The Autotek Motorsport Škoda Fabia RS driver won all the gravel special stages in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea areas – a feat the 20-time regional champion had also achieved in 2016 – and that netted him a comfortable winning margin of 3min 53.7sec on the three-day event organised by Jordan Motorsport.
The result marked a record-breaking 18th success for Al-Attiyah in the Hashemite Kingdom and a 92nd career win in the MERC. He said: “Absolutely, it was a good weekend. I was really surprised. We did the same stages as last year and we were even faster. It means that our set-up is really good. We worked very hard this weekend to get the maximum points. It’s nice to win all 12 stages. There was pressure there but we need to enjoy this victory.”
Oman’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi was made to pay for the decision to run medium compound tyres on the opening loop of day one. The Oman Rally Team Škoda Fabia RS driver suffered excessive tyre wear as a result and was unable to get close to Al-Attiyah on any of the stages. He and co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud trailed by 1min 12.8sec at the overnight halt and eased their pace over the final day to conserve points for second place.
Al-Rawahi said: “Jordan is always a tough rally, especially because we are at the lowest point on earth. Let’s not forget that. It’s always hot. It’s not always easy with long stages and a lot of corners when it is very slippery. We tried to push but I gained a lot of experience from this rally so we can come back and do better next time.”
Saudi Arabia’s Hamza Bakhashab is in the middle of a first full season of MERC rallies in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 supported by Jameel Motorsport. He and Irish co-driver Lorcan Moore overcame a five-minute time loss with a double puncture on stage nine to round off the podium places and remain firmly in contention for a title challenge.
Bakhashab said: “I am so happy for this result. It has been a nice and very enjoyable rally. There were a lot of ups and downs and the last stage was very difficult. Yesterday was clean and the pace was good. Rawda was amazing. The first one we had two front punctures and the second one we had a rear-right puncture and the car was sliding all stage long.”
Saudi Arabia’s Bassel Abu Hamdan got to grips with his Volkswagen Polo as the event progressed and looked set for fourth with co-driver Firas Elias until the final Power Stage at Rawda. He lost three minutes with damaged front left suspension and was pipped to fourth overall by the Škoda crew of local driver Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez and his Lebanese team-mate Joseph Matar. The difference was just 3.1 seconds.
The Jordanian duo of Shadi Shaban and Samer Issa enjoyed a strong finish to their event and climbed through the field to seal sixth in their Mitsubishi. Mohammed Al-Shorafa and Samer Sfeir guided their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX to seventh.
Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya led the championship after two rounds with a pair of third-place finishes with Ziad Chehab in a Motortune Ford Fiesta. Brake problems and a near-miss with a wadi knocked the Qatari veteran’s confidence on the first day, although he did survive the heat and recovered from 10th overnight to finish eighth. Al-Atya extended his lead in the Master Driver category.
Palestine’s Hamadeh Uda and local co-driver Zeid Abu Zeid dropped a couple of minutes on Saturday’s opening stage in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X and slipped two places. They recovered well to hold seventh before another costly time delay on the final stage pushed them down to ninth. Uda topped the NR4 class section, although neither Shaban nor Uda were registered for MERC points.
The Omani duo of Zakariya Al-Aamri and Mohammed Al-Mazroui earned maximum MERC2 points for rounding off the top 10 in a Subaru Impreza.
Seventeen crews representing 10 nations eventually made the start of the 12-stage rally, held over graded gravel terrain. They were joined by an additional 10 teams competing for points on the two rounds of the Jordan national series running on each day of the FIA event.
Shaker Jweihan’s target of a third successive haul of maximum MERC2 points ended after the eighth stage. Comfortably ahead of all his class rivals, the Jordanian had been embroiled in a battle with Abu Hamdan for fourth overall with his co-driver Mustafa Juma in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X.
But he retired before the first pass through Rawda. As he explained: “We were going really good and then, suddenly, we lost the turbo and the oil pressure in the car and it ended there. We are getting zero points now!”
The first pass through Rawda turned the Rally4 battle on its head. Mohammed Al-Marri suffered mechanical issues and retired from seventh position, his demise handing the Rally4 advantage to Qatari team-mate Rashid Al-Muhannadi, albeit briefly. Rashid also hit trouble on the demanding stage and both QMMF-entered Peugeot 208 drivers were sidelined. Al-Muhannadi had already lost seven minutes on an earlier special and dropped to the foot of the rankings.
Issa and Daoud Abu Jamous finished 11th in their Mitsubishi but local girl Farah Zakaria and her Lebanese team-mate Dolyne Schlink rolled their Can-Am Maverick X3 in the eighth stage with the loss of 28 minutes. They finished at the rear of the FIA field in 12th.
Jordan’s Sami Fleifel and Ammer Nassif missed out on valuable MERC2 points with a last stage retirement. Lebanon’s Shadi El-Fakih led the FIA MERC4 section in his Renault Clio RS heading into the weekend. After technical issues on day one, he restarted under the Rally2 ruling but was sidelined again on the first stage of day two.
Action in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship continues with the Rally of Lebanon on September 11th-13th.
2026 Jordan Rally – final result:
1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2 2hr 14min 26.1sec
2. Abdullah Al-Rawahi (OMA)/Ata Al-Hmoud (JOR) Škoda Fabia R5 Rally 2 2hr 18min 19.8sec
3. Hamza Bakhashab (KSA)/Lorcan Moore (IRL) Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2 2hr 27min 01.0sec
4. Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez (JOR)/Joseph Matar (LBN) Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2 2hr 34min 25.2sec
5. Bassel Abu Hamdan (KSA)/Firas Elias (LBN) Volkswagen Polo Rally 2 2hr 34min 28.3sec
6. Shadi Shaban (JOR)/Samer Issa (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2hr 42min 21.4sec*
7. Mohammed Al-Shorafa (JOR)/Samer Sfeir (LBN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2hr 44min 33.7sec
8. Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Ziad Chehab (LBN) Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally 2 2hr 44min 38.1sec
9. Hamadeh Uda (PLE)/Zeid Abu Zeid (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hr 49min 07.7sec*
10. Zakariya Al-Aamri (OMA)/Mohammed Al-Mazroui (OMA) Subaru Impreza N14 2hr 53min 11.1sec
11. Issa Abu Jamous (JOR)/Daoud Abu Jamous (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2hr 55min 39.4sec
12. Farah Zakaria (JOR)/Dolyne Schlink (LBN) Can-Am Maverick X3 3hr 34min 48.0sec
Sami Fleifel (JOR)/Ameer Nassif (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X RETIRED – SS12
Rashid Al-Muhannadi (QAT)/Florian Barral (FRA) Peugeot 208 Rally 4 RETIRED – SS9
Mohammed Al-Marri (QAT)/Pierre Delorme (FRA) Peugeot 208 Rally 4 RETIRED – SS9
Shaker Jweihan (JOR)/Mustafa Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X RETIRED – SS8
Shadi El Fakih (LBN)/Joseph Kmeid (LBN) Renault Clio RS Rally 5 RETIRED – SS7
*denotes not registered for the MERC
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