2015 Middle East Rally Championship

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.

Event calendar and results

The 2015 MERC was as follows:[2]

Round Rally name Podium finishers Statistics
Rank Driver Car Time Stages Length Starters Finishers
1 Qatar Qatar International Rally
(5–7 February)[3]		 1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:12:10.1 12 263.27 km 12 8
2 United Arab Emirates Khalid Al Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2:18:03.3
3 Qatar Khalifa Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:27:00.0
2 Kuwait Kuwait International Rally
(12–14 March)[4]		 1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:33:36.1 13 250.46 km 19 13
2 United Arab Emirates Khalid Al Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2:34:38.1
3 Saudi Arabia Yazeed Al-Rajhi Ford Fiesta RRC 2:36:05.8
3 Iran Shiraz Rally
(6–8 May)[5]		 1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 1:52:56.2 14 247.84 km 22 7
2 Qatar Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 1:53:23.2
3 United Arab Emirates Khalid Al Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 1:54:23.9
4 Lebanon Rally of Lebanon
(4–6 September)[6]		 1 Lebanon Roger Feghali Ford Fiesta R5 2:28:13.3 13 244.03 km 33 15
2 Lebanon Nicolas Amiouni Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2:34:22.3
3 Lebanon Tamer Ghandour Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2:34:38.2
5 Cyprus Cyprus Rally
(25–27 September)[7]		 1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:08:38.4 16 204.50 km 63 40
2 Poland Kajetan Kajetanowicz Ford Fiesta R5 2:08:45.4
3 Qatar Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 2:12:38.4
6 Jordan Jordan Rally
(15–17 October)[8]		 1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 3:07:51.2 21 257.60 km 13 10
2 Qatar Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 3:37:22.2
3 United Arab Emirates Salem Husam Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 3:41:37.6
7 Oman Oman International Rally
(5–7 November)[9]		 1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:28:00.5 13 250.82 km 19 10
2 Qatar Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 2:28:49.0
3 United Arab Emirates Khalid Al Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2:29:24.6
8 United Arab Emirates Dubai International Rally
(19–21 November)[10]		 1 United Arab Emirates Khalid Al Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 1:58:41.5 12 254.92 km 14 14
2 Qatar Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 1:59:38.5
3 Qatar Khalid Al-Suwaidi Ford Fiesta RRC 2:03:19.1

Championship standings

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.

Pos. Driver Vehicle Qatar
QAT		 Kuwait
KUW		 Iran
SHR		 Lebanon
LBN		 Cyprus
CYP		 Jordan
JOR		 Oman
OMA		 United Arab Emirates
DUB		 Total
1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC
Škoda Fabia R5		 1 1 1 Ret 1 1 1 150
2 Qatar Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC Ret 4 2 2 2 2 2 102
3 United Arab Emirates Khalid Al Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2 2 3 3 1 91
4 Qatar Khalid Al-Suwaidi Ford Fiesta RRC 5 5 4 Ret Ret Ret 4 3 59
5 Kuwait Salah Bin Eidan Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 4 7 6 Ret 5 36
6 Qatar Rashed Al Naimi Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX		 Ret 11 7 Ret 5 Ret 8 20
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Black Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank Withdrew entry from
the event (WD)

References
  1. "Al-Attiyah seals 11th FIA MERC title with 9th victory in Jordan". Arab News. Saudi Research and Publishing Company. 18 October 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  2. "Events calendar". FIA.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  3. "Qatar International Rally 2015". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 14 February 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  4. "Kuwait International Rally 2015". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  5. "Shiraz Rally 2015". Cronobandeira. Cronobandeira Lda. 8 May 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  6. "38. Rally of Lebanon 2015". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 6 September 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  7. "44. CNP Asfalistiki Cyprus Rally 2015". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  8. "Jordan Rally 2015". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  9. "23. Oman International Rally 2015". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  10. "Dubai International Rally 2015". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  11. "Classifications: FIA Middle East Rally Championship". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
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