MEDIA INFORMATION   

JORDAN RALLY

May 14th-16th, 2026  
FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), round 3

For immediate release
Wednesday, May 13th, 2026

SAUDI ARABIA’S HAMZA BAKHASHAB CONTINUES IMPRESSIVE MERC LEARNING CURVE AT THE JORDAN RALLY

DEAD SEA (JORDAN): Saudi Arabia’s Hamza Bakhashab continues to exceed expectations in his first full FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) campaign, as he tackles this weekend’s Jordan Rally at the Dead Sea.

The 22-year-old, from Jeddah, has made an impressive start to the season in the region’s premier rallying series. 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 multiple regional champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah.

Bakhashab 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.”

Those performances alongside Irish co-driver Lorcan Moore in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 supported by official partner Jameel Motorsport and Bakhashab Motorsport have netted the youngster 42 championship points after two rounds.

That leaves Hamza just five points behind championship leader Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya and firmly in contention near the top of the standings, despite this being his first full season competing in the MERC. The Saudi is also aiming to follow in the footsteps of his father Abdullah, who won the regional Drivers’ Championship back in 1995.

Three rallies remain after Jordan: Lebanon, Cyprus and Saudi Arabia in late November. Drivers will count their best five scores from six events, and Hamza currently holds a seven-point advantage over former regional champion Al-Attiyah and a 14-point cushion over Oman’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi.

MERC2 front-runner and leading local driver Shaker Jweihan sits just one point behind the Saudi in third place. Hamza and Lorcan also contested the opening round of the Jordan National Rally Championship recently and finished second overall after a costly puncture denied them victory against Jweihan. Hamza and Lorcan won four of the event’s six special stages.

Hamza added: “Jordan is a demanding rally with rough stages and changing grip levels. We had a positive run here recently and the target now is to put together another clean and consistent weekend.”

This year’s Jordan Rally is based at the Dead Sea and features two passes through six demanding gravel special stages in the Jordan Valley at the lowest place on earth.

A new 4.83km Shakedown stage kicks off the competitive action on Thursday and will  give Hamza and his team a final opportunity to fine-tune the set-up on their Toyota before the ceremonial start at the Hover-Up Park adjacent to the Dead Sea.

Seventeen crews representing 10 countries will then tackle two passes through the iconic Shuna, Baptism Site and Ma’in stages on Friday, split by a midday return to the Dead Sea for service and regrouping.

Two passes through the Panorama, Suwayma and Rawda specials will conclude the event on Saturday before the ceremonial finish back at the Hover-Up Park from 18.30hrs.

2026 Jordan Rally – leading 10 entries:

  1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2
  2. Abdullah Al-Rawahi (OMA)/Ata Al-Hmoud (JOR)                                                                                   Škoda Fabia R5 Rally 2
  3. Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez (JOR)/Joseph Matar (LBN)                                                                                   Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2
  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 (OMA)/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

2026 FIA Middle East Rally Championship – positions after round 2:

  1. Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya (QAT)               47pts
  2. Hamza Bakhashab (KSA) 42pts
  3. Shaker Jweihan (JOR)               41pts
  4. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)               35pts
  5. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT) 35pts
  6. Abdullah Al-Rawahi (OMN)               28pts
  7. Jassim Al-Muqahwi (KUW) 24pts
  8. Shadi El Fakih (LBN)               18pts
  9. Christiano Gabbarrini (ITA) 17pts
  10. Zakariya Al-Aamri (OMN) 16pts, etc

Ends

 

 

 

 

Published On: 13 May 2026