Jordan Rally starts Thursday

AMMAN –– The Jordan Rally, the third round of the 2014 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), kicks off on Thursday with a spectator evening in Abdali, the new downtown of Amman. 

As 28 drivers –– including 10 Jordanians –– have started their final preparations, organisers hope the racing event would be one of the top sporting and social events of the year.

Considered as one of the most challenging rounds of MERC, the event will be held under the patronage of HRH Prince Feisal, president of Jordan Motorsport. Middle East driving champion Nasser Al Attiyah is currently leading the MERC standings with 50 points and is expected to see tough challenge from UAE's Khalid Al Qassimi, who is trailing with 33 points, and third-placed Yazeed Al Rajhi of Saudi Arabia (27 points). 

Al Attiyah returned recently from Qatar after winning the Sealine Cross-Country Rally Round 4 of the 2014 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies and Round 2 of the 2014 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship with his French co-driver Matthieu Baumel.

Thursday’s launch will start at 4:00pm in Abdali as top drivers will be introduced to the public through a Q&A session that will broadcast live on both Radio Hala (Arabic) and Bliss 104.2 (English).

Cars will then go over the start ramp before tackling a challenging 1.6km course in the shadows of the impressive new development. The event is completely free for spectators to attend.

On Friday,  drivers will race at Mount Nebo, Maain, Suwayma, Yakrut and Bahath with a total distance of 391.64 kilometres, while Saturday's event will cover Shuna, Karama, Rawda, Turki and Baptism Site with a total distance of 394.24km. 

"We did all the necessary arrangement for both drivers and fans in order to have a really fun event," Jordan Motorsport CEO Othman Nassif told The Jordan Times.

Jordanian squad is labelled the strongest so far with Marouf Abu Samra, winner of the National Rally Championship in 2013, taking the lead with hopes to fly the Jordanian flag from the top of the podium just like what Jordan's Amjad Farrah did in 2004 when he made history by winning the rally.     

Hussam Salem will join the challenge as he teams up with co-driver Nanci Majali.

The event’s official partners are the Royal Automobile Club of Jordan, Jordan Olympic Committee, Greater Amman Municipality, Higher Council of Youth, Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Abdali Boulevard and the Special Communications Commission.