2013 Middle East Rally Championship

The 2013 Middle East Rally Championship season is an international rally championship sanctioned by the FIA. The championship is contested over seven events held in seven countries across the Middle East region, running from January to December.

2013 Middle East Rally season
Previous: 2012 Next: 2014

Reigning champion Nasser Al-Attiyah successfully retained the championship with an event in hand after taking victories in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and Cyprus and finishing second in Lebanon. He would go on to win Dubai as well. Al-Attiyah scored more than double the points of second placed driver, Khalid Al-Qassimi. Al-Qassimi finished second in Qatar, Kuwait and Cyprus and finished third in Jordan. Third place went to Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari who finished third in Qatar, Kuwait and Cyprus as well as a fourth place in Jordan.

The only driver to defeat Al-Attiyah in a rally this year, Roger Feghali who won in Lebanon, is not a championship competitor.

Race calendar and results

The 2013 MERC is as follows:[1]

Round Rally name Podium finishers Statistics
Rank Driver Car Time Stages Length Starters Finishers
1 Qatar International Rally
(25–26 January)		 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:16:47.2 12 264.38 km 18 14
2 Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2:17:42.9
3 Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 2:21:02.2
2 Kuwait International Rally
(21–23 March)		 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:10:25.3 12 242.26 km 25 16
2 Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2:11:39.2
3 Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 2:14:50.1
3 Jordan Rally
(9–11 May)		 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:51:53.1 16 256.40 km 26 18
2 Roger Feghali Ford Fiesta RRC 2:53:35.3
3 Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2:53:53.7
4 Rally of Lebanon
(6–8 September)		 1 Roger Feghali Ford Fiesta RRC 2:33:27.6 13 256.77 km 36 22
2 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:33:57.7
3 Abdo Feghali Mini Cooper S2000 2:39:32.6
- Syrian International Rally
(3–5 October)		 event cancelled
5 Cyprus Rally
(11–13 October)		 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:35:17.6 17 242.18 km 28 13
2 Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2:38:09.4
3 Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 2:38:14.1
6 Dubai International Rally
(28–30 November)		 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:01:11.9 12 264.20 km 20 13
2 Misfer Al-Marri Ford Fiesta RRC 2:06:45.5
3 Abdullah Al-Qassimi Ford Fiesta RRC 2:07:40.3

Championship standings

The 2013 MERC for Drivers points is as follows:[2]

Position Driver Vehicle
QAT
KUW
JOR
LBN
CYP
DUB		 Total
1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 1 1 1 2 1 1 143
2 Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2 2 3 2 Ret 69
3 Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 3 3 4 3 57
4 Abdullah Al-Qassimi Ford Fiesta RRC 5 5 5 3 30
5 Yazeed Al-Rajhi Ford Fiesta RRC 6 4 Ret Ret 20
6 Ala'a Rasheed Ford Fiesta RRC Ret Ret 12 7 4 18
7 Abdullah Al-Kuwari Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 7 Ret Ret 16 8 8 14
8 Bader Al-Jabri Subaru Impreza WRX STi 8 Ret 10 7 11
9 Zaid Dahshan Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X Ret 10 8 17 Ret 4
Meshari Al-Thefiri Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X		 11 8 13 Ret Ret 4
11 Mohamed Al-Sahlawi Citroën DS3 R3T 10 12 18 9 3
12 Mohamed Al-Mutawaa Citroën DS3 R3T Ret 13 17 10 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. "Events 2013". FIA Middle East Rally Championship. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  2. "Classifications: FIA Middle East Rally Championship". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
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