The Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) is a motor rally championship run under the auspicies of the FIA. First held in 1984 the championship encompasses a series of rallies held across Western Asia. The championship has featured long-running events like Rally of Lebanon, Rally Oman and the Troodos Rally in Cyprus as well as World Rally Championship event Jordan Rally. Many of the rallies in the region pre-date national independence, mostly from the United Kingdom.
| Category | R5 Rally2 Group N |
|---|---|
| Country | Middle East |
| Inaugural season | 1984 |
| Drivers' champion |  Nasser Al-Attiyah Abdullah Al-Rawahi |
 Current season | |
The championship has been dominated by Nasser Al-Attiyah who has won 19 titles.
The championship features events in Qatar, Kuwait, Iran, Lebanon, Cyprus, Jordan, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The championship has also visited Bahrain, Syria and Saudi Arabia.
List of events
edit- Qatar International Rally (1984–present)
- Kuwait International Rally (1984–85, 1987–89, 1995–96, 2009–2016, 2018–present)
- Bahrain International Rally (1984, 2000–02, 2004–05)
- Jordan Rally (1984–88, 1990, 1992–present)
- Oman International Rally (1984–88, 1990–94, 1998, 2004–07, 2015)
- Dubai International Rally, United Arab Emirates (1984–88, 1990–95, 1997–2015)
- Rally of Lebanon, (1987–88, 1991–2004, 2006–present)
- UAE International Rally, United Arab Emirates (1989, 1995–2001, 2004–06)
- Tour of Cyprus, (1998–1999)
- Troodos Rally, Cyprus, (2000–2009, 2011)
- Syria International Rally, (2001–05, 2007–10)
- Cyprus Rally, (2007–08, 2010, 2012–present)
- Sharqia Rally, Saudi Arabia, (2010)
- Shiraz Rally, Iran, (2015–17)
Champions
edit- Footnotes
- ^ The 2023 championship was awarded to both Nasser Al-Attiyah and Abdullah Al-Rawahi, after a perfect tie between the two could not be settled by a six-man FIA committee.[1]
Rally winners
edit230 Rallies (after Cyprus 2023), 39 different winners, following are the winners stats:
| Driver | Wins |
|---|---|
| 81 | |
| 60 | |
| 16 | |
| 11 | |
| 8 | |
| 4 | |
| 3 | |
| 2 | |
| 1 | |
Wins per nationality
editCount as after Cyprus 2023
| Driver | Wins |
|---|---|
| 100 | |
| 74 | |
| 27 | |
| 9 | |
| 6 | |
| 5 | |
| 3 | |
| 2 | |
| 1 | |
References
edit- ^ "The rally title decided by a committee meeting". 23 Nov 2023.