(From left to right) Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed al-Rajhi, UAE’s Khalid al-Qassimi and Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah.
In a week’s time, the fifth round of the Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) will kick off in Cyprus with 66 crews being announced in a temporary entry list.
The Cyprus Rally 2014, to be held between September 18 and 21, is also being raced as the ninth round of the European Rally Championship (ERC). The entry list for the 773.34km event includes 13 crews from the ERC, 9 crews from the MERC and 44 crews from Cyprus.
Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah, along with Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini, will be looking for his fourth victory this season, after wins in Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan.
The nine-time champion, who leads the championship with 75 points and is driving a Ford Fiesta RRC, will be up against UAE’s Khalid al-Qassimi in a Citroen DS3 RRC. Al-Qassimi is second in the standings with 51 points, 10 points ahead of Qatar’s Abdulaziz al-Kuwari, and is in pursuit of his second MERC title.
Al-Kuwari, with Irish co-driver Kilian Duffy in a Ford Fiesta, finished third in the fourth round of the championship in Lebanon, pushing him ahead of Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed al-Rajhi (27 points), who is a joint fourth in the standings with UAE’s Abdullah al-Qassimi.
Al-Rajhi has also entered in the WRC Rally Australia, which kicked off yesterday and will conclude on Sunday, with British co-driver Michael Orr.
Other Qataris in the fray include Abdullah al-Kuwari and Khalifa Saleh al-Attiyah.
Abdullah al-Kuwari has entered a Ford Fiesta R5 with Italian co-driver Nicola Arena, while Khalifa Saleh al-Attiyah will be looking to take the lead in the ‘N’ group standings from Kuwait’s Mishary Aldaferi.
Khalifa Saleh al-Attiyah, whose car had caught fire in the Lebanon Rally, will be driving an Aveo 10 with co-driver Adel Hussain.