Event calendar and results
The 2015 MERC was as follows: [2]
| 2015 Middle East Rally Championship | |||
| Previous: | 2014 | Next: | 2016 |
The 2015 Middle East Rally Championship was an international rally championship sanctioned by the FIA. The championship was contested over eight events held in eight countries across the Middle East region, running from February to November. The championship was significantly expanded for the 2015 season. The Oman International Rally returned to the calendar after a seven-year absence, while Iran joined the championship for the first time with the Shiraz Rally debuting in May, the last rally before the mid-year winter break.
For the fifth season in a row, Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah won the championship title. Al-Attiyah won six of the seven rallies he contested – the only failure being a retirement in Lebanon – en route to his eleventh MERC title overall. [1] With his victory in Oman, Al-Attiyah also tied Mohammed bin Sulayem for most rally wins in the MERC, with 60. Al-Attiyah finished 48 points of his nearest challenger, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, who finished five rallies in second place during the 2015 season. Third place in the championship went to Khalid Al Qassimi, who won the rally that Al-Attiyah did not contest, the Dubai International Rally. Roger Feghali won the season's other event in Lebanon, but did not compete in enough events to be eligible for the championship standings.
The 2015 MERC was as follows: [2]
The 2015 MERC for Drivers points was as follows: [11] Only drivers that had contested at least five events during the season were eligible for the championship standings.
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The Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) is a motor rally championship run under the auspicies of the FIA. First held in 1984 the championship encompasses a series of rallies held across Western Asia. The championship has featured long-running events like Rally of Lebanon, Rally Oman and the Troodos Rally in Cyprus as well as World Rally Championship event Jordan Rally. Many of the rallies in the region pre-date national independence, mostly from the United Kingdom.
Nasser Salih Nasser Abdullah Al-Attiyah is a Qatari rally driver, sport shooter and sheik. He was the 2006 Production World Rally Champion, a 13-time Middle East Rally Champion, 2014 and 2015 WRC-2 champion, four times winner of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies and the 2011, 2015 and 2019 Dakar Rally winner. He currently competes in the World Rally Championship and Middle East Rally Championship for the Qatar World Rally Team. His three victories in the Dakar Rally make him the only Middle Easterner and West Asian to win the competition more than once.
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