Exclusive – Muscat (Oman) / Heba Al-Sabbagh
The Oman Automobile Association has announced the participation of a host of international drivers alongside local entries in the Oman International Rally, the first round of the Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), which takes place from January 26-28.
The rally has the participation of fifteen international crews, in addition to 10 local teams participating in the local rally, according to the list of participants announced by the Organizing Committee.
The international participation is led by the champion of the Middle East for Qatari rally Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel, who resides in Andorra.
Last week, the duo secured Al-Attiyah’s fifth title in the world-famous Dakar Rally and a fourth victory for his co-driver. Al-Attiyah achieved seven victories in the Sultanate of Oman, and he is the strongest candidate to win next week by competing in 13 special gravel stages that constitute the strongest challenge in the Sultanate of Oman.
The local competition in the Sultanate of Oman enters strongly through the participation of Abdullah Al-Rawahi from the Oman Rally Team and his assistant, Jordanian driver Atta Al-Hamoud, in a Skoda Fabia. Al Rawahi finished fourth in last year’s championship.
Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah of Qatar – runner-up in the regional series in 1993 – is once again teaming up with Giovanni Bernacchini to drive the Ford Fiesta R5. His Italian assistant has competed in the Dakar Classic event in Saudi Arabia for the past two weeks.
Rounding out the Rally2 line-up will be Petr Cachek in his Duck Racing Skoda Fabia. The Czech finished second overall behind Al-Attiyah in Oman last year with Vaclav Kopacek. Vaclav was replaced by Petra Ihakova on this occasion, with whom Kacherek has participated in several Czech events in the past.
Kuwaiti Mashari Al Shufairi is a former MERC2 champion and will be driving the Mitsubishi Evo X in Oman, where he will compete against 10 other NR4 cars in the entry list to compete in the MERC2 class.
The Jordanian champion Issa Abu Jamous returns to defend his title in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 and competes with his Jordanian colleagues Ehab Al-Shurafa, Shadi Shaban, Badr Al-Fayez and Shaker Jowaihan, in addition to the Kuwaiti Muhammad Al-Dhafiri, Youssef Al-Dhafiri, Ahmed Khaled Al-Lebanese, Abdullah Al-Zubair and Zakaria Al-Amiri.
A number of the Sultanate’s local drivers are competing for the local title: Haitham Al Zadjali and Ghaith Al Qassimi come out of Mitsubishi, and there are two Subaru Imprezas for Faisal Al Rashidi and Jarrah Al Touqi.
UTVs have become popular in many of the FIA’s motorsport disciplines, and the rally organizers have received entries from three crews driving Yamaha YXZs – Omani Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Mutasim Al Balushi and Lebanon’s Alain Nofal. There are also local entries from Abdullah Al Touqi, Musab Al Zadjali and Salem Al Touqi.
Famous Austrian World Rally Championship (WRC) driver Ilka Minor, who alongside heavyweights Manfred Stoll and Henning Solberg, will be taking part in her many achievements, including eight podiums and 25 World Rally Championship wins, since her debut in the World Rally Championship with Achim. Mortel in Corsica in 1997.
Its best results were runner-up finishes with Stoll at the 2005 Cyprus Rally and the 2006 Wales GP Rally.
The Oman International Rally 2023 begins with a special stage and ceremony that will be held on Thursday 26th of this month.
