2016 Middle East Rally Championship

The 2016 Middle East Rally Championship was an international rally championship sanctioned by the FIA. The championship was contested over five events held in five Middle East countries from February to October. The championship was reduced to seven rallies for 2016 season, but the end of season rallies, Oman International Rally and Dubai International Rally were cancelled.

Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah won his twelfth MERC championship and his sixth consecutively. Al-Attiyah won the first three rallies of the season creating an uncatchable buffer once Oman and Dubai were cancelled. Lebanese driver Rodolphe Asmar was second in the championship, securing the runner's up position with victory in Cyprus. Khalid Mohammad Al-Suwaidi was third.

Event calendar and results

The 2016 MERC was as follows:[1]

Round Rally name Podium finishers Statistics
Rank Driver Car Time Stages Length Starters Finishers
1 Qatar Qatar International Rally
(4–6 February)[2]		 1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Škoda Fabia R5 2:03:20.5 13 241.71 km 12 6
2 Qatar Khalid Mohammad Al-Suwaidi Ford Fiesta R5 2:09:34.6
3 Qatar Rashid Al-Naimi Subaru WRX Sti 2:20:42.5
2 Kuwait Kuwait International Rally
(24–26 March)[3]		 1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Škoda Fabia R5 2:08:06.1 13 209.20 km 23 19
2 Kuwait Meshari Al-Thefiri Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2:19:31.0
3 Turkey Yigit Alpaslan Timur Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2:20:59.2
3 Jordan Jordan Rally
(5–7 May)[4]		 1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Škoda Fabia R5 2:42:02.2 19 222.90 km 18 10
2 Qatar Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Škoda Fabia R5 3:00:20.6
3 Qatar Abdullah Al-Kuwari Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 3:07:40.9
4 Lebanon Rally of Lebanon
(2–4 September)[5]		 1 Lebanon Tamer Ghandour Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2:12:26.3 11 209.10 km 31 22
2 Lebanon Abdo Feghali Škoda Fabia R5 2:15:34.6
3 Lebanon Eddy Abou-Karam Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2:16:40.9
5 Cyprus Cyprus Rally
(7–9 October)[6]		 1 Russia Alexey Lukyanuk Ford Fiesta R5 2:06:55.9 14 214.38 km 70 47
2 Germany Marijan Griebel Škoda Fabia R5 2:09:08.1
3 Latvia Ralfs Sirmacis Škoda Fabia R5 2:09:51.9
6 Oman Oman International Rally
(3–5 November)		 event cancelled
7 United Arab Emirates Dubai International Rally
(17–19 November)		 event cancelled

Championship standings

The 2016 MERC for Drivers points was as follows:[7]

Pos. Driver Vehicle Qatar
QAT		 Kuwait
KUW		 Jordan
JOR		 Lebanon
LBN		 Cyprus
CYP		 Total
1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Škoda Fabia R5 1 1 1 Ret 123
2 Lebanon Rodolphe Asmar Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 5 7 6 4 1 80
3 Qatar Khalid Mohammad Al-Suwaidi Ford Fiesta R5 2 5 4 7 Ret 77
4 Qatar Abdullah Al-Kuwari Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 4 8 3 19 4 73
5 Qatar Rashed Al Naimi Subaru WRX Sti 3 Ret 8 12 3 64
6 Qatar Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah Subaru WRX Sti Ret 4 Ret 22
7 Turkey Vedat Diker Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Ret 9 Ret 4
8 Kuwait Meshari Al-Thefiri Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2 Ret 3
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. "Season 2016 Middle East Rally Championship". FIA.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  2. "41. Qatar International Rally 2016". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 6 February 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  3. "Kuwait International Rally 2016". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  4. "Jordan Rally 2016". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  5. "39. Rally of Lebanon 2016". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 2 October 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  6. "45. CNP Asfalistiki Cyprus Rally 2016". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  7. "Classifications: FIA Middle East Rally Championship". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
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