2017 Middle East Rally Championship

The 2017 Middle East Rally Championship was an international rally championship sanctioned by the FIA. The championship was contested over five events held in five Middle East countries from February to September.

Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah won his thirteenth MERC championship and his seventh consecutively. Al-Attiyah won three rallies over the course of the season creating a gap unable to be approached. Kuwaiti driver led the points after three rallies but was unable to score any points subsequently. Lebanese veteran Roger Feghali's one-off appearance and victory at his home event was enough to finish the year third in the championship.

Event calendar and results[]

The 2017 MERC was as follows:^[1]

Round	Rally name	Podium finishers				Statistics
		Rank	Driver	Car	Time	Stages	Length	Starters	Finishers
1	Qatar International Rally (3–4 February)[2]	1		Subaru WRX Sti	1:56:28.3	12	205.16 km	10	5
		2		Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	2:11:17.2
		3		Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X	2:22:17.0
2	Jordan Rally (4–6 May)[3]	1	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Ford Fiesta R5	2:56:37.0	18	238.20 km	13	8
		2		Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	3:12:46.3
		3		Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X	3:17:15.0
3	Cyprus Rally (16–18 June)[4]	1	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Ford Fiesta R5	2:31:44.3	14	219.74 km	67	46
		2		Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X	2:37:56.3
		3		Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	2:38:03.8
4	Rally of Lebanon (25–27 August)[5]	1	Roger Feghali	Škoda Fabia R5	2:01:33.5	11	206.30 km	31	22
		2		Škoda Fabia R5	2:07:33.7
		3		Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X	2:11:41.2
5	(13–15 September)[6]	1	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Ford Fiesta R5	1:55:02.0	12	202.14 km	12	8
		2		Škoda Fabia R5	1:56:32.3
		3		Kia Cerato	2:31:57.2

Championship standings[]

The 2017 MERC for Drivers points was as follows:^[7]

Pos. Driver Vehicle QAT JOR CYP LBN SHI Total 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta R5 Ret 1 1 6 1 136 2 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2 3 5 13 71 3 Roger Feghali Škoda Fabia R5 1 39 4 Subaru WRX Sti 1 37 5 Škoda Fabia R5 2 31 6 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2 30 7 Škoda Fabia R5 2 28 8 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 3 25 9 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4 24 10 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 3 23 11 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 3 20 Renault Clio Ret 5 8 Ret 20 13 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4 17 Citroën DS3 R3T 4 17 15 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 5 14 16 Hyundai i20 R5 7 12 17 Ford Fiesta S2000 6 10 18 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 7 7 19 Škoda Fabia R5 Ret 6 20 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 8 5 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Ret 5 Daniel Landa Škoda Fabia R5 Ret 5 23 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Ret 4 24 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX Ret 3 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX Ret 3 26 Renault Clio R3 9 2 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX Ret 2 Subaru Impreza STi N15 Ret 2 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Ret 2 30 Peugeot 208 R2 10 1 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Ret 1 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX Ret 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[]

External links[]

• Official website