Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation had announced that defending FIA Middle East rally champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and WRC star Kis Meeke are the top seeds among the 18 international car entries (subject to FIA approval) for next week’s Qatar International Rally.
The opening round of the 2021 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) will go ahead under the strict Covid-19 protocols in force in the State of Qatar and has also moved forward by one day in the calendar.
The start ceremony will be held at Katara on January 29, Friday evening, followed by two days of gravel action in the deserts of Qatar from January 30 till 31.
Al Attiyah, Meeke among top starts lined up for Qatar International Rally
20 Jan 2021 - 8:58
Defending FIA Middle East rally champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah
The Peninsula
Losail: Defending FIA Middle East rally champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and WRC star Kris Meeke are the top seeds on an international 18-car entry with competitors from nine nations (subject to FIA approval) announced by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) for next week’s Qatar International Rally.
The opening round of the 2021 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) will go ahead under the strict Covid-19 protocols in force in the State of Qatar and has also moved forward by one day in the calendar. The start ceremony will now be held at Katara on Friday evening (January 29th), followed by two days of gravel action in the Qatar deserts on January 30-31.
January 19, 2021
Kris Meeke (GBR) Seen during FIA World Rally Championship 2018 in Leon, Mexico on 8-3-2018.
LOSAIL, Qatar Defending FIA Middle East rally champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and WRC star Kris Meeke are the top seeds on an international 18-car entry with competitors from nine nations (subject to FIA approval) announced by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) for next week’s Qatar International Rally.
The opening round of the 2021 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) will go ahead under the strict COVID-19 protocols in force in Qatar and has also moved forward by one day in the calendar. The start ceremony will now be held at Katara on Friday evening (Jan. 29), followed by two days of gravel action in the Qatar deserts on Jan. 30-31.
Qatar plan compact route for MERC opener
12 Jan 2021 - 9:35
The Peninsula
The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) has made several tweaks and improvements to the route and itinerary for the forthcoming Qatar International Rally, which will kick-start regional action in the 2021 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) from January 28-30.
Speaking from the Dakar Rally, Clerk of the Course Pedro Almeida confirmed that the event would be more compact and with slightly more competitive distance than the last event that was staged before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019.
“All the stages have been organised in the Al Khor area, some 40km north of the Lusail Sports Complex, where the rally is based,” said Almeida. “We will run 11 special stages again, but we ran 203.72 competitive kilometres in 2019 and this has been increased to 208.36km for 2021. There are 130km less of road sections than 2019 and 36.06% of the route is competitive, compared to 28.79% in 2019 and 24.