2014 Middle East Rally Championship

The 2014 Middle East Rally Championship season was an international rally championship sanctioned by the FIA. The championship was contested over six events held in six countries across the Middle East region, running from February to November.

2014 Middle East Rally season
Previous: 2013 Next: 2015

Reigning champion Nasser Al-Attiyah defended his championship, winning four of the six rallies to be held, but the title was not decided until several days after the event. Al-Attiyah's fourth victory – at the Dubai International Rally – had originally been the first of the season for Khalid Al-Qassimi; Al-Qassimi had won the event by 0.3 seconds, and the championship title by a single point.[1] Al-Attiyah protested the results, claiming that Al-Qassimi had violated designated driving regulations. Event officials rejected Al-Attiyah's protest, but the FIA's International Court of Appeal accepted a subsequent protest.[2] Al-Qassimi was given a 30-second post-event penalty,[3] and his one-point title-winning margin, became a deficit of thirteen to Al-Attiyah. Third place in the championship went to Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, who won the Cyprus Rally, which was held alongside the European Rally Championship event. The season's only other winner was Nicolas Amiouni, who won his home event in Lebanon.

Event calendar and results

The 2014 MERC was as follows:[4]

Round Rally name Podium finishers Statistics
Rank Driver Car Time Stages Length Starters Finishers
1 Qatar International Rally
(20–22 February)[5]		 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:13:11.4 12 264.51 km 19 14
2 Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 2:13:41.5
3 Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2:16:04.6
2 Kuwait International Rally
(20–22 March)[6]		 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:09:38.4 13 222.20 km 22 16
2 Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2:10:05.9
3 Yazeed Al-Rajhi Ford Fiesta RRC 2:11:50.7
3 Jordan Rally
(1–3 May)[7]		 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 3:00:53.2 21 273.00 km 25 19
2 Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 3:02:55.4
3 Abdullah Al-Qassimi Ford Fiesta RRC 3:15:26.7
4 Rally of Lebanon
(29–31 August)[8]		 1 Nicolas Amiouni Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2:39:47.5 13 245.66 km 30 21
2 Rodrigue Rahi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 2:41:15.9
3 Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 2:43:03.0
5 Cyprus Rally
(19–21 September)		 1 Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 3:05:14.9 15 232.02 km 8 7
2 Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 3:05:50.1
3 Abdullah Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta R5 3:30:26.9
6 Dubai International Rally
(27–29 November)		 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 1:59:27.8 12 251.00 km 18 16
2 Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 1:59:57.5
3 Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 2:03:51.5

Championship standings

The 2014 MERC for Drivers points was as follows:[9]

Pos. Driver Vehicle
QAT
KUW
JOR
LBN
CYP
DUB		 Total
1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 1 1 1 Ret 1 100
2 Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 3 2 2 2 2 87
3 Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 2 6 3 1 3 81
4 Abdullah Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta R5 5 7 Ret 6 3 6 47
5 Abdullah Al-Qassimi Ford Fiesta RRC 4 3 5 37
6 Yazeed Al-Rajhi Ford Fiesta RRC 4 3 27
7 Nicolas Amiouni Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1 25
8 Salah Bin Eidan Ford Fiesta R5 Ret 5 5 20
Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX		 8 5 7 20
10 Rodrigue Rahi Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2 18
11 Meshari Al-Thefiri Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 9 12 10 4 15
12 Mohamed Al-Mutawaa Citroën DS3 R3T 6 9 9 9 14
13 Marouf Abu Samra Škoda Fabia S2000 4 12
Nabil Abdelhak Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 4 12
Khalid Mohammad Al-Suwaidi Ford Fiesta RRC 4 12
16 Mohamed Al-Sahlawi Citroën DS3 R3T 7 10 17 8 11
17 Bassel Abou-Hamdan Citroën DS3 R3T 5 10
Ala'a Rasheed Ford Fiesta RRC 8 7 10
19 Edith Weiss Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 6 15 8
Husam Salem Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 6 8
21 Nehme Elie Renault Clio R3 7 6
Nada Zaidan Subaru Impreza STi N12 7 6
23 Ala Khalifeh Ford Fiesta R5 8 4
"Matador" Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 8 4
25 Eddy Abou-Karam Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 9 2
26 Mansoor Yahya Bel Helei Citroën DS3 R3T 10 13 15 13 1
Bechara Bechir Renault Clio RS 10 1
Rashid Al-Ketbi Ford Fiesta R5 10 1
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Black Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank Withdrew entry from
the event (WD)

References
  1. "Sheikh Khalid wins Dubai International Rally and captures Merc title". The National. Abu Dhabi Media. 29 November 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  2. "International Court of Appeal: Decision hearing 4 December". Racer. Haymarket Publications. 4 December 2014. Archived from the original on 8 December 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  3. "Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi expresses disappointment at FIA ruling which saw him lose his Merc title". The National. Abu Dhabi Media. 6 December 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  4. "Events 2014". FIA Middle East Rally Championship. Retrieved 2014-03-06.
  9. "Classifications: FIA Middle East Rally Championship". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
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