View source for Middle East Rally Championship

{{Short description|Rally championship series held in the Middle East}}
{{Infobox motorsport championship
| logo            = 
| pixels          = 
| caption         = 
| category        = [[R5 (rallying)|R5]]<br>[[Rally2]]<br>[[Group N]]
| region  = [[Middle East]]
| inaugural2      = 1984
| folded          = 
| drivers         = 
| teams           = 
| tyres           = 
| champion driver = {{flagicon|QAT}}  [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]]<br>{{flagicon|OMA}} Abdullah Al-Rawahi
| manufacturer    = 
| current_season  = 2023 Middle East Rally Championship
| website         = 
}}
The '''Middle East Rally Championship''' ('''MERC''') is a motor [[Rallying|rally]] championship run under the auspicies of the [[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile|FIA]]. 

==History==
First held in 1984 the championship encompasses a series of rallies held across [[Western Asia]]. The championship has featured long-running events like [[Rally of Lebanon]], [[Rally Oman]] and the [[Cyprus Rally|Troodos Rally]] in Cyprus as well as [[World Rally Championship]] event [[Jordan Rally]]. Many of the rallies in the region pre-date national independence, mostly from the [[United Kingdom]].

The championship has been dominated by [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]] who has won 19 titles. 

The championship features events in [[Qatar International Rally|Qatar]], [[Kuwait International Rally|Kuwait]], [[Shiraz Rally|Iran]], [[Rally of Lebanon|Lebanon]], [[Cyprus Rally|Cyprus]], [[Jordan Rally|Jordan]], [[Oman International Rally|Oman]] and the [[Dubai International Rally|United Arab Emirates]]. The championship has also visited Bahrain, Syria and Saudi Arabia.

==List of events==
*[[Qatar International Rally]] (1984–present)
*[[Kuwait International Rally]] (1984–85, 1987–89, 1995–96, 2009–2016, 2018–present)
*Bahrain International Rally (1984, 2000–02, 2004–05)
*[[Jordan Rally]] (1984–88, 1990, 1992–present)
*[[Oman International Rally]] (1984–88, 1990–94, 1998, 2004–07, 2015)
*[[Dubai International Rally]], United Arab Emirates (1984–88, 1990–95, 1997–2015)
*[[Rally of Lebanon]], (1987–88, 1991–2004, 2006–present)
*UAE International Rally, United Arab Emirates (1989, 1995–2001, 2004–06)
*Tour of Cyprus, (1998–1999)
*Troodos Rally, Cyprus, (2000–2009, 2011)
*Syria International Rally, (2001–05, 2007–10)
*[[Cyprus Rally]], (2007–08, 2010, 2012–present)
*Sharqia Rally, Saudi Arabia, (2010)
*[[Shiraz Rally]], Iran, (2015–17)

==Champions==
[[File:Nasser saleh al attiyah2.jpg|thumb|Qatari driver [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]] won the championship 19 times]]
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Driver
! Car
|-
! 1984
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Saeed Al-Hajri (rally driver)|Saeed Al-Hajri]]
| [[Porsche 911|Porsche 911 SC RS]]
|-
! 1985
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Saeed Al-Hajri (rally driver)|Saeed Al-Hajri]] (2)
| [[Porsche 911|Porsche 911 SC RS]]
|-
! 1986
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]]
| [[Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo]]
|-
! 1987
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]]
| [[Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo]]
|-
! 1988
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]]
| [[Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo]]
|-
! 1989
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]]
| [[Toyota Celica GT-Four|Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165]]
|-
! 1990
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]]
| [[Toyota Celica GT-Four|Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165]]
|-
! 1991
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]]
| [[Toyota Celica GT-Four|Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165]]
|-
! 1992
| {{flagicon|KSA}} Mamdouh Khayat
| [[Lancia Delta HF Integrale]]
|-
! 1993
| {{flagicon|QAT}} Hamed Al-Thani
| [[Mitsubishi Galant VR4]]
|-
! 1994
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]]
| [[Ford Escort RS Cosworth]]
|-
! 1995
| {{flagicon|KSA}} Abdullah Bakhashab
| [[Ford Escort RS Cosworth]]
|-
! 1996
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]]
| [[Ford Escort RS Cosworth]]
|-
! 1997
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]]
| [[Ford Escort RS Cosworth]]
|-
! 1998
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]]
| [[Ford Escort WRC]]
|-
! 1999
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]]
| [[Ford Focus RS WRC]]
|-
! 2000
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]]
| [[Ford Focus RS WRC]]
|-
! 2001
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]]
| [[Ford Focus RS WRC]]
|-
! 2002
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]] (14)
| [[Ford Focus RS WRC]]<br> [[Subaru Impreza WRC]]
|-
! 2003
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]]
| [[Subaru Impreza WRC]]
|-
! 2004
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Khalid Al Qassimi]]
| [[Subaru Impreza WRX STI]]
|-
! 2005
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]]
| [[Subaru Impreza WRX STI]]
|-
! 2006
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]]
| [[Subaru Impreza WRX STI]]
|-
! 2007
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]]
| [[Subaru Impreza WRX STI]]
|-
! 2008
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]]
| [[Subaru Impreza WRX STI]]
|-
! 2009
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]]
| [[Subaru Impreza WRX STI]]<br> [[Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution|Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X]]
|-
! 2010
 | {{flagicon|QAT}} Misfer Al Marri
| [[Subaru Impreza WRX STI]]
|-
! 2011
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]]
| [[Ford Fiesta S2000]]
|-
! 2012
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]]
| [[Ford Fiesta RRC]]<br> [[Peugeot 207 S2000]]
|-
! [[2013 Middle East Rally Championship|2013]]
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]]
| [[Ford Fiesta RRC]]
|-
! [[2014 Middle East Rally Championship|2014]]
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]]
| [[Ford Fiesta RRC]]
|-
! [[2015 Middle East Rally Championship|2015]]
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]] 
| [[Ford Fiesta RRC]]
|-
! [[2016 Middle East Rally Championship|2016]]
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]] 
| [[Škoda Fabia R5]]
|-
! [[2017 Middle East Rally Championship|2017]]
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]] 
| [[Ford Fiesta R5]]
|-
! [[2018 Middle East Rally Championship|2018]]
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]] 
| [[Ford Fiesta R5]]
|-
! [[2019 Middle East Rally Championship|2019]]
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]]
| [[Volkswagen Polo GTI R5]]
|-
! 2020
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]]
| [[Volkswagen Polo GTI R5]]
|-
! 2021
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]]
| [[Volkswagen Polo GTI R5]]
|-
! 2022
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]] (18)
| [[Volkswagen Polo GTI R5]]
|-
!2023
|{{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]] (19)<br>{{flagicon|OMA}} Abdullah Al-Rawahi {{#tag:ref|The 2023 championship was awarded to both [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]] and Abdullah Al-Rawahi, after a perfect tie between the two could not be settled by a six-man FIA committee.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dirtfish.com/rally/the-rally-title-decided-by-a-committee-meeting/|title = The rally title decided by a committee meeting| date=23 Nov 2023 }}</ref>|group="N"}}
| [[Volkswagen Polo GTI R5]]<br>[[Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo]]
|-
!2024
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari]]
| [[Škoda Fabia RS Rally2]]
|}
;Footnotes
{{Reflist|group=N}}

==Rally winners==
230 Rallies (after Cyprus 2023), 39 different winners, following are the winners stats:

{| class="wikitable"
! Driver
! Wins
|-
| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Nasser Al-Attiyah]]
| 81
|-
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]]
| 60
|-
| {{flagicon|LBN}} [[Roger Feghali]]
| 16
|-
| {{flagicon|QAT}} Saeed Al-Hajri
| 11
|-	        
| {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Khalid Al Qassimi]]
| 8
|-
| {{flagicon|CYP}} Andreas Tsouloftas
| rowspan=2|4
|-
| {{flagicon|OMA}} Abdullah Al-Rawahi
|-
| {{flagicon|KSA}} Abdullah Bakhashab
|rowspan=4| 3
|-
| {{flagicon|SWE}} [[Björn Waldegård]]
|-
| {{flagicon|LBN}} Jean-Pierre Nasrallah
|-
| {{flagicon|KSA}} [[Yazeed Al-Rajhi]]
|-
| {{flagicon|UAE}} Suhail bin Maktoum
|rowspan=6| 2
|-
| {{flagicon|UAE}} Khalifa Al-Mutaiwi
|-
| {{flagicon|LBN}} Michel Saleh
|-
| {{flagicon|QAT}} Abdulaziz Al Kuwari
|-
| {{flagicon|CYP}} Charalambos Thimotheou
|-
| {{flagicon|QAT}} Khalid Al Suwaidi
|-
| {{flagicon|JOR}} Amjad Farrah
|rowspan=22| 1
|-
| {{flagicon|CYP}} Andreas Peratikos
|-
| {{flagicon|CYP}} Chris Thomas
|-
| {{flagicon|LBN}} Samir Ghanem
|-
| {{flagicon|UAE}} Abdullah Al-Qassimi
|-
| {{flagicon|QAT}} Abbas Al-Motaiwi
|-
| {{flagicon|QAT}} Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah
|-
| {{flagicon|QAT}} Hamed Bin Eid Al-Thani
|-
| {{flagicon|LBN}} Maurice Sehnaoui
|-
| {{flagicon|LBN}} Tony Georgiou
|-
| {{flagicon|ITA}} [[Alex Fiorio]]
|-
| {{flagicon|ITA}} [[Piero Liatti]]
|-
| {{flagicon|GBR}} [[Russell Brookes]]
|-
| {{flagicon|FRA}} Alain Oreille
|-
| {{flagicon|OMA}} Nizar Shanfari
|-
| {{flagicon|CYP}} Nicos Thomas
|-
| {{flagicon|UAE}} Rashed El-Ketbi
|-
| {{flagicon|LBN}} Nicolas Amiouni
|-
| {{flagicon|LBN}} Tamer Ghandour
|-
| {{flagicon|LBN}} Rodolphe Asmar
|-
| {{flagicon|QAT}} Rashid El-Naimi
|-
| {{flagicon|CSK}} Vojtěch Štajf
|}

==Wins per nationality==
Count as after Cyprus 2023

{| class="wikitable"
! Driver
! Wins
|-
| {{flag|Qatar}}
| 100
|-
| {{flag|United Arab Emirates}}
| 74
|-
| {{flag|Lebanon}}
| 27
|- 	        
| {{flag|Cyprus}}
| 9
|-
| {{flag|Saudi Arabia}}
| 6
|-
| {{flag|Oman}}
|5
|-
| {{flag|Sweden}}
|3
|-
| {{flag|Italy}}
|2
|-
| {{flag|Jordan}}
|rowspan=4| 1
|-
| {{flag|France}}
|-
| {{flag|United Kingdom}}
|-
| {{flag|Czech Republic}}
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.fia.com/events/middle-east-rally-championship/season-2016/middle-east-rally-championship 2016 Middle East Rally Championship at the FIA official website]

{{Rally championships}}

[[Category:Middle East Rally Championship| ]]
[[Category:Motorsport in West Asia]]
[[Category:FIA Zone rally championships]]