DEAD SEA (JORDAN): Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Candido Carrera cruised to a comfortable victory at the Jordan Rally on Saturday.
The Autotek Motorsport Škoda Fabia RS driver won each of the dozen special stages in the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley areas to repeat a clean sweep of stage wins that he last achieved in 2016. On that occasion, 19 speed test wins earned the 20-time FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) victory by 18 minutes.
The winning margin this time on his record-breaking 18th victory in Jordan was 3min 53.7sec and it moved him into a slender championship lead.
The Qatari now has 92 MERC career rally wins, with Carrera picking up win number seven in his second season with Al-Attiyah. That puts the Spaniard on seven MERC wins, equal with rally organiser and former co-driver Khaled Zakaria in the MERC’s history books.
After breaking Abdullah Al-Rawahi’s stage record for the Baptism stage on Friday, Al-Attiyah beat his own record in Suwayma by three seconds on Saturday morning.
Following his dominant performance, 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 and Ata Al-Hmoud were never troubled for the runner-up spot in their Oman Rally Team Škoda Fabia RS. The decision to run medium compound tyres for the first three stages on Friday was a mistake and Al-Rawahi did pick up a puncture on the first pass through Rawda on Saturday. Otherwise, he shadowed Al-Attiyah from the start to pick up valuable 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 to finish fourth overall with Firas Elias until the final Power Stage at Rawda. He lost three valuable minutes in the special with damaged front left suspension and was pipped to fourth place by the Škoda crew of Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez and Joseph Matar. The difference was just 3.1 seconds.
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 Mustafa Juma in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. But he retired before the first pass through Rawda after the pair had traded positions on the first two speed tests.
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 Jordanian duo of Shadi Shaban and Samer Issa enjoyed a strong finish to their event and climbed through the field to seal sixth place in their Mitsubishi. Mohammed Al-Shorafa and Samer Sfeir guided their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX to seventh.
Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya and Ziad Chehab overcame an opening day fraught with brake issues and settled into a better pace over the final day in a Motortune Ford Fiesta. As rivals hit trouble, the current MERC Master Driver front-runner kept going and was rewarded with eighth overall.
Palestine’s Hamadeh Uda and 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.
The first pass through Rawda turned the Rally4 battle on its head. Mohammed Al-Marri suffered terminal mechanical problems and retired from seventh position, his demise handing the Rally4 advantage to Qatari team-mate Rashid Al-Muhannadi, albeit briefly. He too 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 and Farah Zakaria and 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 retired his Renault Clio RS on the first stage of the morning after restarting under the Rally2 ruling.
Al-Rawahi and Al-Hmoud dominated the third round of the Jordan National Rally Championship, which was held across the day’s six stages. They finished well clear of Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez and Abu Hamdan, who picked up points for second and third.
Fadi Dahshan and Asem Aref were early retirements from the national event, where Shaban and Al-Shorafa rounded off the top five.
Action resumes in the regional rally series in Lebanon on September 11th-13th.
2026 Jordan Rally – positions after SS12:
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
2026 Jordan National Rally – round 3 result (unofficial):
1. Abdullah Al-Rawahi (OMA)/Ata Al-Hmoud (JOR) Škoda Fabia R5 Rally 2 2hr 18min 19.8sec
2. Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez (JOR)/Joseph Matar (LBN) Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2 2hr 34min 25.2sec
3. Bassel Abu Hamdan (KSA)/Firas Elias (LBN) Volkswagen Polo Rally 2 2hr 34min 28.3sec
4. Shadi Shaban (JOR)/Samer Issa (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2hr 42min 21.4sec
5. Mohammed Al-Shorafa (JOR)/Samer Sfeir (LBN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2hr 44min 33.7sec
6. Hamadeh Uda (PLE)/Zeid Abu Zeid (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hr 49min 07.7sec
7. Hashem Kalbouneh (JOR)/Dergham Rustom (JOR) Subaru Impreza 2hr 55min 21.6sec
8. Issa Abu Jamous (JOR)/Daoud Abu Jamous (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2hr 55min 39.4sec
9. Ala Daabes (JOR)/Salameh Gammaz (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hr 59min 57.9sec
10. Sader Abu Jamous (JOR)/Fayez Gammaz (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII 3hr 02min 09.2sec
11. Saif Al-Shaikh (JOR)/Emad Juma (JOR) Subaru Impreza STi 3hr 11min 57.1sec
12. Nancy Al-Madjali (JOR)/Yajan Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI 3hr 25min 21.8sec
13. 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
Karim Badawi (JOR)/Walid Shabsogh (JOR) Suzuki Samurai Prototype RETIRED
Yara Takriti (JOR)/Abeer Janakat (JOR) Can-Am Maverick X3 RETIRED
Shadi El Fakih (LBN)/Joseph Kmeid (LBN) Renault Clio RS Rally 5 RETIRED
Shaker Jweihan (JOR)/Mustafa Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X RETIRED
Fadi Dahshan (JOR)/Ahmad Jankout (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX RETIRED
Asem Aref (JOR)/Musa Djiyerian (JOR) Subaru Impreza RETIRED
