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Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution driver Amjad Farrah today (May 22) made history by becoming the first Jordanian driver to win the Jordan International Rally, the fourth round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship. Farrah, and local co-driver Khaled Zakaria, claimed victory in dramatic style on the final televised super special stage when former rally leader and fellow Lancer Evolution driver Hamed Al-Wahaibi was forced into a heart-wrenching retirement within meters of the finish.
Hamed Al-Wahaibi had been in a class of his own in his Lancer Evolution, the Omani taking the lead after Qatari rival Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah retired on the fourth stage after landing heavily in a ditch and wrecking the underside of his Subaru. However, within sight of the finish, his worst nightmare unfolded as his Lancer Evolution spluttered to a halt with a blown engine, leaving the Omani no alternative but to watch in agony as Amjad Farrah cruised to a historic home victory.
"This is a fantastic result for me and for Khaled", said a triumphant Amjad. "It was a long hard rally but we were patient and then this happened on the final stage. It is unbelievable; I really feel for Hamed. The points have lifted me to fourth in the Championship and Khaled to second place in the co-drivers’ section. If I hadn’t lost those points in Bahrain I would have been leading the Middle East Championship!"
Cypriot Andreas Tsouloftas, buoyed by his 11th position in his home round of the FIA World Rally Championship last weekend, finished a fine second in another Lancer Evolution. Tsouloftas’ championship aspirations remain firmly on track and valuable points in Jordan move him up the series leaderboard into second overall.
"I knew at the end of the third stage when I saw the top two were just two seconds apart that one of them would go out in the following stages", said Tsouloftas, speaking about Al-Attiyah’s premature retirement. "This is a long and hard rally; the driver who reaches the finish is the man to beat here".
Jordan’s Lancer Evolution driver Bashar Bustami came out of retirement for him home event and finished a fine fourth with last year’s British championship-winning co-driver Steve Lancaster. Saudi Arabia’s Issa El-Dossari claimed fifth with Abdullah Al-Kuwari sixth. Ahmed Al-Sabban was seventh giving Mitsubishi drivers six of the top seven positions.
Jordan’s Marouf Abu Samra had held a solid second position until the road section after special stage 12, when he was sidelined with a broken differential. Faris Bustami began the final day in eighth, only for his Mitsubishi’s fuel pump to fail in the Turki stage.
"We had no less than six flat tires on day one, but still held seventh place", said Bustami. "We had three at the finish of the stages and the others in the stages, then the fuel pump went and that was that".
Dubai’s Sheikh Suhail Bin Khalifa Al-Maktoum began strongly and moved up to second after SS3 but was forced into retirement with broken engine mountings in the fourth stage.
"I couldn’t drive too hard on the second stage because my co-driver couldn’t read me the notes", said Sheikh Suhail. "Then I speeded up and set a good time in the next one. But the fourth stage was confusing; there were tracks everywhere. We hit something hard and it broke the engine mounting. The engine was resting on the sump guard and I couldn’t risk carrying on".
Lebanese veteran Michel Saleh was the first notable retirement after suffering terminal gearbox. Britain’s David Scialom was excluded before the start on day two for carrying out illegal servicing on his Mitsubishi and Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari suffered terminal gearbox problems in the 14th stage and lost his place inside the top 10.
Jordan’s Amir Najjar crashed his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution heavily in the ninth stage and the driver was taken to hospital by ambulance for precautionary checks. The stage was stopped and remaining competitors given a notional time by the organizers. He had been lying just outside the top 10.
The FIA Middle East Rally Championship resumes at the beginning of July with the Rally of Lebanon (July 2-4).
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