2004 Jordan International Rally
FIA Middle East Rally Championship, round 4 of 8
For immediate release
Monday, May 3rd, 2004
OMAN’S HAMED AL-WAHAIBI
VOWS TO FIGHT ON IN JORDAN
AMMAN (Jordan): Oman’s former FIA Middle East Group N rally champion Hamed Al-Wahaibi is determined to bounce back from a pair of bitter disappointments, when he and Ulster co-driver Allan Harryman tackle the Marlboro-supported Jordan International Rally later this month.
Al-Wahaibi was an interested observer on the opening round of the championship in Abu Dhabi back in January, as he put together the finishing touches to his 2004 rally programme in the Middle East. After several seasons competing in the Production category on rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Omani was confident that he could make a winning return to the series and wrest the title from Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah’s clutches.
But rallying can be an unpredictable sport and Al-Wahaibi finds himself heading to Amman in two weeks time without a single point to show for brave efforts in Bahrain and on his home event in Oman recently.
~I have no fear,~ said Al-Wahaibi in his usual determined manner. ~I know my skills, and my limits. My preparations will be the same as they were in Bahrain and Oman and the team is working hard to sort out
the mechanical gremlins that have plagued me in the last two rallies.
~In Jordan I expect to be fighting for the front, as anyone who looks at my times in the Bahrain and Oman rallies can see. I’m looking forward to a successful year and with five rounds of the championship left, it’s still anybody’s game.~
Al-Wahaibi was referring to the gearbox maladies in Bahrain and the engine failure in Oman, which have left him 20 points behind the championship leader Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and well adrift of a chasing pack of drivers from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE and Cyprus.
~The championship is certainly exciting,~ added Al-Wahaibi. ~Now I must knuckle down and make sure that I am at the front in Jordan. If I was to win this event, then anything could happen.~
This year’s Jordan International Rally is based at the Amman Marriott Hotel and features a ‘super special’ stage on Thursday, May 20th and two legs to the south and west of the city on Friday and Saturday. The event is the fourth round of the eight-event championship and returns to its traditional May date for the first time since 2001.
For further information about the 2004 Jordan International Rally and entry details contact Ziad Louza at the Royal Automobile Club of Jordan (RACJ), Tel: + 9626 5850626, Fax: + 9626 5818131, E-mail: racj@go.com.jo
Ends
For further media information:
Neil Perkins, 2004 Jordan International Rally Press Officer, NDP Publicity Services, Tel: + (44) 1952 825078, Fax: + (44) 1952 825001, Mobile: + 44 7831 123153, E-mail: NDPPublicity@compuserve.com
www.ndp-publicity.com/press releases