Jordan Rally preview
DEFENDING CHAMPION AL-ATTIYAH SET TO LEAD TOP CLASS FIELD INTO JORDAN RALLY
Jordan's Farrah and Bustami eye podium finishes; Crucial event for title hopes of Al-Qassimi and Al-Maktoum
DEAD SEA (Jordan): Qatar's defending FIA Middle East rally champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Ulster co-driver Chris Patterson will lead an international field from nine countries into the start of the Jordan Rally 2006 at the Citadel in Amman on Thursday afternoon. The event is being held under the patronage of HRH Prince Feisal Al-Hussein, Chairman of Jordan Motorsport.
Ahead of teams from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Ireland and Lebanon lie 18 timed special stages in the Dead Sea and Rumman areas of Jordan to the west of Amman. Several of these stages are completely new and others have been rebuilt, regraded and finely-honed to the exacting requirements of the FIA World Rally Championship, of which Jordan Rally 2006 is a deserved candidate round.
Al-Attiyah has won the opening three rounds of this year's regional series, amassing three maximum 10-point scores for his wins in Al-Ain, Qatar and Oman. His nearest rivals are Qatar team mate Misfer Al-Marri on 17 points and Dubai's Sheikh Suhail Bin Khalifa Al-Maktoum on 16 points. Both drivers are relishing the prospect of closing the gap on the championship leader, but it will not be easy: Al-Attiyah is the form driver in the region and won the PWRC section of the recent WRC round in Argentina.
"The stages are very smooth, quite fast and potentially very difficult," said Al-Marri. "They can be slippery and there is no margin for error. If you make a mistake here, then you could be in big trouble."
Also hoping to improve on a disappointing start to his season is the 2004 regional champion Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi in his Subaru Impreza WRX STi. The UAE driver lost out in a thrilling opening round in Al-Ain to a late Al-Attiyah charge to victory and mechanical problems blighted his progress in Qatar and Oman, although he had blitzed his way from 11th to fifth overall in Oman before electrical problems intervened.
Former Group N regional champion Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi starts in fifth place in the regional series on 10 points and the Sharjah driver will be hoping to build upon his recent win in the Umm Al-Quwain Rally. Lebanese veteran Michel Saleh is also due a dose of good fortune after recent disappointments and he has the pace and determination to feature on the leaderboard.
"Suhail and I have a new sponsor for our two-car team and we need to get a good result for them," said Saleh. "I am very impressed by the stages. They could be dangerous if you push too hard and need to be treated with respect. But, when you consider that the worst one of them all is the Dead Sea stage and that was the best stage last year, that proves what a huge improvement the organisers have made."
Vociferous local support will be centred around the 2004 Jordan Rally winner Amjad Farrah and defending national champion Faris Bustami. Both have announced new sponsorship and improved cars for their home event and both have the dream of winning what is becoming the most important rally in the history of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship.
"These new stages are very impressive," admitted Bustami. "For sure, the winner of the rally will not be the driver with the fastest car, but the most talented driver."
"No event in the Middle East region has ever been a part of the FIA World Rally Championship, so we know that the stakes are huge and the prize is within reach," said Ziad Louza, Clerk of the Course of this year's event. "We have received very favourable feedback so far and our entire team is relishing the prospect of a busy and very exciting few days. We started out on this long road back in 1982 when the event was rated nationally by the FIA and then we joined the regional championship one year later."
While the leading six drivers battle for championship points and jostle for a potential position on the podium, Jordan's Bashar Bustami has one goal and that is to finish inside the top five. The former championship regular is not registered for points, but he and Welsh co-driver Craig Parry are sure to be in contention in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII.
The Hashemite Kingdom is strongly-represented on the entry list: Asem Aref and Burhan Abu Quora wheel out their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII, Ammar Hijazi, Mazan Tantash, sprint entrant Ala Khalifeh and Ahmad Mihyar wheel out a quartet of other Mitsubishis, Abed Al-Adham is entered in a Subaru Impreza WRX STi, while Fares Hizaji, Mohammed Juma. Nancy Al-Majali and Abir Batikhi complete the local line-up.
The State of Kuwait will be represented by four-wheel drive front-runners Meshar Al-Thafiri, Mufeed Mubarak and Yousuf Al-Dhefiri, with Meshal Al-Nejadi and Ahmed Al-Raiess driving a pair of nimble Citro