Veteran driver Nasser Khalifa al-Atya will make a comeback to rallying on Qatar’s terrain for the first time in 22 years, when he lines up for this weekend’s Manateq Qatar International Rally, round one of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship. 
A former MERC series runner-up in 1993, al-Atya will participate in all the five rounds of the championship this year and will be sponsored by the Commercial Bank.  Al-Atya is a  former  president of the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation and has also served as the vice-president of Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). He has started in over 50 rallies and has gone on to win many international rallies and is a five-time winner of the Qatar Rally Championship. 
“I am excited to be taking part in the upcoming Middle East Rally Championship, which kicks off in Qatar this weekend. The Middle East Rally Championship is one of my favourite competit ions and one of my greatest achievements in my sporting career. There is no greater feeling than being able to take part in the sport you love in your own country, and I’d like to thank Commercial Bank for their support in making this happen,” said al-Atya yesterday at a press conference. 
Al-Atya finished on the podium in Kuwait last season and will be returning to action in Qatar at the wheel of a Ford Fiesta R5. He will partner with Italian co-driver Nicola Arena at the MERC championship and said he was hopeful of making a successful comeback on Qatar terrain. 
“Italian Nicola Arena will be my co-driver. He has good experience  and has also participated with me in Kuwait. We are getting to know each other well and exchanging notes. For the first time ever I am going to drive a R5 car and I need to study the car,” he said. 
“I was away from the Qatar terrain for 22 years. I have good experience here, but the terrain and the stages are different now. I will try to be very competitive in the rally and not really think too much about the result as I know the drivers here are very fast and young. They have been racing continuously and I on the other hand was away from it for many years. I will try to adapt to get a feel of the Qatar terrain and hopefully I can progress and reach my maximum level. 
“I am training to focus on my target and reach my goals. It is not going to be easy to challenge other drivers. But I will be very competitive for sure and surprise the young drivers in the stages. We did a shakedown stage just to see my ability with the car and get to know the technical side of it like transmission, engine and programming of the car. It’s not going to be easy but I will get down to business,” he added.
Al-Atya said besides also wanting to enjoy the sport, the biggest motivating factor to make a comeback for him in Qatar was to create road safety awareness in the country. “My motivation was to be part of the sport and compete with the other drivers. And I also want to enjoy racing. I want to do charity for the society here to avoid accident. This is what I have learnt from my experience worldwide and I wanted to give back my expertise to the society and to Commerical Bank, who are willing to be the leaders in Qatar to create an awareness on the road safety. I am glad to be Commerical Bank’s ambassador for road safety awareness. This is the main goal for me to be honest, to help the society avoid accident,” he said. 
Hussein al-Abdullah, EGM, Chief Marketing Officer of the Commercial Bank, said: “At Commercial Bank, we are always proud to support influential individuals in the sports industry. Our sponsorship of the MERC rally forms part of our Corporate Social Responsibility vision, which is an integral part of our business as it forms part of the human development pillar of the Qatar National Vision 2030, which aims to promote a healthy population both physically and mentally. I encourage everyone to attend the rally this weekend, which is set to be one of the most exciting editions of the tournament to date. Our very own Nasser Khalifa al-Atya will be taking part, and that is something you do not want to miss!”
The MERC will begin in Qatar this weekend, with the next four round to be held in Jordan, Cyprus, Lebanon and Kuwait. Qatar’s Dakkar rally champion Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah is heading a strong 29-car entry in the championship.