Defending Middle East rally champion Nasser Al Attiyah leads a quality 25-car entry into the Jordan Rally, round three of the regional series, which gets under way with a ceremonial start in Abdali, the new downtown of Amman, from 16:00 (17:00 UAE) today. 

A winner of 52 regional rallies in his career, the Qatari and his Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini have won three previous Jordan rallies together. 

Al Attiyah has two championship wins to his name this season, in Qatar and Kuwait, and a 17-point lead over Abu Dhabi Racing’s Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi in the title race. 

Al Qassimi is seeded No2 and heads a six-car team from the UAE that includes five Junior drivers chasing points in both the Junior and 2WD categories at the wheel of Citroen DS3 R3s. Mohamed Al Mutawee leads both classes after two rounds. 

Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi has endured mixed results this season and lies third in the title race in his Ford Fiesta RRC. Al Rajhi needs a podium finish to keep his title hopes alive before heading off to Argentina round of the WRC. 

Sharjah’s Sheikh Abdullah Al Qassimi, Jordan’s Marouf Abu Samra and Kuwait’s Salah bin Eidan round off the top six ahead of the opening timed 1.6km super special stage in Abdali. 

“The gravel stages are very nice and look like they have been graded recently because they are quite slippery in a lot of places and we will need to take care of the loose gravel on the surface,” said Italian co-driver Nicola Arena, who is partnering Qatar’s Abdullah Al Kuwari. 

Supporting Abu Samra are Ala’ Khalifeh and Ala’a Rasheed in a pair of Ford Fiestas and Husam Salem in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII. 

Salem’s main competition comes from Kuwaiti Meshari Al Thafiri, who arrives in Jordan with a 10-point lead in the Group N Cup. 
Other entrants in the category include Jordan’s Khaled Juma, Basheer Azar and Salameh Al Qammaz and Qatar’s Khalifa Al Attiyah and Nada Zeidan. 

The Jordanian husband and wife team of Suhail Al Jariri and Maysoon Jayousi are taking part in their first event together in a Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI. Suhail has co-driven on a national event before, but this is the first rally ever for his co-driving wife.