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Times of Oman
31-05-2025
- Automotive
- Times of Oman
Second place for Oman Rally Team's Al-Rawahi after tyre issues in Jordan
Muscat: A puncture on the first special stage of the final morning proved to be mightily expensive for the Oman Rally Team's Abdullah Al-Rawahi and it ultimately cost him the chance to threaten the 19-time FIA Middle East champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah for victory at the Jordan Rally at Dead Sea in Jordan. Al-Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud pushed as hard as they could when conditions permitted but they were always running the risk of collecting a flat tyre on the day's six demanding gravel special stages in the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley areas of the Hashemite Kingdom. Another time delay with a flat tyre on the 10th stage eventually decided the outcome in Al-Attiyah's favour and Al-Rawahi had no alternative but to bring his Autotek Škoda Fabia R5 to the finish in second overall. Nevertheless, his day's result also netted a second Jordan National Championship event win of the weekend. 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.' A first pass through the iconic Panorama stage of 17.12km opened proceedings on the final morning. Outside temperatures were already up to 31°C at the start of the stage with a peak of 37°C in the afternoon. Surface cleaning was evident on the opener but Al-Attiyah laid down the gauntlet with a time of 11min 38.0sec. Al-Rawahi dropped 32.3 seconds with tyre damage on a front-right wheel and that enabled Al-Attiyah to extend his lead to 45.8 seconds. The first pass through Suwayma was next in the itinerary. Al-Attiyah stopped the clocks in 5min 47.0sec and was able to extend his advantage over Al-Rawahi to 52.5 seconds with another stage win. Wadi Nar was the last stage of the loop. Al-Attiyah made it a clean sweep of morning stage wins and headed for the midday service and regroup with an advantage over Al-Rawahi of 53.1 seconds. He beat the Omani by just six-tenths of a second in the special. After the opening loop of three stages, Al-Rawahi said: 'The first stage this morning we got a puncture and lost over 30 seconds. When you try to keep up and push this can happen sometimes. We were able to continue but the gap is bigger. It's not impossible but it was closer before. Now we are trying to maintain our speed. We have three more stages to go.' A second delay occurred in the afternoon with another puncture but the Omani held on to take second place and maintain his push for a podium finish in this year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship. The Oman Rally Team has backing from Al-Manar Investments, the Oman Automobile Association, WMS, Zamakan, OQ, Strike, Size, the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture of Oman and National Finance. The FIA Middle East Rally Championship continues in Lebanon on September 5th-7th. 2025 Jordan Rally – positions after SS12 (unofficial): 1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2 2hr 13min 47.7sec 2. Abdullah Al-Rawahi (OMA)/Ata Al-Hmoud (JOR) Škoda Fabia R5 Rally 2 2hr 16min 42.5sec 3. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Lorcan Moore (IRL) Citroën C3 Rally 2 2hr 19min 01.3sec 4. Bassel Abu Hamdan (KSA)/Firas Elias (LBN) Škoda Fabia R5 Rally 2 2hr 33min 25.3sec 5. Abdullah Al-Zubair (OMA)/Taha Al-Zadjali (OMA) Subaru Impreza N14 2hr 37min 26.0sec 6. Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Ziad Chehab (LBN) Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally 2 2hr 38min 58.3sec 7. Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez (JOR)/Vili Oslaj (SLO) Škoda Fabia Rally 2 2hr 40min 34.9sec 8. Zakariya Al-Aamri (OMA)/Mohammed Al-Mazroui (OMA) Subaru Impreza N14 2hr 41min 53.0sec 9. Shadi Shaban (JOR)/Samer Issa (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX (NAT) 2hr 42min 10.2sec
Times of Oman
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- Times of Oman
Oman Rally Team's Al-Rawahi eyes overall victory at Jordan Rally
DEAD SEA (JORDAN): Oman Rally Team star Abdullah Al-Rawahi is targeting a second victory in the Jordan Rally when he rekindles his FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) campaign at next weekend's event in blistering heat at the Dead Sea (May 29th-31st). The 2023 regional champion won the event outright with local co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud in their title-winning season. The pair resume their partnership at the lowest point on earth after Al-Hmoud had been forced to miss the last round in Saudi Arabia while his wife gave birth to twins. In Al-Hmoud's absence, Al-Rawahi teamed up with British navigator Ross Whittock to finish fifth in his Autotek Škoda Fabia RS. He now holds third in the Drivers' Championship with three rounds to run in Jordan, Lebanon and Cyprus. Speaking ahead of starting his two-day recce of the route, Al-Rawahi said: 'Jordan Rally is a really important one for me. This is where I started my journey. It is like my home rally. I think we have a huge chance to maybe fight for the win. Last year, we were leading and I went off the track and we were not able to continue. This year, I am hoping we are ready. We will give our best. 'Ata is back with me. That will add a lot of value. We have a long relationship since I started rallying. It is going to be tough. Jordan Rally is always tough, slippery and very narrow and, in some cases, no place for error. I am hoping for the best and we will keep pushing.' An upbeat Al-Hmoud added: 'We have one target and that is to win the rally. It will not be easy, especially with Nasser in the Škoda RS and Rakan competing in the MERC with his Toyota Yaris and Abdulaziz with the Citroën. We saw in Portugal last weekend that all those three cars are at the top level (WRC2). 'We have the experience in Jordan. Hopefully, we can be the top level of the game. The Dead Sea at this time of year is very hot. Weather conditions could be a tough one. I missed Jeddah (Rally Saudi Arabia) because my wife delivered two babies, two young angels, a baby girl and a baby boy. Now I have a bigger family. We will do our best to win this event.' Competitors will tackle a dozen special stages and 196.30 competitive kilometres in the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley areas. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah heads the 22-car FIA field after winning the opening three rounds of the season in Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. He will be aiming to defend a 31-point lead over Rakan Al-Rashed in the Drivers' Championship. Al-Rawahi faces competition from seven Rally2 machines. Other rivals include defending regional champion Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya, Bassal Abu Hamdan and the Jordanian duo of Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez and Ihab Al-Shorafa. The Oman Rally Team has backing from Al-Manar Investments, the Oman Automobile Association, WMS, Zamakan, OQ, Strike, Size, the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture of Oman and National Finance.
Muscat Daily
03-05-2025
- Automotive
- Muscat Daily
Oman's Abdullah al Zubair wins MERC2 at Rally Saudi Arabia
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – Oman's Abdullah al Zubair won the MERC2 category at the inaugural Jeddah-based Rally Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Al Zubair dominated from the start in his Subaru Impreza and moved firmly into title contention against fellow countryman Zakariya al Aamri. 'Very nice, very fast,' said Al Zubair. 'Overall, I am happy. It has been very challenging. You have to trust your notes on this rally.' Meanwhile, Nasser Saleh al Attiyah won five of the day's six gravel stages to the north of the Red Sea city to earn a record-breaking 89th career MERC rally win, as he bids for a 20th FIA Middle East Rally Championship title Al Attiyah and Candido Carrera, in an Autotek Škoda Fabia RS, suffered a time-consuming puncture on the second stage of the final day but hit back to win his third successive MERC event with his Spanish co-driver Carrera by 1min 37.4sec. Al Attiyah said: 'It was nice to win the rally. But the good thing was that we had the rally back here in Saudi Arabia. I cannot wait for the next one in November. I want to do it in a Rally1 car!' Finn Juho Hänninen and his co-driver Janni Hussi entered the event in a Toyota Yaris for test and research purposes on behalf of the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT. But the duo won two stages and finished in a comfortable second position, although they were not registered for MERC points. Hänninen added: 'It was okay. We saw all the stages and we learned a lot. From that side it was a good journey. Nasser is the king of the Middle East. I knew that before coming here. The result was not that important. We learned so many things. It's nice to be second after Nasser. It was nice to see him again because we competed together many years ago.' Saudi driver Rakan Al Rashed teamed up with Hugo Magalhães to finish on the final step of the podium. Qatar's Abdulaziz al Kuwari and his Irish team-mate Lorcan Moore moved briefly into third overall during the final morning before stopping to change a flat tyre mid-stage. That time loss pushed them back to fourth, a position they held to the finish to stay ahead of Oman's Abdullah al Rawahi and his British co-driver Ross Whittock. Three punctures had cost Al Rawahi dearly on day one.
