Dead Sea (Jordan): Qatari driver Nasser bin Saleh Al-Attiyah took absolute control of the Jordan International Rally. 2021 , the second round of the Middle East Rally Championship, setting a new record by winning for the ninth time. 14 In the rally, after Al-Attiyah finished the rally with a wide lead 17:05.8 A minute away from his nearest competitor, Kuwaiti driver Mishari Al Dhafiri.
Nasser bin Saleh Al-Attiyah and his French navigator Mathieu Baumel registered in a Volkswagen “Polo GTI-R” 5 “The fastest times in all stages of the rally over two days of competitions (ten special stages), which were held in the Dead Sea and Mount Nebo regions, which helped him strengthen his lead in the provisional general ranking of the championship, as he seeks to set a new record this season by winning it for the twelfth time. 17 In his career, the rally also witnessed Qatar’s record of its victory 78 in the championship, while his French navigator scored his 27 in the tournament.
Nasser bin Saleh Al-Attiyah said: “It’s a great feeling, a nice day, it was a good rally for us, we won it again, it’s our first win. 14 Lee in Jordan, and we are leading the Middle East Rally Championship with a good difference, the next step is to participate in the Lebanon International Rally and try to defend the title.”
For his part, Kuwaiti driver Mashari Al-Dhafiri (Mitsubishi) finished second in the general classification, which was enough for him to win the second category title in the championship dedicated to commercial production cars, known as (the “AN” group), where Al-Dhafiri started the day ahead with 40.8 He was second in this category and was able to dominate the competitions in this category after his closest rival, the Lebanese leg, Alex Feghali, decided to drive cautiously on the last day of the rally in order to maintain third place in the general standings. Famous driver Roger Feghali.
“The rally was good overall, thank God we were able to pass all the stages and reach the finish line,” Feghali said. “It’s the first time I’ve finished this rally and on the podium, so this is great.”
In turn, Jordanian driver Shadi Shaaban (Mitsubishi) was unable to win the second round of the national rally – which was held parallel to the last day of the international rally, as the victory in the second round went to his compatriot Khaled Jumaa (Mitsubishi). But Shaaban was happy to have finished the international rally fourth overall, his best result in the rally so far. He also leads the overall standings in the local championship after finishing the second round in second place.
The Lebanese driver, Shadi Al-Faqih (Mitsubishi), lost a lot of time during the first two stages of the day due to a punctured tire and had problems with the front differential, and fell behind the Qatari driver Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Attiyah (Ford), where he received time penalties for leaving the car late. Maintenance area The time specified for the completion of the ninth special phase “Jordan River” has also passed 2 Thus, Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Attiyah and his Italian navigator Giovanni Bernacini finished the rally in fifth place in the general classification.
The Saudi driver, Saleh Al-Saif, returned to the competitions on the last day of the rally through the “Rally” law 2 “, knowing that he had to withdraw in the fifth stage yesterday [Friday] due to a break in the transmission axle in his light desert vehicle “Can-Am”. Today, Al-Saif managed to finish the rally in sixth place at the expense of Jordanian drivers Ihab Al-Sharfa (Mitsubishi) and Asim Aref. (Renault), noting that the latter won the title of the third category dedicated to two-wheel drive cars.
The Lebanese driver Henry Kai (Skoda) – last season’s two-wheel drive champion – returned to the competition on the same law, and finished the rally in ninth place in the overall standings.
Saturday
Qatari driver Nasser bin Saleh Al-Attiyah dominated the first pass in today’s two stages, the special stage “Jordan River”. 1 Difficult and long 31.57 kilometers, and the special stage “Al-Joufa 1 “Fast character and length 26.01 kilometres, extending his lead in the overall standings to 12:02.5 Accurate.
Nasser bin Saleh Al-Attiyah said: “We loved these two stages, they are long and the organizers made a really great effort, the second stage was unlike yesterday, we saw all the mechanisms in the stages, it is a great work by the organizers. The car worked well, we have two stages left at the end of the rally.” .
The Lebanese Alex competed with the Kuwaiti driver Mashari Al-Dhafiri for second place in the general classification – and the first in the second category, and he tried to reduce the difference with the Kuwaiti, which is 40.8 Again, but the Lebanese man decided to drive quietly and lost 32.5 A second in front of the Kuwaiti in the first special stage of the day, I inflicted a loss 13 seconds in the second special stage of the day, and thus the difference between them increased to 1:26.5 A minute in the middle of the day, back to the maintenance area at the Dead Sea.
Feghali said: “We decided to drive calmly to try to retain third place in the general classification. We will not chase after Al Dhafiri. Our goal now is to gain experience for the next rallies. It is the first rally with the first podium.
Qatari driver Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Attiyah scored the fourth fastest time in the first pass on the stages of the day, knowing that he suffered a lot yesterday due to two punctures in the tires and fatigue due to the hot weather, as he wanted to pressure the Lebanese driver Shadi Al-Faqih in fifth place in the general classification. Tires after the first pass 16 kilometer off stage one for the day, he wheeled his car to the finish line, then changed, and had problems with the front differential in the second special.
It is worth noting that Jordanian driver Shadi Shaaban finished fourth in the general classification, but he suffered from an engine problem, which was water entering him from under the protection board during the first stage today.
Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Attiyah said: “We pressed in the first stage today to catch Shadi Al-Faqih in the middle of the stage, the vision was not clear because of the dust, so we walked on some grass outside the track, we lost about half a minute, but we came back and tried to catch him again and we lost about a minute during the passage Through the dust, but we managed to pass it at the end of the stage, as we caught up with him in the second stage.”
The Saudi driver, Saleh Al-Saif, has returned to competitions according to the rules of the “Rally”. 2 After withdrawing yesterday due to damage to the transmission axle of his Can-Am vehicle, the Saudi recorded a quick performance and was able to advance to seventh place in the general standings at the expense of the Jordanians Ihab Al-Sharfa and Asim Aref during the first passage in the stages of the day. The Lebanese driver also benefited Henry Qai from this law to return to competitions at the bottom of the ranking, while the Lebanese drivers Ahmed Khaled (Mitsubishi) and Omani Abdullah Al-Rawahi (Skoda) were unable to return to competition due to the severity of the damage to the engine of their cars.
In the national rally category, where the second round was held today, Jordan’s Khaled Juma’a beat his compatriot Shadi Shaaban with 3:16.9 minutes.
Nasser bin Saleh Al-Attiyah drove cautiously during the final passage of the day’s stages, as he was slower by 1.4 Second in the ninth special stage “Jordan River” 2 While Shadi Al-Faqih’s problems worsened and he was subjected to a time penalty for leaving the pitlane for the last section of the rally, he fell to sixth place in the general standings behind Al-Attiyah, and his losses doubled when he was forced to withdraw from competitions in the same ninth stage.
Nasser bin Saleh Al-Attiyah wisely managed his performance during the tenth-last special stage, “Al-Joufeh.” 2 “, to cross the finish line of the rally in the winner’s clothing. Meshary Al Dhafiri also maintained his second place in the general standings – and the first in his class, despite the slippery tracks in the last stage, and finished it with a difference 2:25.8 Two minutes from his stalker, Alex Feghali.
Khaled Juma’a won the second round of the Jordan National Rally, and his compatriot Shadi Shaaban finished the rally in fourth place in the general standings and first among Jordanians.
Next stop for the Middle East Rally Championship 2021It will be in Lebanon, with the Lebanon International Rally taking place from the 3rd to the 5th of September.
Jordan International Rally 2021 : General ranking (unofficial results):
Driver and navigator car timing السيارة
01 – Nasser bin Saleh Al-Attiyah (Qatar) / Mathieu Baumel (France) Volkswagen Polo GTI-R 5 ” 2:49:06.0 2 hours
02 – Mishari Al Dhafiri (Kuwait) / Nasser Al Kuwari (Qatar) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 10 ” 3:06:10.8 Hours
03 Alex Feghali (Lebanon) / Georges Deaibes (Lebanon) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 10 ” 3:08:36.6 Hours
04 – Shadi Shaaban (Jordan) / Emad Jumaa (Jordan) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 ” 3:24:38.9 Hours
05 – Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Attiyah (Qatar) / Giovanni Bernacini (Italy) Ford Fiesta-R 5 ” 3:39:13.1 Hours
06 – Saleh Al-Saif (Saudi Arabia) / Faisal Al-Suwayeh (Saudi Arabia) “Can-Mother” “Maverick X” 3 ” 3:52:03.5 Hours
07 – Ehab Al-Sharfa (Jordan) / Youssef Jumaa (Jordan) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 ” 3:56:33.1 Hours
08 – Assem Aref (Jordan) / Ahmed Jankhut (Jordan) Renault Clio RS 4:12:33.0 Hours
09 – Henry Kai (Lebanon) / Carlos Hanna (Lebanon) Škoda “Fabia” 1.6 ” 4:48:49.4 Hours
Jordan’s first national rally 2021 : General standings for the second round (unofficial results):
Driver and navigator car timing السيارة
01 – Khaled Jumaa (Jordan) / Yazan Jumaa (Jordan) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 ” 1:39:19.2 hour
02 – Shadi Shaaban (Jordan) / Emad Jumaa (Jordan) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 ” 1:45:48.2 hour
03 – Amjad Al-Ansawa (Jordan) / Amer Musa (Jordan) Mitsubishi “Lancer Evolution” 7 ” 1:51:11.8 hour
04 – Sami Fleifel (Jordan) / Muhammad Al-Atari (Jordan) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 5 ” 1:52:12.8 hour
05 – Ehab Al-Sharfa (Jordan) / Youssef Jumaa (Jordan) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 ” 1:54:48.6 hour
06 – Tariq Al-Taher (Jordan) / Samer Issa (Jordan) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 ” 1:55:09.1 hour
07 – Assem Aref (Jordan) / Ahmed Jankhut (Jordan) Renault Clio RS 2:07:36.8 hour
08 – Al-Hassan Al-Khatib (Jordan) / Ghaith Qubti (Jordan) Toyota FJ Cruiser 2:20:28.4 2 hours