Nasser Al Attiyah wins 18th Middle East Rally

• Al Attiyah adds to his reputation by winning the title for the 10th consecutive time.

The 38th edition of the MERC took place on 27 January, crowning the competition’s most successful Qatari driver, Nasser Al Attiyah, with his 10th consecutive title. This year’s FIA continental competition held rounds in Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and Lebanon.

Al Attiyah left no time for doubt

The Qatari with 17 trophies to his name won eight stages, but it all came to a head when second in the lead, Riger Feghali overturned and that allowed Nasser to take a comfortable margin of 5 minutes and 52 seconds over his rival.

Nasser Al Attiyah and co-driver Matheu Baumel, in his fourth Autotek Motorsport Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, demonstrated perfect driving and strategy. Al Attiyah thus won his 18th MERC title, his 10th in a row. Baumel, for his part, won his 8th as Nasser’s co-driver.

The driver is breaking all-time records in this event, one of his favorites in terms of titles. Al Attiyah and his team are already preparing for the 39th edition, in order to further extend his automotive shadow and not break the streak.