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Times of Oman
29-05-2025
- General
- Times of Oman
Daunting new Tal Hilali stage to kickstart Jordan Rally on Friday
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. We need to be careful. 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. The new stages and the old parts of stages are fantastic. I just worry a little bit about the grip on the first loop. Competition will be very high with eight Rally2s. We are looking forward to it. 'There is no pressure (being champion). I play other different sports, like padel, and people ask me why I don't ever feel pressure. I always try to enjoy. I am getting used to the new car, especially the last day in Saudi where we were much faster than the previous rallies. More kilometres and we will get even faster.' 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. Al-Rashed said: 'For me, I like these stages. They are hard. We will take care on the first stage, the long one, because of the risk of punctures because we have two more stages of around 11km each in the loop. A flat tyre there would be a big problem for me. My strategy is to finish the rally. Being in Portugal and having recent gravel experience should also help.' 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.' This year's Jordan Rally is supported by Zain Jordan, Guarantee Travel Group, Hala and Bliss FM, Markazia and Toyota Gazoo Racing Jordan. Tomorrow (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.
Gulf Today
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- Gulf Today
Al-Attiyah, Carrera aim to maintain momentum in Jordan
Nineteen-time FIA Middle East Rally Champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and his Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera will be aiming to extend their perfect winning start to the season with victory in this weekend's Jordan Rally. The fourth round of the regional rally series gets underway from the Royal Automobile Club of Jordan (RACJ) in Amman on Thursday evening. Spectators are welcome to attend from 18.00hrs with a display of drift and competition cars also on site before the ceremonial start gets underway at 19.15hrs. Al-Attiyah and Carrera are chasing a fourth successive win this season after victories in Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. While Carrera chases a maiden regional rally title, Al-Attiyah will be hoping that a staggering 90th FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) event win would also net him a record-breaking 17th success in the Hashemite Kingdom and yet another win with an Autotek-run Skoda Fabia RS. The Qatari arrived in Amman from South Africa, via a brief pit stop in Doha, and has been mentally preparing himself in Amman away from the punishing heat at the Dead Sea. The team carried out a brief shakedown test on Tuesday afternoon, although the Qatari is aware that he has strong competition over a dozen challenging gravel stages in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea areas this weekend. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah Fresh from a strong result at the recent WRC Rally of Portugal, Rakan Al-Rashed will be hoping to build upon that experience to continue his push for a first ever MERC event win in a Toyota GR Yaris. The Saudi and his Portuguese co-driver Hugo Magalhaes picked up points for second place in Oman and Saudi Arabia and fourth in Qatar to hold second in the title race, albeit 31 points behind Al-Attiyah and Carrera. Oman's Abdullah Al-Rawahi won the event outright on his way to the regional title in 2023 and will also benefit from the experience of local co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud this weekend. Al-Rawahi is third in the Drivers' Championship with points for second place in Qatar being his best result of the season so far. Al-Hmoud said: 'We have one target and that is to win the rally. It will not be easy, especially with Nasser in the Skoda RS and Rakan with his Toyota Yaris and Abdulaziz with the Citroen. '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.' Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari is the defending regional champion and also won last year's Jordan National Championship. The Qatari has enjoyed more seat time this season in rallies and cross-country events and showed with a pair of third-place finishes in Qatar and Saudi Arabia that his Citroen C3 is more than capable of challenging for the win. Consistent finishes have lifted Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya into fourth in the points' standings in his Ford Fiesta, although the Qatari veteran is also chasing glory in the inaugural FIA Master MERC Championship for Drivers.
CBC
21-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
Coroner issues new recommendations after investigation into boxer's death finds falsified medical records
A Quebec coroner has revised his initial report into the death of a Mexican boxer after a Radio-Canada investigation found that her medical records had been falsified or were inaccurate. Jeanette Guadalupe Zacarias Zapata, 18, died several days after she was knocked out during a bout in Montreal on Aug. 28, 2021. Jacques Ramsay, the coroner who initially published a report into Zapata's death, told Radio-Canada's Enquete that he had no idea the medical records that showed she was fit to step into the ring that night were falsified. "The information I had was that this report [the falsified report] was normal," he said. "There were no anomalies. My mistake." Ramsay's new report, published on Friday, acknowledges the findings of the Enquete investigation and makes 10 new recommendations. The report recommends that the Quebec liquor and gaming authority, which sanctions prize fights, check if a fighter has suffered a knockout in their previous fight, as Zapata had. If they have suffered a knock-out recently, the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ) should verify video and reports of the previous knock-out to better understand the nature of the boxer's injuries. Pre-fight radiology and clinical exams should also be completed in Quebec, Ramsay recommends. The Radio-Canada investigation found that Zapata should never have been allowed to step into the ring the night she was fatally injured. Three and a half months before she died, she had suffered a concussion in a knockout loss in her home country. The RACJ claimed it found nothing out of the ordinary when it stamped that radiology report just days before the fight. But the Radio-Canada investigation found anomalies with the report, and, after travelling to Mexico, determined that it had been forged.
