Muscat, May 13
Oman rally star Abdullah al Rawahi will hope to mount a challenge against top-ranked Nasser Saleh al Attiyah of Qatar in the Jordan Rally that begins at the Hover-Up park on the shores of the Dead Sea from 7 pm on Thursday evening.
Seventeen crews representing 10 nations in the third round of FIA Middle East Rally Championship 2026 (Merc) will be joined by 21 teams registered for points in a pair of national rallies running on Friday and Saturday. All competitors will tackle a dozen special stages in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea areas with 196.80 competitive kilometres in a route of 557.11 km.
Nasser Saleh al Attiyah, a 20-time regional champion, teams up with Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera in a bid to move up the points’ standings after a win in Oman and a surprise retirement at his home event in Qatar. The Qatari is fourth in the rankings in an Autotek Motorsport Škoda Fabia RS and is chasing an unprecedented 18th victory in Jordan since 2003.
Oman’s Abdullah al Rawahi won the Jordan Rally for the first time in 2023 and shadowed Al Attiyah to the finish in Oman back in January to pick up points for second. Like his rival, he retired in Qatar and needs a useful points score to rekindle his challenge for a second regional title. Al Rawahi again teams up with local co-driver Ata al Hmoud in an Oman Rally Team Škoda Fabia RS.
"Happy to be back in Jordan. This is where I started my first step in the rally world. Looking forward to a good performance here," Al Rawahi said.
"I'm thorough with all the stages here. I hope to be on the podium this time as the champion. It will be a tough challenge as Nasser al Attiyah have more experience and a better team. But we will fight for the top place," the Omani rally driver added.
The event is again based at the Mövenpick Resort and Spa Dead Sea.
A new Shakedown stage of 4.83 km kickstarts the competitive action on Thursday. A revised Friday timetable features two passes through the Shuna (15.25 km), Baptism (11.24 km) and Ma’in (16.87 km) stages, split by a return to the Dead Sea for a midday service and regroup.
Saturday’s revised schedule includes two runs through the Panorama (16.95 km), Suwayma (11.12 km) and Rawda (26.97 km) specials in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea areas before the ceremonial finish takes place in the Hover-Up Park at the lowest place on earth from 18.30hrs.
ZAKARIYA SET FOR CHALLENGE
Competition in Merc2 comes from Oman’s Zakariya al Aamri (Subaru) and Jordan’s Sami Fleifel (Mitsubishi). Al Aamri is already 36 points adrift of the young Jordanian.
Zakaria said: "I do hope to be on the podium like last year. The race is a difficult one. We have good experience in Jordan and our team aims to claim more points in the Merc2 championship."
Eleven of the 21 entries in rounds two and three of the Jordan National Rally Championship are also registered for the FIA event. Top seed in the national series is Al Rawahi, with Rally2 competition coming from Al Fayez and Abu Hamdan.
RAISING THE HEAT
Other Rally 2 rivals are gunning to raise the heat at the dry and dusty Jordanian stages.
Saudi Arabia’s Hamza Bakhashab continues to exceed expectations in his first full Merc season. The 22-year-old, from Jeddah, has made an impressive start to his campaign: he recovered strongly from first-day suspension damage in Oman in January to secure valuable championship points, before delivering a career-best Merc result in Qatar with second overall behind Al Attiyah.
Those performances alongside Irish co-driver Lorcan Moore in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 have netted the youngster 42 championship points. That leaves him just five behind championship leader Nasser Khalifa al Attiyah and his Lebanese co-driver Ziad Chehab in a Motortune Ford Fiesta after two excellent podium finishes for the veteran. Bakhashab is also aiming to follow in the footsteps of his father Abdullah, who won the regional Drivers’ Championship back in 1995.
The young Saudi said: “Qatar was an important result for us and gave me and the whole team a lot of confidence. Every rally in Merc is a learning experience for me and Jordan will be another big challenge. The championship is very competitive this season, so the priority is to stay consistent, keep improving and score strong points.”
Local star Sheikh Bader al Fayez suffered engine issues during the opening round in Oman and was forced to miss round two as a result. He returns with Lebanese co-driver Joseph Matar to crew a third Škoda. Bassel Abu Hamdan and Firas Elias round off the Rally2 field in a Volkswagen Polo.
Jordan’s Shaker Jweihan has been the dominant force this season in the FIA Merc2 category and will be aiming for a hat-trick of class victories with Mustafa Juma in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. He also took advantage of a puncture for Bakhashab to win the recent Jordan national rally.
2026 Jordan Rally – entry list:
1. Nasser Saleh al Attiyah (QAT)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Škoda Fabia RS Rally
2. Abdullah al Rawahi (OMA)/Ata al Hmoud (JOR) Škoda Fabia R5 Rally
3. Shaikh Bader al Fayez (JOR)/Joseph Matar (LBN) Škoda Fabia RS Rally
4. Nasser Khalifa al Attiyah (QAT)/Ziad Chehab (LBN) Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally 2
5. Hamza Bakhashab (KSA)/Lorcan Moore (IRL) Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2
6. Bassel Abu Hamdan (KSA)/Firas Elias (LBN) Volkswagen Polo Rally 2*
7. Shaker Jweihan (JOR)/Mustafa Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
8. Zakariya al Aamri (OMN)/Mohammed al Mazroui (OMA) Subaru Impreza N14
9. Shadi Shaban (JOR)/Samer Issa (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX*
10. Mohammed al Marri (QAT)/Pierre Delorme (FRA) Peugeot 208 Rally 4
11. Rashid al Muhannadi (QAT)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Peugeot 208 Rally 4
12. Mohammed al Shorafa (JOR)/Samer Sfeir (LBN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
13. Sami Fleifel (JOR)/Ameer Nassif (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
14. Issa Abu Jamous (JOR)/Daoud Abu Jamous (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX*
15. Shadi El Fakih (LBN)/Joseph Kmeid (LBN) Renault Clio RS Rally 5
16. Hamadeh Uda (PAL)/Zeid Abu Zeid (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X*
17. Farah Zakaria (JOR)/Dolyne Schlink (LBN) Can-Am Maverick X3
*denotes not registered for the Merc
2026 FIA Middle East Rally Championship – positions after round 2:
1. Nasser Khalifa al Attiyah (QAT) 47 pts
2. Hamza Bakhashab (KSA) 42 pts
3. Shaker Jweihan (JOR) 41 pts
4. Nasser Saleh al Attiyah (QAT) 35 pts
5. Abdulaziz al Kuwari (QAT) 35 pts
6. Abdullah al Rawahi (OMN) 28 pts
7. Jassim al Muqahwi (KUW) 24 pts
8. Shadi El Fakih (LBN) 18 pts
9. Christiano Gabbarrini (ITA) 17 pts
10. Zakariya al Aamri (OMN) 16 pts
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