JORDAN RALLY
2022 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, round 4
For immediate release
Saturday, May 21st, 2022
OMAN’S ABDULLAH AL-RAWAHI FIGHTS BACK TO FINISH SEVENTH IN
JORDAN RALLY
DEAD SEA (JORDAN): Oman’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud produced a superb fight back from first day issues to finish seventh overall at the 2022 Jordan Rally, round four of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC).
With his Oman Rally Team Škoda Fabia R2 evo repaired after an accident on the notorious Jordan River stage on Friday afternoon, the Omani restarted on Saturday under the Rally2 ruling and was classified in ninth place in the general classification heading into two passes through the Bahath, Suwayma and Ma’in special stages in the Dead Sea area.
He continued to show excellent pace and set the outright fastest time in stage nine second fastest times behind leader Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah in the other five special stages on Saturday.
That vital finish for the Omani ensured that Al-Attiyah was mathematically not able to confirm a record-breaking 18th regional title before the next round in Lebanon.
Al-Rawahi said: “Friday was disappointing for us. We had made a really good start to the rally. I was having a good pace and trying to be close to Nasser. Unfortunately, we could not finish the last two stages. We went off the track and we got stuck in a ditch and had to retire. Otherwise everything was okay. We had a bit of over steer throughout the weekend.
“It was important to gather some points, especially as we did not finish in Kuwait. This time we had a few dramatic moments, but we managed to come back and the second day was good and the set-up for the car was much better when we went softer. The pace was there as well. Having Nasser in the championship is a great benchmark. He is a world class driver. Every time I try and get closer and closer to him and that is happening and he is always there to support as well. Hopefully in the future we can do what Nasser has been doing!”
The series continues with the Rally of Lebanon on September 2nd-4th.
2022 Jordan Rally – positions after SS12 (unofficial @ 15.20hrs):
1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Mathieu Baumel (AND) Volkswagen Polo GTI 2hr 18min 03.7sec
2. Alex Feghali (LEB)/Joseph Matar (LEB) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2hr 28min 01.3sec
3. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KWT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hr 28min 23.4sec
4. Khaled Juma (JOR)/Tareq Al-Taher (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hr 37min 27.3sec
5. Hamada Odeh (PSE)/Yazan Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2hr 37min 27.8sec
6. Shadi Shaban (JOR)/Samer Issa (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2hr 39min 30.4sec
7. Abdullah Al-Rawahi (OMN)/Ata Al-Hmoud (JOR) Škoda Fabia R2 evo 2hr 39min 41.9sec
8. Mohammed Al-Thefiri (KWT)/Suleiman Al-Helal (KWT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X` 2hr 48min 11.4sec
9. Ihab Al-Shorafa (JOR)/Yousef Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2hr 52min 43.1sec
10. Yousef Al-Dhafeeri (KWT)/Abdulrahman Shekakwe (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 4hr 04min 27.4sec
15 starters, 10 finishers
Ends