Record-breaking 18th win for al-Attiyah at Qatar Rally

Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah and his Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera won five of the 13 special stages on the way to a resounding victory in the Qatar International Rally on Saturday. A second success of the Qatari’s 2025 campaign to win a 20th FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) title also marked his 18th in Qatar from 25 starts and gives him a strong foundation on which to build this year’s title challenge in his Autotek-run Skoda Fabia RS. The win was the 88th in his illustrious MERC career.
A delighted al-Attiyah said: “I am really happy to win this race. It is a home rally and we did a good job. I am happy with Candido and the team. It is a nice start for 2025. Just 0.8 (seconds) between me and Mads on the Power Stage. It was a good level.”
His new co-driver Carrera earned his second career MERC rally win in the space of three weeks. The Spaniard said: “The start of the new partnership is very good. I am very happy with two victories with Nasser. It’s very easy to work with him. It’s good for the championship. It’s good for me because it’s a long time since I was reading the pace notes in English. It’s different rallies, very strategic, with the flags and fences. But I am very happy.”
On his fourth visit to the event, Mads Ostberg finished as runner-up for a third year in succession after failing to finish on his first appearance in 2022. Punctures on Friday put paid to an aggressive challenge by the Norwegian and his Romanian co-driver Sergiu Itu but the crew won eight of the 13 stages, including a clean sweep of six fastest times over the final day to finish 1min 12.8sec behind Al-Attiyah.
Ostberg said: “Eight stage wins but that doesn’t count. It takes only one stage to lose the rally. I have learned that on more than one occasion. It’s a shame, but I look at the positives. To be here and to enjoy this rally is really amazing. I take that from here and even just to fight with Nasser on these stages and compare our stage times is really an adventure. I love it. We can see that we have the speed. We just need to nail the strategy. We tried something else this year and it didn’t pay off at all. We need to go home and investigate and try again.”
Abdulaziz al-Kuwari and Lorcan Moore ceded second to Ostberg on the first stage of the morning but were able to fend off a fierce late challenge from Abdullah al-Rawahi and Ata al-Hmoud to claim the final place on the podium and a vital haul of MERC points in their Citroen C3 by just 3.3 seconds. But the Qatari was handed a five-second penalty on Saturday evening and that dropped him to fourth place.
Rakan al-Rashed enjoyed his first appearance in Qatar and managed his pace sensibly over the two days of high-speed action in the northern deserts to finish fifth overall in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2 with Portuguese co-driver Hugo Magalhaes. Coupled with his runner-up spot at round one in Oman, al-Rashed is now in a strong position to challenge championship leader al-Attiyah this season.
Nasser Khalifa al-Atya is chasing Masters Championship and MERC points with Lebanese co-driver Ziad Chehab in a Motortune Ford Fiesta. He surrendered sixth overall to a hard-charging Denis Krotov and Yury Kulikov in their SRT Skoda Fabia RS but earned a second win in the new Masters Championship and collected valuable MERC points to boot with seventh overall.
Rashid al-Muhannadi guided his Peugeot 208 Rally 4 to a second successive victory in the MERC4 category. The Qatari teamed up with Irishman Gary Mcelhinney again to finish eighth.
The battle for supremacy in MERC2 developed into a showdown between the Omani duo of Abdullah al-Zubair and Zakariya al-Aamri. When mechanical issues sidelined al-Zubair before the penultimate stage, that opened the door for al-Aamri to claim the win and 10th overall behind ninth-placed Jordanian driver Shadi Shaban.
Both Saad al-Harqan and Mohammed al-Marri excelled on their rallying debuts with the Qatar Motorsport Sports Academy. The rookies guided their Peugeot 208s to 14th and 15th overall with al-Harqan winning the Junior MERC category.
The 50th anniversary rally was held under the chairmanship of QMMF President Abdulrahman al-Mannai, senior committee member Abdulrazaq al-Kuwari and the QMMF’s Executive Director Amro al-Hamad.
The FIA Middle East Rally Championship now heads to Saudi Arabia for the first time since 2010 for the new Jeddah-based round of the series on May 1st-3rd.

Final Positions After SS13:
1. Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (QAT)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2; Total time: 1hr 42min 15.0sec
2. Mads Ostberg (NOR)/Sergiu Itu (ROU) Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2; 1hr 43min 27.8sec*
3. Abdullah al-Rawahi (OMA)/Ata al-Hmoud (JOR) Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2; 1hr 44min 40.7sec
4. Abdulaziz al-Kuwari (QAT)/Lorcan Moore (IRL) Citroën C3 Rally 2; 1hr 44min 42.4sec
5. Rakan al-Rashed (KSA)/Hugo Magalhaes (POR) Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2; 1hr 50min 35.0sec
6. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Yury Kulikov (CYP) Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2; 1hr 52min 01.1sec
7. Nasser Khalifa al-Attiyah (QAT)/Ziad Chehab (LBN); Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally 2; 1hr 53min 35.7sec
8. Rashid al-Muhannadi (QAT)/Gary McElhinney (IRL) Peugeot 208 Rally 4; 2hr 07min 17.2sec
9. Shadi Shaban (JOR)/Samer Issa (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX; 2hr 07min 36.9sec
10. Zakariya al-Aamri (OMA)/Mohammed al-Mazroui (OMA) Subaru Impreza N14; 2hr 08min 55.0sec
11. Jad al-Aawar (LBN)/Vicken Kanledjian (LBN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X; 2hr 13min 53.0sec
12. Jassim al-Muqahwi (KUW)/Suleiman al-Helal (KUW) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X; 2hr 14min 48.9sec
13. Ahmad Khaled (LBN)/Samer Sfeir (LBN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X; 2hr 15min 50.9sec
14. Saad al-Harqan (QAT)/Pierre Delorme (FRA) Peugeot 208 Rally 4; 2hr 19min 56.0sec
15. Mohammed al-Marri (QAT)/Yannick Roche (FRA) Peugeot 208 Rally 4; 2hr 20min 50.2sec
16. Payyaakkal ‘Saneem’ Panikkaveettil (IND)/Musa Sherif (IND) Ford Fiesta Rally 2; 2hr 22min 23.5sec
17. Christiano Gabbarrini (ITA)/Alessandro Forni (ITA) Subaru Impreza WRX STi; 2hr 22min 53.0sec*
18. Ibrahim al-Muhanna (KSA)/Hani al-Noumesi (KSA) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T4); 2hr 33min 05.6sec
19. Shadi El Fakih (LBN)/Joseph Kmeid (LBN) Renault Clio; 2hr 45min 31.7sec
20. Mirko Carrara (ITA)/Stefano Tiraboschi (ITA) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T4); 2hr 49min 13.1sec*
21. Yosra Jazzar (KSA)/Faisal al-Suwayh (KSA) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T4); 3hr 22min 03.7sec
Abdullah al-Zubair (OMA)/Taha al-Zadjali (OMA) Subaru Impreza; RETIRED – after SS11
Mohamed Mansoor Parol (IND)/Lenin Joseph (IND) Subaru Impreza; RETIRED – SS10
Mohammed al-Atteya (QAT)/Savvas Laos (CYP) Lancer Evo X; RETIRED – SS10*
Ihab al-Shurafa (JOR)/Ahmad Jankhout (JOR) Lancer Evo X; RETIRED – after SS9
28 starters, 21 finishers

*denotes not registered for the MERC