The Kuwait International Rally (known originally as the Kuwait Rally, is an international rally racing event held on the coastline of Kuwait between the capital Kuwait City and the border with Saudi Arabia. [1] It is the largest motor sport event held in Kuwait annually.
The rally, held on gravel roads and sand for the most part, has consistently been part of the Middle East Rally Championship but its history has been intermittent as Kuwait has been embroiled in armed conflict, first with the 1990 Iraqi invasion and the Gulf War and Iraq War which followed.
Emirati driver Mohammed Ben Sulayem and Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah are the most successful drivers in the events history, each taking four wins.
List of winners sourced in part from: [2] [3]
Year | Winner | Car | |
---|---|---|---|
1978 | Bill Murphy (IRL) & Vincent Labbate (US) | Volvo 240 | |
1984 | Michel Saleh | Toyota Celica GT | |
1985 | Mohammed Ben Sulayem | Toyota Celica TCT | |
1986 | Not held | ||
1987 | Saeed Al-Hajri | Porsche 911 SC | |
1988 | Mohammed Ben Sulayem | Toyota Celica TCT | |
1989 | Mohammed Ben Sulayem | Toyota Celica GT-Four | |
1990 - 1994 | Not held | ||
1995 | Abdullah Bakhashab | Ford Escort RS Cosworth | |
1996 | Mohammed Ben Sulayem | Ford Escort RS Cosworth | |
1997 - 2008 | Not held | ||
2009 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Subaru Impreza WRX | |
2010 | Khalid Al-Qassimi | Ford Fiesta S2000 | |
2011 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta S2000 | |
2012 | Khalid Mohammad Al-Suwaidi | Ford Fiesta S2000 | |
2013 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta RRC | |
2014 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta RRC | |
2015 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta RRC | |
2016 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Škoda Fabia R5 | |
2017 | Not held | ||
2018 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta R5 |
Rallying is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests, navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. Rallies may be short in the form of trials at a single venue, or several thousand miles long in an extreme endurance rally.
Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar from the inaugural 1973 season until the rally's final running in 2019, and was also frequently included in the British Rally Championship.
The Safari Rally is a rally held in Kenya. It was first held in 1953 as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The event was part of the World Rally Championship from 1973 until 2002, before returning in 2021. It is historically regarded as one of the toughest events in the World Rally Championship, and one of the most popular rallies in Africa. From 2003, a historical event has been held biannually.
The Rally Sweden, formerly the International Swedish Rally, and later the Uddeholm Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in February in Värmland, Sweden and relocated to Umeå in 2022. First held in 1950, as a summer rally called the Rally to the Midnight Sun with start and finish at separate locations, seventeen years later both start and finish became located in Karlstad. The main service park is located in the town of Torsby, which is actually much closer to the special stages than Karlstad. The competition is spread out over three days with the start of the first part on Friday morning and the finish on Sunday afternoon.
Daniel Elena also known as "Danos" is a Monégasque rally co-driver working most notably with Sébastien Loeb. Between them the pair have won the World Rally Championship (WRC) nine times with Citroën, later competing with Hyundai. Their 79 wins together make him the co-driver with the most victories in the history of the WRC.
The Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) is an international rally championship organized by the FIA encompassing rounds in Asia and Oceania. Group N cars dominated the championship for many years but in recent years cars built to R5 and S2000 regulations have tended to be the frontrunners.
The European Rally Championship is an automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship has been organized since 1953 and has competed in different European countries, alternating between rallies on asphalt and gravel. It was the first supranational rally championship that was organized in the world and therefore the oldest one. In 2012 it had 60 editions and in 2013 it was renewed with the merger with the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
Barry Clark is a British rally driver born in Aberdeen in Scotland. In 2006 he struck driver Jörg Bastuck during the Rally of Catalunya, which shortly after led to Bastuck's demise. After becoming the Fiesta Sporting Trophy International champion in 2007, Clark has been awarded a drive in the World Rally Championship for one event, and secured funding for two more events. His first event was to be in Turkey driving a Ford Focus WRC for the Munchi's Ford team, but after regular Munchi's driver Luís Pérez Companc had to drop out of the Jordan rally, Clark took his place at short notice. Clark also helps organise his local event, the Speyside Stages organised by 63 car club.
The FIA CODASUR Rally Championship is an international rally championship which is run by Confederacion Deportiva Automovilismo Sudamericana (CODASUR) under the auspices of the FIA and held across South America, although some events in the northernmost reaches of South America compete in the NACAM Rally Championship zone rather than Codasur.
The Qatar International Rally is an international rally racing event held near the Qatari capital Doha. The rally, a gravel and sand event, dates back into the 1970s and has long been one of the cornerstone events of the Middle East Rally Championship and is one of two events to have been held in every year of the MERC.
The Croatia Rally is an international rally racing event based in Zagreb, Croatia and is planned to be the third round of 2021 World Rally Championship. The event is organised by Automobile Clubs D.T. Motorsport and Cro Dakar Team with the support of Croatian Car and Karting Federation and was a round of the European Rally Championship from 2007 until 2013. The event was known in the past as Delta Rally and Croatia Delta Rally. It has been a tarmac rally since at least the late 1980s.
The 2016 World Rally Championship was the 44th season of the World Rally Championship, an auto racing championship recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as the highest class of international rallying. Teams and drivers competed in thirteen rounds—starting with the Rallye Monte Carlo in January and finishing with Rally Australia in November—for the World Rally Championships for Drivers and Manufacturers.
Kalle Rovanperä is a Finnish professional rally driver who competes in the World Rally Championship (WRC) for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen. He is the reigning World Champion. As the son of former WRC driver Harri Rovanperä, he garnered international attention by starting rallying at an exceptionally young age.
The 2021 Safari Rally was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over four days between 24 and 27 June 2021. It marked the sixty-ninth running of the Safari Rally. The event was the sixth round of the 2021 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3. The 2021 event was based in Nairobi in the Nairobi County and was contested over eighteen special stages totalling 320.19 km (198.96 mi) in competitive distance.
The 2021 Acropolis Rally was a motor racing event for rally cars that held over four days between 9 and 12 September 2021. It marked the sixty-fifth running of the Acropolis Rally. The event was the ninth round of the 2021 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3. The 2021 event was based in the town of Lamia in Central Greece and contested over fifteen special stages totalling 292.19 km (181.56 mi) in competitive distance.
The 2021 Rally Finland was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over three days between 1 and 3 October 2021. It marked the seventieth running of the Rally Finland. The event was the tenth round of the 2021 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3. The 2021 event was based in Jyväskylä in Central Finland and was contested over nineteen special stages totalling 287.11 km (178.40 mi) in competitive distance.
The 2021 Rally Monza was a motor racing event for rally cars that held over four days between 18 and 21 November 2021. It marked the forty-second running of Monza Rally Show and was the twelfth and final round of the 2021 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2, World Rally Championship-3. The event was based in the famous Autodromo Nazionale di Monza circuit near Milan, where the Italian Grand Prix was held. The rally covered a total competitive distance of 253.18 km (157.32 mi).
The 2022 FIA World Rally Championship-2 was the tenth season of the World Rally Championship-2, an auto racing championship for rally cars that is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the second-highest tier of international rallying. The category was open to cars entered by teams and complying with Group Rally2. The championship began in January 2022 with the Rallye Monte-Carlo and concluded in November 2022 with Rally Japan, and ran in support of the 2022 World Rally Championship.