Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah overcame the hard-challenging Cypriot driver Simos Galatariotis to secure a comfortable victory by the eventual flattering margin of 8min 19.3sec in the Cyprus Rally but the result was not enough to prevent his fellow countryman Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari from securing a first ever FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) title.

Needing to finish fourth or better on the final round of the shortened championship to clinch his maiden championship, Al-Kuwari and his brother Nasser erred on the side of caution throughout the dozen demanding gravel stages on the Mediterranean island.

As the battle waged at the front between Al-Attiyah and Galatariotis, Al-Kuwari was happy to finish in third place and third of the registered drivers to secure the title in his SRT-run Škoda Fabia. The outcome marked the first time that Al-Attiyah had not been the regional champion since the late Misfer Al-Marri’s success in 2010.

Al-Kuwari said: “Not easy, for sure, to win the championship when Nasser is there. We were lucky to finish all the rallies. This event, we came with a plan just to finish without pushing and taking any risks. I was cruising the whole rally, very safe and I didn’t push at all. I enjoyed the last stage but the rest of the stages I was not pushing.

“I am very happy for my country, for my federation, the QMMF, which has supported me a lot the whole season. This year we took it seriously and went out to challenge for the MERC. I won two titles this year; this one and the Jordan National Championship. A special thanks to Abdulrahman Al-Mannai, the President of the QMMF, and Amro Hamad, the CEO of the federation, who has been very supportive of me.”

Al-Kuwari’s proud father Sadoon, himself a former driver and senior official, added: “It was not the championship we wanted with the cancellation of two rallies but it was still a championship. I am extremely proud and happy with the result.”

Galatariotis and Antonis Ioannou had already beaten Al-Attiyah to victory in Cyprus back in 2018 but the Qatari had claimed maximum MERC points with the Cypriot not registered for the championship on that occasion. The Cypriot won the early exchanges in his Petrolina Racing Team Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 after Al-Attiyah suffered a couple of punctures.

But a second-day driveshaft failure proved costly for the Cypriot and Al-Attiyah was able to storm through on the penultimate stage to secure his 86th MERC win and his ninth in Cyprus in his Autotek Motorsport-run Škoda. Al-Attiyah’s co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini won the MERC Co-Drivers’ Championship with his 27th career MERC win.

With a distraught Galatariotis stopping on the penultimate stage with a broken wheel and track control arm after a heavy impact, Panayiotis Yiangou and Aristos Nicolaou moved up to second place in their Hyundai i20 R5, while Qatar’s Rashed Al-Mohannadi and last year’s joint championship-winner co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud finished fifth behind the local pairing of Petros Panteli and Charalambous Laos.

A valuable 10th-place finish for the Lebanese pairing of Shadi El-Fakih and Samer Sfeir ensured that they secured their respective MERC4 titles in a Peugeot 208. Jordanian Shaker Jweihan retired on the road section to the opening stage with a broken gear selector but was already assured of the regional MERC2 title. Fellow countryman Samer Issa finished the season as the leading MERC2 co-driver.

Twenty drivers started the Nicosia-based event with six registered for MERC points. Al-Attiyah started as he meant to go on with the fastest time through the opening Xyliatos stage. The Qatari beat Yiangou by 3.7 seconds but Al-Kuwari kept the Qatari in his sights by coming home in fifth.

The first pass through the demanding Kapouras stage saw the stage win fall to Galatariotis (who had complained about dust issues in SS1) with Al-Attiyah suffering a flat tyre and losing the lead after finishing 38.5 seconds adrift of the Cypriot. A cautious Al-Kuwari slipped to sixth overall.

Galatariotis was again quickest in Kourdali, despite a slow puncture near the finish, and extended his lead to 49.9sec when Al-Attiyah complained of a sticking handbrake and a slow puncture but Al-Kuwari still had the MERC title in his own hands from fifth overall.

Al-Attiyah topped the times on the second pass through Xyliatos and trimmed his Cypriot rival’s advantage to 38.9 seconds. Al-Kuwari retained fifth behind the leading duo, Panteli and Yiangou.

The re-run of Kapouras saw another fastest time for Al-Attiyah and he trimmed the deficit to 34.5sec, only for Galatariotis to extend his lead to 38 seconds on the second pass through Kourdali before night halt in Nicosia. Al-Kuwari completed the day in fifth and third of the registered drivers.

Six further gravel stages were on the agenda for Sunday and Autotek Motorsport made some set-up changes on Al-Attiyah’s Škoda before the restart. The Qatari also made a bold tyre choice and trimmed his rival’s lead to 31.2 seconds after SS7 and to 23 seconds after the first stage by the Lefkara Dam. Al-Kuwari moved ahead of Panteli to snatch fourth place.

Al-Attiyah reduced a struggling Galatariotis’s lead to just 6.9 seconds in the Yeri stage but Al-Kuwari was safely ensconced in fourth and heading for the regional title. Galatariotis broke a front driveshaft in the stage.

Al-Attiyah moved to within 1.5 seconds of the Cypriot with the quickest time on the second run through Doryforikos stage to set up a grandstand finish. But, when Galatariotis stopped in SS11, Al-Attiyah noticeably eased his pace to the finish to claim the win. It was not enough to prevent third-placed Al-Kuwari starting the celebrations for securing the regional title for the first time.

“It was a case of never giving up and giving ourselves a chance,” reflected Al-Attiyah. “We did what we could and I am delighted to win here again in Cyprus. It is always a very challenging rally.”

2024 Cyprus Rally – final result:

1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Giovanni Bernacchini (ITA) Škoda Fabia RS                       2hr 47min 00.0sec*

2. Panayiotis Yiangou (CYP)/Aristos Nicolaou (CYP) Hyundai i20 R5                                        2hr 55min 19.3sec*

3. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Škoda Fabia RS                                                    2hr 56min 46.2sec*

4. Petros Panteli (CYP)/Charalambous Laos (CYP) Renault Clio Rally3                                    2hr 57min 59.9sec

5. Rashid Al-Muhannadi (QAT)/Ata Al-Hmoud (JOR) Škoda Fabia RS                                      3hr 04min 57.8sec*

6. George Nesteros (CYP)/Yiannos Kallis (CYP) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X                                 3hr 08min 21.5sec

7. Christos Christodoulou (CYP)/Andreas Andreou (CYP) Subaru Impreza                             3hr 23min 31.5sec

8. Zacharias Manoli (CYP)/Costas Evripidou (CYP) Peugeot 208 R2                                         3hr 25min 24.1sec

9. Kleanthis Ellinas (CYP)/George Pouyioukkas (CYP) Ford Fiesta                                            3hr 29min 39.2sec

10. Shadi El-Fakih (LEB)/Samer Sfeir (LEB) Peugeot 208                                                            3hr 29min 56.3sec*

11. Costas Zenonos (CYP)/Phanos Christophi (CYP) Citroën DS3 R5                                        3hr 43min 22.3sec

12. Marios Antoniou (CYP)/Andreas Karantonis (CYP) Mitsubishi Lancer                              3hr 49min 03.2sec

13. Marios Zakou (CYP)/Stelios Zakou (CYP) Volkswagen Golf GTI                                           4hr 34min 19.7sec

*denotes registered for MERC