The 2013 Middle East Rally Championship season is an international rally championship sanctioned by the FIA. The championship is contested over seven events held in seven countries across the Middle East region, running from January to December.

Reigning champion Nasser Al-Attiyah successfully retained the championship with an event in hand after taking victories in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and Cyprus and finishing second in Lebanon. He would go on to win Dubai as well. Al-Attiyah scored more than double the points of second placed driver, Khalid Al-Qassimi. Al-Qassimi finished second in Qatar, Kuwait and Cyprus and finished third in Jordan. Third place went to Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari who finished third in Qatar, Kuwait and Cyprus as well as a fourth place in Jordan.

The only driver to defeat Al-Attiyah in a rally this year, Roger Feghali who won in Lebanon, is not a championship competitor.

Race calendar and results

The 2013 MERC is as follows:[1]

Round Rally name Podium finishers Statistics
Rank Driver Car Time Stages Length Starters Finishers
1 Qatar Qatar International Rally
(25–26 January)
1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:16:47.2 12 264.38 km 18 14
2 United Arab Emirates Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2:17:42.9
3 Qatar Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 2:21:02.2
2 Kuwait Kuwait International Rally
(21–23 March)
1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:10:25.3 12 242.26 km 25 16
2 United Arab Emirates Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2:11:39.2
3 Qatar Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 2:14:50.1
3 Jordan Jordan Rally
(9–11 May)
1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:51:53.1 16 256.40 km 26 18
2 Lebanon Roger Feghali Ford Fiesta RRC 2:53:35.3
3 United Arab Emirates Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2:53:53.7
4 Lebanon Rally of Lebanon
(6–8 September)
1 Lebanon Roger Feghali Ford Fiesta RRC 2:33:27.6 13 256.77 km 36 22
2 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:33:57.7
3 Lebanon Abdo Feghali Mini Cooper S2000 2:39:32.6
- Syria Syrian International Rally
(3–5 October)
event cancelled
5 Cyprus Cyprus Rally
(11–13 October)
1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:35:17.6 17 242.18 km 28 13
2 United Arab Emirates Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2:38:09.4
3 Qatar Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 2:38:14.1
6 United Arab Emirates Dubai International Rally
(28–30 November)
1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2:01:11.9 12 264.20 km 20 13
2 Qatar Misfer Al-Marri Ford Fiesta RRC 2:06:45.5
3 United Arab Emirates Abdullah Al-Qassimi Ford Fiesta RRC 2:07:40.3

Championship standings

The 2013 MERC for Drivers points is as follows:[2]

Position Driver Vehicle Qatar
QAT
Kuwait
KUW
Jordan
JOR
Lebanon
LBN
Cyprus
CYP
United Arab Emirates
DUB
Total
1 Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 1 1 1 2 1 1 143
2 United Arab Emirates Khalid Al-Qassimi Citroën DS3 RRC 2 2 3 2 Ret 69
3 Qatar Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Ford Fiesta RRC 3 3 4 3 57
4 United Arab Emirates Abdullah Al-Qassimi Ford Fiesta RRC 5 5 5 3 30
5 Saudi Arabia Yazeed Al-Rajhi Ford Fiesta RRC 6 4 Ret Ret 20
6 Jordan Ala'a Rasheed Ford Fiesta RRC Ret Ret 12 7 4 18
7 Qatar Abdullah Al-Kuwari Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 7 Ret Ret 16 8 8 14
8 United Arab Emirates Bader Al-Jabri Subaru Impreza WRX STi 8 Ret 10 7 11
9 Jordan Zaid Dahshan Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X Ret 10 8 17 Ret 4
Kuwait Meshari Al-Thefiri Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
11 8 13 Ret Ret 4
11 United Arab Emirates Mohamed Al-Sahlawi Citroën DS3 R3T 10 12 18 9 3
12 United Arab Emirates Mohamed Al-Mutawaa Citroën DS3 R3T Ret 13 17 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. "Events 2013". FIA Middle East Rally Championship. Archived from the original on 2013-11-30. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  2. "Classifications: FIA Middle East Rally Championship". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
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