Middle East Rally Championship

The Middle East Rally Championship (officially FIA Middle East Rally Championship , abbreviated to MERC ; English for Middle East - Rally Championship ) is a summary of the rules, guidelines and conditions within which the Middle East Rally Championship of the same name , one of the automobile umbrella organization Fédération Internationale de l'automobile (FIA) set Rally series , will be held.

The rally series, which has been held annually since 1984, is mainly held in the countries of the Middle East and most of the participants are residents of this region. In the 2008 , 2010 and 2011 seasons , the Jordan Rally was both a World Rally Championship run and a MERC rally held in the same context. When in 2010 as a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge , organized (IRC) and counted parallel to the MERC Cyprus Rally won Nasser Al-Attiyah in both ratings. The run in Cyprus, which took place in June 2011, took place outside the IRC.

The Middle East Rally Championship is currently being held as a series of seven MERC rally runs (as of 2011) in the Arab region and Cyprus . Rally vehicles of the Super 2000 class and rally cars of Group N are permitted for this series . World Rally Cars have not been allowed to register since 2003.

List of Masters

year	driver	vehicle
2011	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Ford Fiesta S2000
2010	Misfer Al-Marri	Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2009	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Subaru Impreza WRX STI / Mitsubishi Evo X
2008	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2007	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2006	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2005	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2004	Khalid Al-Qassimi	Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2003	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Subaru Impreza WRC
2002	Mohammed bin Sulayem	Ford Focus WRC
2001	Mohammed Bin Sulayem	Ford Focus WRC
2000	Mohammed Bin Sulayem	Ford Focus WRC
1999	Mohammed Bin Sulayem	Ford Focus WRC
1998	Mohammed Bin Sulayem	Ford Escort WRC
1997	Mohammed Bin Sulayem	Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1996	Mohammed Bin Sulayem	Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1995	Abdullah Bakhashab	Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1994	Mohammed Bin Sulayem	Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1993	Hamed Al-Thani	Toyota Celica GT-Four
1992	Mamdouh Khayat	Lancia Delta HF Integrale
1991	Mohammed Bin Sulayem	Toyota Celica GT-Four
1990	Mohammed Bin Sulayem	Toyota Celica GT-Four
1989	Mohammed Bin Sulayem	Toyota Celica GT-Four
1988	Mohammed Bin Sulayem	Toyota Celica CTC
1987	Mohammed Bin Sulayem	Toyota Celica CTC
1986	Mohammed Bin Sulayem	Toyota Celica CTC
1985	Saeed Al-Hajri	Porsche 911 SC RS
1984	Saeed Al-Hajri	Porsche 911 SC RS

Overall rally winner

The most successful drivers after 168 MERC rallies (as of the 2011 Lebanon Rally).

driver	Victories
Mohammed bin Sulayem	60
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah	41
Saeed Al-Hajri	11
Roger Feghali	9
Khalid Al Qassimi	7th
Andreas Tsouloftas	4th
Abdullah Bakhashab	3
Björn Waldegård	3
Jean-Pierre Nasrallah	3
Yazeed Al-Rajhi	3
Suhail bin Maktoum	2
Khalifa Al-Mutaiwi	2
Michel Saleh	2

18 rally drivers have won a MERC run so far:
Charalambous Thimotheou (CY), Amjad Farrah (HKJ), Andreas Peratikos (CY), Chris Thomas (CY), Samir Ghanem (RL), Abdullah Al-Qassimi (UAE), Abbas Al -Motaiwi (QA), Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah (QA), Hamed Bin Eid Al-Thani (QA), Maurice 'Bagheera' Senaoui (RL), Tony Georgiou (RL), Alex Fiorio (I), Piero Liatti (I. ), Russell Brookes (GB), Alain Oreille (F), Nizar Shanfari (OM), Nicos Thomas (CY), Rashed El-Ketbi (UAE).

Web links

• Official website (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ MERC official website (merc-fia.com, accessed on September 25, 2011)
2. ↑ Profile on ewrc-results.com (ewrc.cz, accessed on September 25, 2011)