Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and navigator Candido Carrera drive during the 28th Oman International Rally, yesterday.
SOHAR: Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and Candido Carrera laid down the gauntlet with the fastest time of 2min 27.3sec through the opening 2.52km super special stage of the 28th Oman International Rally at the Sohar Entertainment Centre (SEC) yesterday afternoon.
The Škoda Fabia RS crew were 3.5 seconds quicker than Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and Lorcan Moore in their QMMF-backed Citroën C3 ahead of two further days of competing across new terrain in northern Oman.
Sixteen crews took the start of the opening round of the 2025 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) hosted by the Oman Automobile Association (OAA), with an additional five running in the Oman National Championship at the rear of the field.
Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah (fourth right) with several leading drivers during a pre-event press conference.
A last-minute co-driver change saw 44-year-old Carrera team up with Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah in the Autotek Motorsport-run Škoda Fabia RS. The Spaniard has been the regular partner for Dani Sordo in the FIA World Rally Championship in recent seasons and the pair finished on the podium together seven times in Greece, Portugal and Sardinia over the last three years.
As Al Attiyah explained: “We have a new car and I have a new co-driver. He is very high level. We start together from Oman for the rest of the Middle East season. This is his first race. He has managed a lot of things in his teams. He is a good friend for a long time. During Dakar, he was helping Nasser Racing team and I asked him and he said he was free to do the Middle East Championship.
“The new stages are fantastic. Thanks to the organisation. These stages remind me of Oman rallies in the past. I will try my best to win.”
Abdullah Al Rawahi and Ata Al Hmoud won in Oman last time out and are chasing a third success on the driver’s home terrain. They began their title challenge with the third quickest time.
Rakan Al Rashed has returned to tackle a full programme of MERC events with Portugal’s Hugo Magalhães in a new Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2 and the Saudi clocked the fourth quickest time. Rashed Al Muhannadi and Gary Mcelhinney held fifth in their Peugeot 208 Rally 4.
First blood in the six-car tussle for MERC2 honours went to Shadi Shaban and Samer Issa In their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. It was a bad start for Lebanon’s Ahmad Khaled: he stopped for around five minutes after getting stuck on a mound of gravel and slipped to the foot of the rankings.
Nasser Khalifa Al Attiyah hit a banking and damaged a light on his Ford Fiesta and local driver Abdullah Al Zubair lost time when the red flag was raised on the stage to warn him of Khaled’s problems and he ceded valuable time to his MERC2 rivals.
Leading drivers joined event officials at the pre-event press conference. This and the ceremonial start were held inside a giant planetarium-style dome at the Sohar Entertainment Centre and marked the first time a round of the MERC has begun indoors.
