Middle East Rally Championship

Last updated
Middle East Rally Championship
Category R5
Rally2
Group N
Region Middle East
Inaugural season1984
Drivers' champion Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah
Flag of Oman.svg Abdullah Al-Rawahi
Motorsport current event.svg Current season

The Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) is a motor rally championship run under the auspicies of the FIA.

Contents

History

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.

The championship has been dominated by Nasser Al-Attiyah who has won 19 titles.

The championship features events in Qatar, Kuwait, Iran, Lebanon, Cyprus, Jordan, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The championship has also visited Bahrain, Syria and Saudi Arabia.

List of events

Champions

Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah won the championship 19 times Nasser saleh al attiyah2.jpg
Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah won the championship 19 times
YearDriverCar
1984 Flag of Qatar.svg Saeed Al-Hajri Porsche 911 SC RS
1985 Flag of Qatar.svg Saeed Al-Hajri (2) Porsche 911 SC RS
1986 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo
1987 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo
1988 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo
1989 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165
1990 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165
1991 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165
1992 Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Mamdouh Khayat Lancia Delta HF Integrale
1993 Flag of Qatar.svg Hamed Al-Thani Mitsubishi Galant VR4
1994 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1995 Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Abdullah Bakhashab Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1996 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1997 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1998 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Escort WRC
1999 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Focus RS WRC
2000 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Focus RS WRC
2001 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Focus RS WRC
2002 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Mohammed Ben Sulayem (14) Ford Focus RS WRC
Subaru Impreza WRC
2003 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRC
2004 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Khalid Al Qassimi Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2005 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2006 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2007 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2008 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2009 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STI
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
2010 Flag of Qatar.svg Misfer Al Marri Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2011 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta S2000
2012 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC
Peugeot 207 S2000
2013 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC
2014 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC
2015 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC
2016 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Škoda Fabia R5
2017 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta R5
2018 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta R5
2019 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
2020 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
2021 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
2022 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah (18) Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
2023 Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah (19)
Flag of Oman.svg Abdullah Al-Rawahi [N 1]
Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo
2024 Flag of Qatar.svg Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Škoda Fabia RS Rally2
Footnotes
  1. The 2023 championship was awarded to both Nasser Al-Attiyah and Abdullah Al-Rawahi, after a perfect tie between the two could not be settled by a six-man FIA committee. [1]

Rally winners

230 Rallies (after Cyprus 2023), 39 different winners, following are the winners stats:

DriverWins
Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Al-Attiyah 81
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Mohammed Ben Sulayem 60
Flag of Lebanon.svg Roger Feghali 16
Flag of Qatar.svg Saeed Al-Hajri11
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Khalid Al Qassimi 8
Flag of Cyprus.svg Andreas Tsouloftas4
Flag of Oman.svg Abdullah Al-Rawahi
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Abdullah Bakhashab3
Flag of Sweden.svg Björn Waldegård
Flag of Lebanon.svg Jean-Pierre Nasrallah
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Yazeed Al-Rajhi
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Suhail bin Maktoum2
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Khalifa Al-Mutaiwi
Flag of Lebanon.svg Michel Saleh
Flag of Qatar.svg Abdulaziz Al Kuwari
Flag of Cyprus.svg Charalambos Thimotheou
Flag of Qatar.svg Khalid Al Suwaidi
Flag of Jordan.svg Amjad Farrah1
Flag of Cyprus.svg Andreas Peratikos
Flag of Cyprus.svg Chris Thomas
Flag of Lebanon.svg Samir Ghanem
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Abdullah Al-Qassimi
Flag of Qatar.svg Abbas Al-Motaiwi
Flag of Qatar.svg Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah
Flag of Qatar.svg Hamed Bin Eid Al-Thani
Flag of Lebanon.svg Maurice Sehnaoui
Flag of Lebanon.svg Tony Georgiou
Flag of Italy.svg Alex Fiorio
Flag of Italy.svg Piero Liatti
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Russell Brookes
Flag of France.svg Alain Oreille
Flag of Oman.svg Nizar Shanfari
Flag of Cyprus.svg Nicos Thomas
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Rashed El-Ketbi
Flag of Lebanon.svg Nicolas Amiouni
Flag of Lebanon.svg Tamer Ghandour
Flag of Lebanon.svg Rodolphe Asmar
Flag of Qatar.svg Rashid El-Naimi
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Vojtěch Štajf

Wins per nationality

Count as after Cyprus 2023

DriverWins
Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar 100
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates 74
Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon 27
Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus 9
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia 6
Flag of Oman.svg  Oman 5
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 3
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2
Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan 1
Flag of France.svg  France
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic

References

  1. "The rally title decided by a committee meeting". 23 Nov 2023.