Middle East Rally Championship

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.

Middle East Rally Championship
CategoryGroup N
R5
CountryMiddle East
Inaugural season1984
Drivers' championQatar Nasser Al-Attiyah
Current season

The championship has been dominated by Nasser Al-Attiyah who has won 18 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

  • Qatar International Rally (1984–present)
  • Kuwait International Rally (1984–85, 1987–89, 1995–96, 2009–2016, 2018–present)
  • Bahrain International Rally (1984, 2000–02, 2004–05)
  • Jordan Rally (1984–88, 1990, 1992–present)
  • Oman International Rally (1984–88, 1990–94, 1998, 2004–07, 2015)
  • Dubai International Rally, United Arab Emirates (1984–88, 1990–95, 1997–2015)
  • Rally of Lebanon, (1987–88, 1991–2004, 2006–present)
  • UAE International Rally, United Arab Emirates (1989, 1995–2001, 2004–06)
  • Tour of Cyprus, (1998–1999)
  • Troodos Rally, Cyprus, (2000–2009, 2011)
  • Syria International Rally, (2001–05, 2007–10)
  • Cyprus Rally, (2007–08, 2010, 2012–present)
  • Sharqia Rally, Saudi Arabia, (2010)
  • Shiraz Rally, Iran, (2015–17)

Seasons

2012 season

The 2012 events and winners:

Event Date Winner
Qatar 27 – 28 Jan 2012 Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari
Kuwait 22 – 24 Mar 2012 Khalid Mohammad Al-Suwaidi
Lebanon 7 – 9 Sep 2012 Roger Feghali
Syria 27 – 29 Sep 2012 Cancelled
Jordan 11 – 13 Oct 2012 Nasser Al-Attiyah
Cyprus 2 – 4 Nov 2012 Nasser Al-Attiyah
Dubai 29 Nov – 1 Dec 2012 Nasser Al-Attiyah

2011 season

The 2011 events and winners:

Event Date Winner
Qatar 3 – 5 Feb 2011 Nasser Al-Attiyah
Kuwait 10 – 12 Mar 2011 Nasser Al-Attiyah
Jordan 14 – 16 Apr 2011 Rashed El-Ketbi
Cyprus 1 – 3 July 2011 Nasser Al-Attiyah
Lebanon 16 – 18 Sep 2011 Roger Feghali
Syria 6 – 8 Oct 2011 Cancelled
Dubai 1 – 3 Dec 2011 Nasser Al-Attiyah

2010 season

The 2010 events and winners:

Event Date Winner
Qatar 21 Jan – 23 Jan 2010 Nasser Al-Attiyah
Kuwait 5 Mar – 8 Mar 2010 Khalid Al Qassimi
Jordan 1 Apr – 3 Apr 2010 Yazeed Al-Rajhi
KSA 20 Apr – 22 Apr 2010 Yazeed Al-Rajhi
Lebanon 17 Sep – 19 Sep 2010 Roger Feghali
Syria 7 Oct – 9 Oct 2010 Nasser Al-Attiyah
Cyprus 5 Nov – 7 Nov 2010 Nasser Al-Attiyah
Dubai 2 Dec – 4 Dec 2010 Nasser Al-Attiyah

Champions

Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah won the championship 18 times
Year Driver Car
1984 Qatar Saeed Al-Hajri Porsche 911 SC RS
1985 Qatar Saeed Al-Hajri (2) Porsche 911 SC RS
1986 United Arab Emirates Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica CTC
1987 United Arab Emirates Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica CTC
1988 United Arab Emirates Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica CTC
1989 United Arab Emirates Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165
1990 United Arab Emirates Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165
1991 United Arab Emirates Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165
1992 Saudi Arabia Mamdouh Khayat Lancia Delta HF Integrale
1993 Qatar Hamed Al-Thani Mitsubishi Galant VR4
1994 United Arab Emirates Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1995 Saudi Arabia Abdullah Bakhashab Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1996 United Arab Emirates Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1997 United Arab Emirates Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1998 United Arab Emirates Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Escort WRC
1999 United Arab Emirates Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Focus RS WRC
2000 United Arab Emirates Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Focus RS WRC
2001 United Arab Emirates Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Focus RS WRC
2002 United Arab Emirates Mohammed Ben Sulayem (14) Ford Focus RS WRC
Subaru Impreza WRC
2003 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRC
2004 United Arab Emirates Khalid Al Qassimi Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2005 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2006 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2007 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2008 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2009 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STI
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
2010 Qatar Misfer Al Marri Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2011 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta S2000
2012 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC
Peugeot 207 S2000
2013 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC
2014 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC
2015 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC
2016 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Škoda Fabia R5
2017 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta R5
2018 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta R5
2019 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
2020 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
2021 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
2022 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah (18) Volkswagen Polo GTI R5

Rally winners

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

Driver Wins
Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah 81
United Arab Emirates Mohammed Ben Sulayem 60
Lebanon Roger Feghali 16
Qatar Saeed Al-Hajri 11
United Arab Emirates Khalid Al Qassimi 8
Cyprus Andreas Tsouloftas 4
Oman Abdullah Al-Rawahi
Saudi Arabia Abdullah Bakhashab 3
Sweden Björn Waldegård
Lebanon Jean-Pierre Nasrallah
Saudi Arabia Yazeed Al-Rajhi
United Arab Emirates Suhail bin Maktoum 2
United Arab Emirates Khalifa Al-Mutaiwi
Lebanon Michel Saleh
Qatar Abdulaziz Al Kuwari
Cyprus Charalambous Thimotheou
Qatar Khalid Al Suwaidi
Jordan Amjad Farrah 1
Cyprus Andreas Peratikos
Cyprus Chris Thomas
Lebanon Samir Ghanem
United Arab Emirates Abdullah Al-Qassimi
Qatar Abbas Al-Motaiwi
Qatar Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah
Qatar Hamed Bin Eid Al-Thani
Lebanon Maurice Sehnaoui
Lebanon Tony Georgiou
Italy Alex Fiorio
Italy Piero Liatti
United Kingdom Russell Brookes
France Alain Oreille
Oman Nizar Shanfari
Cyprus Nicos Thomas
United Arab Emirates Rashed El-Ketbi
Lebanon Nicolas Amiouni
Lebanon Tamer Ghandour
Lebanon Rodolphe Asmar
Qatar Rashid El-Naimi
Czechoslovakia Vojtěch Štajf

Wins per nationality

count as after Cyprus 2023

Driver Wins
 Qatar 100
 United Arab Emirates 74
 Lebanon 27
 Cyprus 9
 Saudi Arabia 6
 Oman 5
 Sweden 3
 Italy 2
 Jordan 1
 France
 United Kingdom
 Czech Republic

References

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