2017 Middle East Rally Championship

The 2017 Middle East Rally Championship was an international rally championship sanctioned by the FIA. The championship was contested over five events held in five Middle East countries from February to September.

Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah won his thirteenth MERC championship and his seventh consecutively. Al-Attiyah won three rallies over the course of the season creating a gap unable to be approached. Kuwaiti driver Meshari Al-Thefiri led the points after three rallies but was unable to score any points subsequently. Lebanese veteran Roger Feghali's one-off appearance and victory at his home event was enough to finish the year third in the championship.

Event calendar and results

The 2017 MERC was as follows:[1]

Round	Rally name	Podium finishers				Statistics
		Rank	Driver	Car	Time	Stages	Length	Starters	Finishers
1	Qatar International Rally (3–4 February)[2]	1	Rashid Al-Naimi	Subaru WRX Sti	1:56:28.3	12	205.16 km	10	5
		2	Nasser Al-Kuwari	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	2:11:17.2
		3	Meshari Al-Thefiri	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X	2:22:17.0
2	Jordan Rally (4–6 May)[3]	1	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Ford Fiesta R5	2:56:37.0	18	238.20 km	13	8
		2	Marouf Abu Samra	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	3:12:46.3
		3	Meshari Al-Thefiri	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X	3:17:15.0
3	Cyprus Rally (16–18 June)[4]	1	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Ford Fiesta R5	2:31:44.3	14	219.74 km	67	46
		2	Simos Galatariotis	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X	2:37:56.3
		3	Panikos Polykarpou	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	2:38:03.8
4	Rally of Lebanon (25–27 August)[5]	1	Roger Feghali	Škoda Fabia R5	2:01:33.5	11	206.30 km	31	22
		2	Gilbert Bannout	Škoda Fabia R5	2:07:33.7
		3	Rodolphe Asmar	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X	2:11:41.2
5	Shiraz International Rally (13–15 September)[6]	1	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Ford Fiesta R5	1:55:02.0	12	202.14 km	12	8
		2	Vojtěch Štajf	Škoda Fabia R5	1:56:32.3
		3	Hormoz Kalhor	Kia Cerato	2:31:57.2

Championship standings

The 2017 MERC for Drivers points was as follows:[7]

Pos. Driver Vehicle QAT JOR CYP LBN SHI Total 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta R5 Ret 1 1 6 1 136 2 Meshari Al-Thefiri Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2 3 5 13 71 3 Roger Feghali Škoda Fabia R5 1 39 4 Rashed Al Naimi Subaru WRX Sti 1 37 5 Vojtěch Štajf Škoda Fabia R5 2 31 6 Simos Galatariotis Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2 30 7 Gilbert Bannout Škoda Fabia R5 2 28 8 Savvas Savva Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 3 25 9 Ihab Al-Shorafa Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4 24 10 Rodolphe Asmar Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 3 23 11 Ali Mesgarha Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 3 20 Asem Aref Renault Clio Ret 5 8 Ret 20 13 Costas Laos Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4 17 Patrick Njeim Citroën DS3 R3T 4 17 15 Nadim Halabi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 5 14 16 Eddy Abou-Karam Hyundai i20 R5 7 12 17 Mehmet Yucel Ford Fiesta S2000 6 10 18 Edith Weiss Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 7 7 19 Khalid Mohammad Al-Suwaidi Škoda Fabia R5 Ret 6 20 Nabil Abdelhak Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 8 5 Khaled Juma Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Ret 5 Daniel Landa Škoda Fabia R5 Ret 5 23 Michalis Posedias Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Ret 4 24 Rakan Al-Rashed Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX Ret 3 Demetris Papasavvas Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX Ret 3 26 Elie Nehme Renault Clio R3 9 2 Essam Al-Nejadi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX Ret 2 Andreas Filippou Subaru Impreza STi N15 Ret 2 Joseph Hindy Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Ret 2 30 Matthias Njeim Peugeot 208 R2 10 1 Salem Al-Thafferi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Ret 1 Nassib Nassar Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX Ret 1

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD)

References

1. "Season 2017 Middle East Rally Championship". FIA.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
2. "42. Qatar International Rally 2017". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
3. "Jordan Rally 2017". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
4. "46. Cyprus Rally 2017". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
5. "40. Rally of Lebanon 2017". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
6. "3. Shiraz International Rally 2017". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
7. "Classifications: FIA Middle East Rally Championship". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.

External links

• Official website