Attiyah and Carrera take lead at Oman Rally
- Last updated: January 24, 2026 | 10:13 ..
Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and Candido Carrera overcame two slow punctures to hold the advantage at the end of a punishing first leg of the 29th Oman International Rally on Friday.
The Autotek Skoda Fabia RS crew won five of the six gravel stages in the Hajar mountains to the north and west of Sohar and were able to build up a lead of 41.2 seconds over Oman’s Abdullah Al Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata Al Hmoud.
Al Rawahi returned to active competition for the first time since an injury last summer and he settled in well, despite a puncture on the last stage and not feeling totally ready for high-level competition.
Attiyah said: “We kept up the pace. Two slow punctures during the day but we tried to manage. Still a long way to go but we will try and change some things on the car now for Qatar and Jordan to try and understand a few extra things.”
“Unfortunately, we had a flat tyre on the last stage, said second-placed Rawahi.
“We had a rock on the line. We didn’t actually make a mistake but my luck was not great. We will see tomorrow. It’s another day. We will still keep on pushing. Coming from an injury, I am not 100% ready physically but I did not want to miss my home rally.”
Carnage unfolded on the second loop of the day on this opening round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC). Hamza Bakhashab and Lorcan Moore had been in the top three until their Toyota GR Yaris ground to a halt with suspension damage after an accident in the fifth stage.
Their demise lifted Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya and Ziad Chehab into third at the night halt in their Motortune Ford Fiesta.
The sixth stage saw the retirement of Jordan’s Sheikh Bader Al-Fayez with engine problems and similar issues sidelined the two QMMF Peugeots, driven by Mohammed Al-Marri and Rashid Al-Muhannadi, in the same stage.
A heavy impact then sidelined Ihab Al-Shorafa’s Škoda on the final stage and left just eight of the 14 starters running at the end of the day. Jordan’s Shaker Jweihan and Mustafa Juma stopped at the scene of their fellow countryman’s accident and were later handed back the time lost to lead the MERC2 category in fourth overall.
The Kuwaiti duo of Jassim Al-Muqahwi and Sulaiman Al-Helal were fifth and second in MERC2, ahead of the sixth-placed local crew of Zakariya and Al-Aamri and Mohammed Al-Mazroui.
Jordan’s Sami Fleifel and Ibrahim Ali and Mohammed Al-Shorafa and Yazan Juma survived the carnage in seventh and eighth.
The battle for honours in the Oman National Rally developed into a thrilling tussle. Saif Al-Harthy, Zakariya Al-Ofi and Salim Al-Touqi won a stage apiece in the morning and Al-Harthy led by just one-tenth of a second from Al-Ofi at the midday break. Al-Ofi then moved into an 11-second lead after two stages in the afternoon.