The Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) is a motor rally championship run under the auspices of the FIA.
History 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.
The championship has been dominated by Nasser Al-Attiyah who has won 20 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 Qatar International Rally (1984–present) Kuwait International Rally (1984–1985, 1987–1989, 1995–1996, 2009–2016, 2018–present) Bahrain International Rally (1984, 2000–2002, 2004–2005) Jordan Rally (1984–1988, 1990, 1992–present) Oman International Rally (1984–1988, 1990–1994, 1998, 2004–2007, 2015) Dubai International Rally, United Arab Emirates (1984–1988, 1990–1995, 1997–2015) Rally of Lebanon, (1987–1988, 1991–2004, 2006–present) UAE International Rally, United Arab Emirates (1989, 1995–2001, 2004–2006) Tour of Cyprus, (1998–1999) Troodos Rally, Cyprus, (2000–2009, 2011) Syria International Rally, (2001–2005, 2007–2010) Cyprus Rally, (2007–2008, 2010, 2012–present) Sharqia Rally, Saudi Arabia, (2010) Shiraz Rally, Iran, (2015–2017) Rally Saudi Arabia (2026)
Champions
Year Driver Car 1984 Saeed Al-Hajri Porsche 911 SC RS 1985 Saeed Al-Hajri (2) Porsche 911 SC RS 1986 Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo 1987 Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo 1988 Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo 1989 Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 1990 Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 1991 Mohammed Ben Sulayem Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 1992 Mamdouh Khayat Lancia Delta HF Integrale 1993 Hamed Al-Thani Mitsubishi Galant VR4 1994 Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Escort RS Cosworth 1995 Abdullah Bakhashab Ford Escort RS Cosworth 1996 Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Escort RS Cosworth 1997 Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Escort RS Cosworth 1998 Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Escort WRC 1999 Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Focus RS WRC 2000 Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Focus RS WRC 2001 Mohammed Ben Sulayem Ford Focus RS WRC 2002 Mohammed Ben Sulayem (14) Ford Focus RS WRC Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRC 2004 Khalid Al Qassimi Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2005 Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2006 Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2007 Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2008 Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2009 Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STI Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2010 Misfer Al Marri Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2011 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta S2000 2012 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC Peugeot 207 S2000 2013 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2014 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2015 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC 2016 Nasser Al-Attiyah Škoda Fabia R5 2017 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta R5 2018 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta R5 2019 Nasser Al-Attiyah Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 2020 Nasser Al-Attiyah Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 2021 Nasser Al-Attiyah Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 2022 Nasser Al-Attiyah Volkswagen Polo GTI R52023 Nasser Al-Attiyah Abdullah Al-Rawahi Volkswagen Polo GTI R5Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo2024 Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Škoda Fabia RS Rally22025 Nasser Al-Attiyah (20)Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 Footnotes
Rally winners After the 2025 season:
Driver Wins Nasser Al-Attiyah 90 Mohammed Ben Sulayem 60 Roger Feghali 17 Saeed Al-Hajri 11 Khalid Al Qassimi 8 Andreas Tsouloftas4 Abdullah Al-Rawahi Abdullah Bakhashab 3 Björn Waldegård Jean-Pierre Nasrallah Yazeed Al-Rajhi Suhail bin Maktoum 2 Khalifa Al-Mutaiwi Michel Saleh Abdulaziz Al Kuwari Charalambos Thimotheou Khalid Al Suwaidi Amjad Farrah 1 Andreas Peratikos Chris Thomas Samir Ghanem Abdullah Al-Qassimi Abbas Al-Motaiwi Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah Hamed Bin Eid Al-Thani Maurice Sehnaoui Tony Georgiou Alex Fiorio Piero Liatti Russell Brookes Alain Oreille Nizar Shanfari Nicos Thomas Rashed El-Ketbi Nicolas Amiouni Tamer Ghandour Rodolphe Asmar Rashid El-Naimi Pierre-Louis Loubet Vojtěch Štajf
Wins per nationality Count as after Cyprus 2023
Driver Wins 100 74 27 9 6 5 3 2 1
References
External links 2016 Middle East Rally Championship at the FIA official website