 24.3 sec
6. Abdullah al Zubair (OMA)/Taha al Zadjali (OMA) Subaru Impreza N14 1 hr 27 min 43.4 sec
7. Nasser Khalifa al Attiyah (QAT)/Ziad Chehab (LBN) Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally 2 1 hr 28 min 01.5 sec
8. Shadi Shaban (JOR)/Samer Issa (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX (NAT) 1 hr 28 min 47,6 sec
9. Zakariya al Aamri (OMA)/Mohammed al Mazroui (OMA) Subaru Impreza N14 1 hr 31 min 25.9 sec
10. Ihab al Shurafa (JOR)/Ahmad Jankhout (JOR) Škoda Fabia Evo Rally 2 1 hr 32 min 51.6 sec
11. Rashid al Muhannadi (QAT)/Gary McElhinney (IRL) Peugeot 208 Rally 4 1 hr 32 min 57.0 sec
12. Sheikh Bader al Fayez (JOR)/Vili Oslaj (SLO) Škoda Fabia Rally 2 1 hr 33 min 42.4 sec
13. Shadi El Fakih (LBN)/Joseph Kmeid (LBN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1 hr 45 min 00.1 sec
14. Jassim al Muqahwi (KUW)/Suleiman al Helal (KUW) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1 hr 46 min 32.3 sec
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