Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah & Giovanni Bernacchini finish Jordan Rally in cruise control
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Giovanni Bernacchini finished the Jordan Rally in cruise control to kick-start the defence of the Qatari’s regional rally championship title in punishing heat at the Dead Sea on Saturday.
On the 233rd event in the history of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), Al-Attiyah claimed his 85th career victory and a record-breaking 16th in Jordan since 2003. His Autotek Motorsport-prepared Škoda Fabia RS never missed a beat and he was able to try out different suspension settings over the closing stages on his way to a winning margin of 5min 31.6sec on his first appearance in the new car.
Bernacchini duly claimed his fifth victory in Jordan with Al-Attiyah and his first since 2014. A 26th MERC success moved the Italian ahead of Chris Patterson into an outright third in the MERC Co-drivers’ Hall of Fame for most wins behind Ronan Morgan (41) and Mathieu Baumel (32).
Al-Attiyah, who claimed a clean sweep of eight stage wins on Saturday, said: “I am really so happy to win here in Jordan. It is my favourite race. It is the most difficult race in the Middle East. To come back strong with the new car, we learn a lot. Thanks to the team and the organisation. They always make this rally strong. To win 16 times here is amazing. Lebanon is a different race and we need to be clever there as well.”
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari is now tackling a full programme of MERC events in a QMMF-backed Škoda Fabia and second place to add to the fourth he achieved on his home event means the Qatari is the new leader of the regional championship. Briton Marshall Clarke was his co-driver on this occasion. A puncture and subsequent tyre change after an accident was the only real issue for the duo after a polished performance.
Al-Kuwari: “Very difficult. As I say always, this is the most difficult rally in the world. It is like a school for rally drivers, especially for someone like me who has been way from rally cars more or less for five years. I was driving one rally per year. The pace was not my best. I can be faster but it is not easy to sit five years at home and come and be at Nasser’s speed. We went off in Turki, about 1.5km from the finish but we were lucky. We broke the arm and had a flat tyre and kept going to the finish. But I was cruising on the last stages to the finish. I am very happy to be leading the Middle East and the Jordan national championship. A good half of the season. I don’t think I am far off the pace and will get it soon hopefully.”
Shaker Jweihan delighted home fans with the final place on the podium: he and Lebanese co-driver Carlos Hanna dominated the MERC2 category from start-to-finish and the Mitsubishi driver claimed a second maximum haul of points towards the championship’s secondary category. Jweihan also moved into second place in the Drivers’ Championship behind Al-Kuwari, while the result marked a first career MERC podium for both driver and co-driver.
Jweihan said: “This is the first time I get a third place. Last year I got a fourth. It was such a great rally and one for the books – a great memory. The stages were hard and the temperatures were high. This car is like driving a boat. I drive smoothly and we had no issues with the car. The team did a great job. Lebanon will be my first rally on tarmac but we have local events first.”
Denis Krotov is more accustomed to cross-country rallying in Ultimate class Minis and Toyotas but he enjoyed his MERC debut with Yury Kulikov and reached the finish in fourth overall.
Shadi Shaban continues to hold second place in the MERC2 title race after he and Samer Issa finished sixth overall and second in class in their Mitsubishi.
Husam Salem overhauled Issa Abu Jamous in stage 12 to move into sixth and third in the showroom category but then he dropped back to seventh after a late charge from Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez and his Lebanese co-driver Joseph Matar. Al-Fayez had left the road on the opening Shuna stage and diced with a reservoir in spectacular fashion before recovering strongly during the afternoon to climb three positions and finish fifth.
Ihab Al-Shorafa and Yousef Juma came home in ninth and the Lebanese duo of Shadi Al-Fakih and Samer Sfeir rounded off the 10 FIA finishers in their two-wheel drive Renault Clio RS entered in the Rally5 section. Palestine’s Hamada Odeh returned to action on day two after his crash on Friday but retired from 11th place on SS13.
A mechanical breakdown accounted for Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya’s Ford Fiesta in the opening stage of the morning and a sizeable accident close to the dam on the Shuna stage put paid to Ameer Nassif’s finishing aspirations.
With defending champion Abdullah Al-Rawahi unable to start the final day with his damaged Škoda Fabia, that leaves the title race wide open heading into the summer break before action resumes in Lebanon in early September.
Saturday – as it happened
Two one-minute time penalties were handed out on Friday evening by the Stewards to Krotov and Nassif. It cost Krotov a place in the overall rankings but Nassif’s position was unaffected. Both were seen to have their balaclavas outside their race suits at the end of stage three. Abu Jamous incurred a one-minute time penalty for starting the third stage late.
Damage was such that neither championship leader Abdullah Al-Rawahi nor Khalid Al-Suwaidi could restart, although Hamada Odeh rejoined at the rear of the field after his crash on Friday.
Al-Attiyah settled any final day nerves with a confident opening run through Shuna (20.93km) and the Qatari clocked the fastest time to extend his lead over Al-Kuwari by 21.3 seconds to 1min 27.0sec.
Jweihan continued to steamroller the MERC2 opposition in his third-placed Mitsubishi but Qatar’s Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya struggled from the start, broke down and was forced to pull his Ford Fiesta to the side of the track and lose ninth place. Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez lost over five minutes in the stage and plummeted down the leader board but Nassif’s event came to an end when he rolled his Mitsubishi out of the running by the dam near the end of the special.
Al-Attiyah safely negotiated the first pass through Rawda (12.68km) in a time of 9min 48.4sec to clock yet another stage win. Al-Kuwari had settled into a cautious pace to preserve second place and provisionally snatch the lead in the Drivers’ Championship. He trailed his fellow Qatari by 1min 42.1sec. Al-Fayez began his fight back through the field with the third quickest time but a mechanical issue cost Fadi Dahshan his place in the rally near the stage finish.
The challenges of the Turki special provide Al-Attiyah with no dramas and the Qatari extended his lead to 1min 58.7sec with another stage win.
The first pass through the famous Suwayma stage preceded a midday return to the Dead Sea for service and a regrouping. There were no dramas for Al-Attiyah and he headed to the day’s halfway point with another stage win and a commanding lead of 4min 31.7sec after Al-Kuwari dropped over two minutes changing a wheel after clipping a rock.
Al-Kuwari said: “We had a puncture, hit a rock and had to change the wheel. We lost some time but we have some time on our hands still so we want to get through to the finish.”
Jweihan maintained third and a massive MERC2 advantage but remained three minutes adrift of second place.
Al-Attiyah said: “It is a good feeling. We learnt a lot with the car and we changed a few things with the set-up. We are in the right way, quite happy and will change a little bit now to have more information and to get to know the car well. Now, we just need to survive.”
The re-run of the longest stage of the rally (Shuna) was uneventful for Al-Attiyah and the Qatari shaved 8.5 seconds off his morning’s run. He headed to stage 13 with a cushion of 4min 59.8sec, as Salem overtook Abu Jamous and claimed sixth place.
Would the second pass through Rawda become unlucky stage 13? Al-Attiyah had eased his pace somewhat but still managed to beat his morning’s time on the cleaning surface by 2.8 seconds. The lead climbed to 5min 12.5sec. Al-Fayez overhauled both Salem and Abu Jamous and moved into sixth. He trailed Shaban by 21 seconds.
Al-Attiyah stormed through the penultimate Turki stage 8.9 seconds faster than the morning and headed for the final special at Suwayma with a lead of 5min 21.4sec. Al-Fayez closed the gap on Shaban to just 6.3 seconds.
There were no late dramas for Al-Attiyah and he confirmed a 16th Jordan win by 5min 31.6sec. Al-Kuwari came home second to lead the regional championship outright and Jweihan was third, a runaway leader in the MERC2 standings and second in the MERC Drivers’ Championship after two rounds. Al-Fayez moved ahead of Shaban to claim fifth place.
This year’s event was supported by Zain Jordan, Guarantee Travel Group, Hala and Bliss FM.
2024 Jordan Rally – positions after SS15:
- Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Giovanni Bernacchini (POL) Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 2hr 08min 28.2sec
- Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Marshall Clarke (GBR) Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 2hr 13min 59.8sec
- Shaker Jweihan (JOR)/Carlos Hanna (LBN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hr 20min 43.1sec
- Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Yury Kulikov (CYP) Škoda Fabia Evo Rally2 2hr 21min 45.7sec
- Bader Al-Fayez (JOR)/Joseph Matar (LBN) Škoda Fabia Rally2 2hr 29min 06.6sec
- Shadi Shaban (JOR)/Samer Issa (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2hr 29min 34.4sec
- Husam Salem (JOR)/Nancy Al-Majali (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hr 29min 52.5sec
- Issa Abu Jamous (JOR)/Emad Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2hr 30min 12.1sec
- Ihab Al-Shurafa (JOR)/Yousef Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2hr 57min 22.9sec
- Shadi Al-Fakih (LBN)/Samer Sfeir (LBN) Renault Clio R5 2hr 58min 01.2sec
RETIREMENTS
Khalid Al-Suwaidi (QAT)/Ross Whittock (GBR) Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 ACCIDENT – SS1
Abdullah Al-Rawahi (OMN)/Ata Al-Hmoud (JOR) Škoda Fabia Rally2 ACCIDENT – SS3
Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya (QAT)/Ziad Chehab (LBN) Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally2 MECHANICAL – SS8
Ameer Nassif (JOR)/Mustafa Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX ACCIDENT – SS8
Fadi Dahshan (JOR)/Zeid Abu Zeid (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX MECHANICAL – SS9
Hamada Odeh (PLE)/Yazan Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X RETIRED – SS13
2024 Jordan National Rally – (non-FIA extra) after SS15:
- Salamah Al-Gammaz (JOR)/Fayez Al-Gammaz (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI 2hr 47min 11.8sec
- Amjad Al-Shaikh (JOR)/Jad Nabas (JOR) Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3hr 00min 27.6sec
- Hashem Kalbouneh (JOR)/Maher Al-Fukaha (JOR) Black Iris 3hr 02min 26.2sec
- Al-Hasan Khatib (JOR)/Hamdan Al-Awamleh (JOR) Toyota FJ 3hr 05min 47.2sec
- Asem Aref (JOR)/Ahmad Jankhot (JOR) Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3hr 18min 46.5sec
- Mahmoud Al-Jabbarin (PLE)Yousef Mlaihat (PLE) Hyundai Buggy 3hr 31min 09.5sec
Hasan Al-Keid (PLE)/Ameer Jsibi (PLE) BMW Buggy DNS – SS9
Bader Al-Helalat (JOR)/Amer Mousa (JOR) Subaru Impreza RETIRED – SS9
