Αl-Attiyah and Αl-Rawahi are the two Middle East Rally Champions for 2023

FIA validated the scores of the Middle East Rally Championship 2023, after the completion the 50th Cyprus Rally organized in October by the Cypriot Automobile Association and awarded both Nasser Al-Attiyah and Abdullah Al-Rawahi as champions. This is the first time in the history of the Middle East Championship that the title is shared between two drivers.

The two of them scored 108 points, counting two wins, two second places and one retreat. The absolute draw was decided on our island with Al-Attiyah finishing first (30p.) and Al-Rawahi second (24p.), which granted first place to both. For Al-Attiyah, who is the ultimate champion of the Cyprus Rally by winning our national race eight times (2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2023), this is the 19th time he is crowned champion, while for Al-Rawahi it is the first title in his career.

Apart from the race in Cyprus, Al-Attiyah had also won in his home country, Qatar, while the rising Al-Rawahi had won the victories in his hometown in Oman and Jordan. The fifth race in the Middle East Rally Championship was held in Lebanon.

Al-Attiyah was second in Oman and Jordan and Al-Rawahi second in Lebanon and Cyprus. After the Cyprus Rally, the winner Al-Attiyah stated that it would be most appropriate for the title to be shared between him and Al-Rawahi.

This happened after the meeting of the special committee, which consisted of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Khalifa (Vice-President for Sport – Middle East), Jarmo Mahonen (President of the Rally Commission), Petter Solberg (Vice-President of the Drivers’ Commission), and former WRC driver and current ERC champion Hayden Paddon, supported by Jérôme Roussel and Andrew Wheatley from the FIA Rally Department.

The six-member committee decided to share the title due to the lack of specified regulations and criteria for confirming the winner. In the announcement of the FIA decision, the proposal for amending the regulations was also transposed, to avoid similar incidents in the future and to have clear criteria for the selection of the winner.

According to the proposal, which was proposed by Petter Solberg and Hayden Paddon and will be put before the World Motorsport Council in December, the champion will be judged according to the result of the last round of the league, after the pre-last and so on. For Al-Attiyah, it is the third FIA title to win the 2023 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) and the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas.