Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah and his co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini won four of the day’s six special stages to comfortably lead the Jordan Rally – the round two of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship – on Friday. The Qatari is running a new Autotek Motorsport-prepared Skoda Fabia RS for the first time and overcame a spin on stage two to gradually get to grips with the machine and try out various settings on his way to a 1min 05.7sec overnight lead. Defending champion Abdullah al-Rawahi teamed up with local co-driver Ata al-Hmoud and led in his Skoda Fabia after two stages, but suffered radiator and possible engine damage after an accident on the first pass through the Baptism Site stage. But, once the Omani had retired, al-Attiyah was able to manage his pace and stay clear of fellow countryman Abdulaziz al-Kuwari and his British co-driver Marshall Clarke in their second-placed QMMF-backed Skoda Fabia. Al-Kuwari was also the highest-placed of the drivers registered in the Jordan National Championship and was quickest on the third stage. Al-Attiyah said: “After Qatar Rally, we retired and we knew we needed to be clever here. We knew Jordan is a very tough race. I tried to manage stage-by-stage. On the first loop this morning we had one big spin and we decided to change a little bit the clicks (suspension). I am quite happy to finish day one with a good lead and we try to learn the new car for tomorrow. We need to feel the pressure but we need to be smart here. The stages are rebuilt with loose gravel – an amazing job by the organisation. No risks now tomorrow.” Al-Kuwari added: “Very difficult day. There is no time to close your eyes during the stages. The moment you lose your concentration it is very difficult. The speed is coming and the gap is not very good in each stage. I know where I am losing time and that is a good sign. Tomorrow is a longer day and that will not be easy.” Jordanian driver Shaker Jweihan was the class of the rest of the field and comfortably led the MERC2 category with Lebanese co-driver Carlos Hanna. Jwerihan reached the overnight halt at the Dead Sea 1min 52.5sec in front of fourth-placed Denis Krotov and Yury Kulikov. More importantly, they were over 3min 20sec clear of their closest MERC2 rivals Shadi Shaban and Samer Issa. MERC drivers Issa Abu Jamous and Husam Salem held seventh and eighth in their Mitsubishis, Qatari Nasser Khalifa al-Atya (Ford) was ninth and Ameer Nassif rounded off the top 10 and held fifth in MERC2. Local drivers Ihab al-Shorafa and Fadi Dahshan were 11th and 12th. Qatar’s Khalid al-Suwaidi crashed out of the running on the opening stage and Palestine’s Hamada Odeh rolled his Mitsubishi Lancer near the start of the third special. The Mount Nebo area hosted the opening Panorama and Bahath stages before competitors return to the Dead Sea area to complete the morning’s loop with a pass through the Baptism Site special. Al-Attiyah carried out road-sweeping duties, although he tried to persuade rally officials to have al-Rawahi running first on the road. Stage openers can have a distinct disadvantage on gravel rallies over seldomly used tracks where the opening vehicles sweep loose stones, sand and detritus off the surface. The Qatari laid down the gauntlet with a run of 11min 44.5sec, however, and beat his rival by 4.6 seconds. Al-Attiyah completed the late morning’s loop of three stages with a time of 6min 12.5sec through the Baptism Site and headed for the regroup and midday service at the Dead Sea leading al-Rawahi by 16.1 seconds after the Omani finished the stage with front and right-hand damage to his Skoda. Al-Attiyah eased his pace on the re-run of Panorama but was still able to increase his advantage over al-Kuwari to 36.8 seconds. Jweihan consolidated third and a comfortable lead in MERC2 with Krotov and al-Fayez rounding off the top five. Shaban and Abu Jamous were Jweihan’s closest challengers in MERC2. Al-Attiyah safely negotiated the second pass through Bahath, beat al-Kuwari and saw his lead grow to 53.6 seconds. Jweihan, Krotov and al-Fayez held their positions inside the top six. The 3.3km of the Dead Sea special rounded off the day’s proceedings but was delayed after the cancellation of SS6. Al-Attiyah eventually wrapped up a successful opening day with the fastest time of 2min 54.4sec to lead by 1min 05.7sec.