• Two crews tied on points and FIA will decide outcome of 2023 MERC

A comfortable victory for Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel in the 50th Cyprus Rally means that the Qatari and his Andorra-based co-driver are locked in a dead heat with rivals Abdullah Al-Rawahi and Ata Al-Hmoud for this year’s FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) Drivers’ and Co-drivers’ Championships.

Al-Attiyah guided his Autotek Motorsport-run Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 to victory by 3min 21,3sec after his rival suffered a puncture at the end of the first day, but second place for the Omani means that the two drivers have taken two wins and two second places apiece in the regional rally series. The Sporting Regulations for FIA Regional Rally Championships state that the FIA now reserve the right to determine the outcome of the championship after the tie decider failed to solve the situation. The decision will now go to the FIA Rallies Commission.

An eighth victory in Cyprus puts Al-Attiyah on course to break his own record of 18 regional championships, while Al-Rawahi is aiming to clinch his first after taking rally wins in Oman and Jordan earlier this season. Both drivers claimed four stage wins apiece as Al-Attiyah sealed a record 84th MERC rally win and Baumel earned his 32nd success.

Al-Attiyah said: “We love Rally Cyprus and that was the reason we are here. We finished the season and we are equal with Abdullah and we will see what the FIA decides. I hope to share but this would be the first in the history of the rally to have two champions in the Middle East.”

Al-Rawahi added: “This is one of my favourite rallies. On the first day we were quite unlucky on the last stage when we got a puncture and went back to fourth. We needed to push on the second day to get points for second in the championship and we did it. Overall, we are really happy whether we get the championship or not.”

Regardless of the outcome of the FIA meeting, Ken Skidmore’s Autotek Motorsport operation has now won 20 MERC titles, courtesy of 18 for Al-Attiyah, one for the late Misfer Al-Marri and the fact that the team ran both of the leading cars on this occasion.

While teams wait for the FIA to deliberate on the outcome of the championship, Christos Demosthenous and Kypros Christodolou secured the final place on the podium in their Petrolina Racing Team Škoda Fabia R5.  Panayiotis Yiangou and Aristos Nicolaou held off Petros Panteli and Charalambous Laos to seal fourth in their Yiangou Motor Sport Hyundai i20 R5.

Meshari Al-Thefiri and his Qatari co-driver Nasser Al-Kuwari had already secured the FIA MERC2 Championship before Cyprus and had an outside chance of winning the overall titles if both Al-Attiyah and Al-Rawahi failed to finish. ECU issues plagued the Kuwaiti’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X on day one but he held on to finish 12th overall and sixth of the registered MERC drivers.

Before administration checks in Nicosia, four Cypriot drivers registered for the MERC alongside Al-Attiyah, Al-Rawahi and Al-Thefiri. With Petros Panteli, Christos Demosthenous, Costas Zenonos and Panayiotis Yiangou able to score regional series points, it completely altered the scenario and put Al-Thefiri at a distinct disadvantage in his MERC2 Mitsubishi.

At the front, it meant that Al-Attiyah still had to win the rally and Al-Rawahi had to finish second to earn a dead heat. The Cyprus Automobile Association laid on 12 mainly gravel special stages and 194.88 competitive kilometres.

Al-Attiyah laid down the gauntlet with the fastest times on the first passes through the Xyliatos and Kapouras stages before Simos Galatariotis hit back in Kourdali. The morning’s work enabled Al-Attiyah to edge into a 23.5- second cushion lead over Al-Rawahi. The Qatari had sustained a right-rear puncture on the second timed test and had to be a little cautious through stage three, as he only had one spare wheel on the Volkswagen.

In turn, Al-Rawahi managed to stay ahead of his closest registered Cypriot rivals to keep the MERC on a knife-edge heading into the afternoon’s repeat loop of the three gravel stages.

Galatariotis hadn’t secured his bonnet at the start of stage two and completed the whole section with a flapping bonnet and a broken windscreen. He held second place and trailed Al-Attiyah by six seconds, but was not registered for the MERC. Zenonos retired his Citroën DS3 R5 with mechanical issues on stage two and Al-Thefiri struggled through with ECU issues on his Mitsubishi.

Galatariotis was quickest on each of the repeat runs through the three timed tests and reached the night halt with a lead of 15.2 seconds over Al-Attiyah. Al-Rawahi punctured on the last stage of the day and had to find a suitable place to change the tyre. The Omani ceded three minutes to his rivals and slipped to fourth overall at the night halt behind Demosthenous.

Two loops of three different stages were planned for Sunday but Galatariotis was sidelined on the first pass through Yeri with radiator damage on his Petrolina Racing Team Volkswagen after a big jump. Al-Attiyah beat Al-Rawahi by 8.2 seconds to extend his overall lead to just over four minutes. Al-Rawahi, however, had climbed back to second place after delays for Demosthenous and the duel for the MERC title resumed.

The Omani’s challenge was further strengthened with quickest times in stages eight and nine and he reduced Al-Attiyah’s cushion to 3min 36.3sec at the service break with three stages to run. Al-Rawahi snatched another 1.9 seconds on the second pass through Yeri and, with Al-Attiyah winning the penultimate stage at Lefkara by 0.4 seconds, the pair headed for the final stage separated by 3min 34.8sec but still locked in a dead heat for the MERC titles.

Al-Rawahi won the last stage by 13.5 seconds but a cautious Al-Attiyah held on to win the event by 3min 21.3sec and force a unique tie-break situation for the regional rally series.

50th Cyprus Rally – final result

1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Mathieu Baumel (AND) Volkswagen Polo GTI R5            3hr 03min 38.7sec*

2. Abdullah Al-Rawahi (OMN)/Ata Al-Hmoud (JOR) Škoda Fabia R5                                       3hr 07min 00.0sec*

3. Christos Demosthenous (CYP)/Kypros Christodoulou (CYP) Škoda Fabia R5                    3hr 10min 16.7sec*

4. Panayiotis Yiangou (CYP)/Aristos Nicolaou (CYP) Hyundai i20 R5                                       3hr 12min 39.9sec*

5. Petros Panteli (CYP)/Charalambous Laos (CYP)                  Renault Clio                                                 3hr 12min 58.7sec*

6. Chrysotomos Panteli (CYP)/Toullis Aristodemou (CYP) Peugeot 208 R2                            3hr 30min 06.5sec, etc

Select other

12. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KWT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X                   3hr 59min 48.7sec*

*denotes registered for MERC