Jordan Rally Saturday as it happened - results 29.05.2021: Jordan Rally 2021 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, round 2 Saturday, May 29th, 2021 Al-Attiyah dominated the first runs through the 31.57km of the Jordan River stage and the insipid heat of Joufeh (26.01km) to extend his massive lead to 1

Jordan Rally
2021 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, round 2    
Saturday, May 29th, 2021



Al-Attiyah dominated the first runs through the 31.57km of the Jordan River stage and the insipid heat of Joufeh (26.01km) to extend his massive lead to 12min 02.5sec.
 


“We like these two stages. They are long and the organisation make a good, good job,” said Al-Attiyah. “The second one was the opposite of yesterday. We see all the machines (regrading) on the stages. It was a great job by the organisation. The car is working well. Two stages to go...”
 


Feghali had vowed to attack Al-Thefiri on the second day and try to make in-roads into the Kuwaiti’s 40.8-second hold on the MERC2 lead and second place. But the Lebanese took it easy instead and ceded 32.5 seconds to the defending champion in the opener and a further 13 in the second one to trail by 1min 26.5sec on the return to the Dead Sea service park.
 


“Now we are just cruising through to secure third position,” admitted Feghali. “We are not trying to catch Meshari and gain experience for the next events. First rally, first podium, would be amazing.”
 


After suffering from the heat and two flat tyres on day one, Al-Atya settled into the groove to record two fourth fastest times to close in on El-Fakih’s hold on fifth behind Shaban, who had a problem with water getting into the engine from under the sump guard.
 


El-Fakih sustained a flat tyre 16km into the first test of the morning and drove on the rim to the finish before changing the wheel and suffering front differential issues in the second one.
 


A disgruntled Al-Atya said: “We push in the first stage and catch Shadi (El-Fakih) in the middle of the stage. In the dust we went into the grass off the road. We lost maybe half a minute and we reversed and then we catch again and lose maybe a minute more in the dust. But we managed to pass him before the end of the stage and then caught him again in the second one...”
 


After restarting under the Rally2 regulation, Al-Saif was back into a quick pace and moved up to seventh overall at the expense of Al-Shorafa and Aref. Kahy also restarted under Rally2 at the rear of the field, but engine damage had forced the permanent retirements of Ahmad Khaled and Abdullah Al-Rawahi on Friday.
 


Khaled Juma held a 3min 16.9sec lead over Shaban on the second round of the Jordan National Rally Championship.
 


A cautious Al-Attiyah was 1.4 seconds slower than his first pass on the re-run of Jordan River, while El-Fakih’s morning differential woes proved costly and the Lebanese incurred time penalties for starting the second loop late. That time loss pushed him behind Al-Atya and into sixth before he eventually retired in stage nine.
 


Al-Attiyah managed his pace through the final stage to secure a clean sweep of 10 stage wins and seal a 14th outright success in the Hashemite Kingdom. Al-Thefiri held on to secure second and first in MERC2 over the slippery second loop, the Kuwaiti completing the stages 2min 25.8sec in front of Feghali.
 


Khaled Juma prevailed on the second round of the National Championship, as a cautious Shaban finished the FIA event as the leading Jordanian. Amjad Al-Anasweh rounded off the podium finishers on the second round of the national series.
 


The 2021 FIA Middle East Rally Championship resumes with the Rally of Lebanon on September 3rd-5th.
 




2021 Jordan Rally – positions after SS10:



1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Volkswagen Pole GTI                          2hr 49min 06.0sec

2. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KWT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X                          3hr 06min 10.8sec

3. Alex El-Feghali (LBN)/Georges Deaibess (LBN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X                          3hr 08min 36.6sec

4. Shadi Sheban (JOR)/Emad Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX                                         3hr 24min 38.9sec

5. Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya (QAT)/Giovanni Bernacchini (ITA) Ford Fiesta                            3hr 39min 13.1sec       

6. Saleh Al-Saif (SAU)/Feisal Al-Suwayh (SAU) Can-Am Maverick X3                                            3hr 52min 03.5sec

7. Ihab Al-Shourafa (JOR)/Yousef Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX                         3hr 56min 33.1sec

8. Asem Aref (JOR)/Ahmed Jankhot (JOR) Renault Clio RS                                                    4hr 12min 33.0sec

9. Henry Kahy (LBN)/Carlos Hanna (LBN) Škoda Fabia 1.6                                                    4hr 48min 49.4sec
 




2021 Jordan National Rally Championship – round 2 result:



1. Khaled Juma (JOR)/Yazan Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII                                      1hr 39min 19.2sec

2. Shadi Sheban (JOR)/Emad Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX                                         1hr 45min 48.2sec

3. Amjad Al-Anasweh (JOR)/Amer Mousa (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII                       1hr 51min 11.8sec

4. Sami Fleifel (JOR)/Mohammed Atari (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V                          1hr 52min 12.8sec

5. Ihab Al-Shourafa (JOR)/Yousef Juma (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX                         1hr 54min 48.6sec

6. Tariq Al-Taher (JOR)/Samer Issa (JOR) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI                                         1hr 55min 09.1sec

7. Asem Aref (JOR)/Ahmed Jankhot (JOR) Renault Clio                                                          2hr 07min 36.8sec

8. Al-Hassan Al-Khatib (JOR)/Ghaith Kupti (JOR) Toyota FJ Cruiser                                  2hr 20min 28.4sec




- Neil Perkins, photos Jordan Motorsport