Rally Saudi Arabia– May 1st-3rd, 2025

FIA Middle East Rally Championship, round 3

For immediate release
Saturday, May 3rd, 2025

Al-Attiyah and Carrera coast to victory in Jeddah-based Rally Saudi Arabia

  • MERC2 and MERC4 successes for Al-Zubair and Al-Muhannadi

JEDDAH (SAUDI ARABIA): Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and his Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera secured a comfortable victory at the inaugural Jeddah-based Rally Saudi Arabia powered by Jameel Motorsport on Saturday.

The Qatari won five of the day’s six gravel stages to the north of the Red Sea city to earn a record-breaking 89th career MERC rally win, as he bids for a 20th FIA Middle East Rally Championship title. His Autotek Škoda Fabia RS suffered one time-consuming puncture on the second stage of the final day but Al-Attiyah hit back to win his third successive MERC event with Carrera by 1min 37.4sec.

Al-Attiyah said: “It was nice to win the rally. But the good thing was that we had the rally back here in Saudi Arabia. I cannot wait for the next one in November. I want to do it in a Rally1 car!”

Finn Juho Hänninen and his co-driver Janni Hussi entered the event in a Toyota Yaris for test and research purposes on behalf of the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT. But the duo won two stages and finished in a comfortable second position, although they were not registered for MERC points.

Hänninen added: “It was okay. We saw all the stages and we learned a lot. From that side it was a good journey. Nasser is the champion of the Middle East. I knew that before coming here. The result was not that important. We learned so many things. It’s nice to be second after Nasser. It was nice to see him again because we competed together many years ago.”

Saudi driver Rakan Al-Rashed teamed up with Hugo Magalhães to finish on the final step of the podium with his Toyota and pick up valuable points in his quest to hunt down Al-Attiyah with three rounds of the regional series still to run.

Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and his Irish team-mate Lorcan Moore moved briefly into third overall during the final morning before stopping to change a flat tyre mid-stage. That time loss pushed them back to fourth, a position they held to the finish to stay ahead of Oman’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi and his British co-driver Ross Whittock. Three punctures had cost Al-Rawahi dearly on day one.

Hamza Bakhashab switched from the cross-country discipline to tackle his first special stage rally in a Can-Am Maverick R and the Saudi finished sixth with Poland’s Marcin Pasek reading his pace notes.

Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya is chasing glory in this year’s new FIA MERC Master Driver category and the Qatari guided his Ford Fiesta to seventh and a useful haul of championship points. Oman’s Abdullah Al-Zubair dominated the MERC2 category from the start in his Subaru Impreza and moved firmly into title contention against fellow countryman Zakariya Al-Aamri.

Bassel Abu Hamdan returned to action after a lengthy lay-off to take ninth overall and Qatar’s Rashed Al-Mohannadi rounded off the top 10 in his Peugeot 208 and won the MERC4 category. Young Qatari Mohammed Al-Marri finished 15th on his third ever MERC rally and was the leading Junior driver.

Saturday morning’s action centred around the Al-Ghulah (11.70km), Asfan (26.55km) and Thahban (8.46km) stages. All 22 starters began the opening stage, with Qatar’s Saad Al-Harwan and Mohammed Ak-Marri rejoining at the rear of the field after day one retirements.

Al-Attiyah had the bit between his teeth to extend his advantage over Hänninen to 41.8 seconds with the fastest time. Al-Kuwari overhauled Al-Rashed to take third place with the second fastest time but Joanna Hassoun retired with tyre issues after a puncture.

A puncture threatened to derail Al-Attiyah’s challenge in the second special, although the Qatari drove to the finish and dropped only 34.9 seconds to Hänninen, as the Finn reduced the lead to just 6.9 seconds. Al-Rashed regained third place when Al-Kuwari dropped three minutes with a puncture. Both Jassim Al-Muqahwi and Mohammed Al-Shorafa retired in the early part of the special and Saad Al-Harqan completed the stage and was then sidelined.

The first run through the Thahban stage rounded off the morning’s action and Al-Attiyah was back in business with the fastest time. That enabled him to reach the service point in Jeddah with a lead of 23.6 seconds over Hänninen.

Al-Attiyah said: “We enjoy a lot these three stages. We had a flat tyre from the beginning of stage eight. But we decided to push and not stop. If you change (the tyre) you lose the rally. There was damage to the rear right but we didn’t lose too much time.”

Third-placed Al-Rashed said: “It was a very challenging morning. The first stage was okay and we had a good time but we had a puncture in the second one. This was one of the most interesting stages of the rally. Then we had another puncture on the third one.”

Al-Kuwari said: “A good start. We were second fastest on the first one and then fastest at the first split on the second one and then we had a puncture and had to stop and change the tyre.”

Bakhashab moved up to sixth, Al-Zubair continued to lead the MERC2 category and Al-Muhannadi headed the MERC4 rankings. Jordan’s Shaker Jweihan went off the track and got stuck in a ditch before retiring his Mitsubishi and Payyaakkal ‘Saneem’ Panikkaveettil also retired his Ford Fiesta.

“Very nice, very fast,” said Al-Zubair. “Overall, I am happy. It has been very challenging. You have to trust your notes on this rally.”

The three stages on the new WRC candidate rally were repeated in the afternoon. Al-Attiyah was a couple of seconds off his morning’s pace through Al-Ghulah but he beat Hänninen by 19.6 seconds to extend his lead to 43.2 seconds. The Finn admitted at the midday service that he was more concerned about gaining valuable data and trying out various set-ups on the Yaris to source information about the event for Toyota in advance of the WRC round in November.

Another quickest time through SS11 enabled Al-Attiyah to extend his lead to 55.5 seconds to take to the final Power Stage. Al-Kuwari dropped over a minute to Al-Attiyah but maintained a strong grip on fourth place after Al-Rawahi dropped two minutes with more tyre issues. Jordan’s Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez retired his Škoda close to the stage finish.

Al-Attiyah claimed the bonus points for winning the final Power Stage and secured a comfortable win to extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship. Al-Rawahi picked up Power Stage points for the second quickest time but still finished fifth behind Hänninen, Al-Rashed and Al-Kuwari.

Rally Saudi Arabia was hosted by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) in collaboration with the Saudi Motorsport Company. It ran under the supervision of the FIA as an official candidate rally for the WRC under the Ministry of Sport.

Round four of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship takes place in Jordan on May 29th-31st.

2025 Rally Saudi Arabia – final positions:

  1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2 1hr 34min 05.5sec
  2. Juho Hänninen (FIN)/Janni Hussi (FIN) Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2                                                                                                                    1hr 35min 42.9sec*
  3. Rakan Al-Rashed (KSA)/Hugo Magalhães (POR) Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2 1hr 39min 08.9sec
  4. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Lorcan Moore (IRL) Citroën C3 Rally 2                                                                                                                    1hr 40min 06.4sec
  5. Abdullah Al-Rawahi (OMA)/Ross Whittock (GBR) Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2 1hr 43min 11.8sec
  6. Hamza Bakhashab (KSA)/Marcin Pasek (POL) Can-Am Maverick R (SSV) 1hr 47min 11.7sec
  7. Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Ziad Chehab (LBN) Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally 2 1hr 49min 56.9sec
  8. Abdullah Al-Zubair (OMA)/Taha Al-Zadjali (OMA) Subaru Impreza WRX Sti 1hr 55min 18.9sec
  9. Bassel Abu Hamdan (KSA)/Firas Elias (LBN) Škoda Fabia Rally 2                                                                                                                    2hr 00min 23.5sec
  10. Rashid Al-Muhannadi (QAT)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Peugeot 208 Rally 4 2hr 02min 18.0sec
  11. Ihab Al-Shurafa (JOR)/Ahmad Jankhout (JOR) Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2 2hr 02min 54.5sec
  12. Shadi El Fakih (LBN)/Joseph Kmeid (LBN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X                                                                                                                    2hr 04min 33.6sec
  13. Zakariya Al-Aamri (OMA)/Mohammed Al-Mazroui (OMA) Subaru Impreza WRX Sti 2hr 09min 51.5sec
  14. Shadi Shaban (JOR)/Samer Issa (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX (NAT) 2hr 11min 38.7sec
  15. Mohammed Al-Marri (QAT)/Giovanni Bernacchini (ITA) Peugeot 208 Rally 4 2hr 48min 27.0sec

Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez (JOR)/Vili Oslaj (SLO) Škoda Fabia Rally 2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       RETIRED – SS11

Payyaakkal ‘Saneem’ Panikkaveettil (IND)/Musa Sherif (IND) Ford Fiesta Rally 4                                                                                                                                                                                                           RETIRED – SS9

Shaker Jweihan (JOR)/Aisvydas Paliukenas (LTU) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X                                                                                                                                                                                                                         RETIRED – SS9

Saad Al-Harqan (QAT)/Pierre Delorme (FRA) Peugeot 208 Rally 4                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       RETIRED – after SS8

Jassim Al-Muqahwi (KUW)/Suleiman Al-Helal (KUW) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X                                                                                                                                                                                                            RETIRED – SS8

Mohammed Al-Shorafa (JOR)/Yazan Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX (NAT)                                                                                                                                                                                                            RETIRED – SS8*

Joanna Hassoun (LBN)/Dolyne Schlink (LBN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX (NAT)                                                                                                                                                                                                                    RETIRED – SS7*

22 starters, 15 finishers

*denotes not registered for the MERC

Ends

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published On: 3 May 2025