The Petrolina Cyprus Rally returns to the international stage after a one-year absence and will host the final round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) on October 23rd-25th.

The three-day event utilises narrow and twisty gravel stages through the Troodos mountains and has attracted an FIA field of 19 cars with an additional 11 running in a National-status rally. Eight of the 19 are chasing MERC points. 

Four drivers still have a realistic chance of clinching the Drivers’ Championship. Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah leads the way on 70 points and arrives in Nicosia with a four-point cushion over Saudi Arabian rival Hamza Bakhashab. Veteran Qatari Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya is a further five points behind in third and Oman’s Abdullah Al-Rawahi trails the leader by 14 points. 

Al-Attiyah is chasing a staggering 21st regional rally title since 2003 and again teams up with Spanish co-driver Candido Carrera. Together the pair have won seven MERC rallies in an Autotek Motorsport Škoda Fabia RS, including the rounds of the series this year in Oman and Jordan. 

With a record-breaking 92 MERC victories already under his belt, Al-Attiyah has an unchallenged record in Cyprus as well: he was won the event on 10 occasions since 2010, the event having been a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) between 2000 and 2006 and again in 2009. 

Bakhashab’s father Abdullah won the regional title in 1995 and the Jeddah driver is hoping to follow in those illustrious footsteps. He teams up with Joseph Matar on this occasion, instead of usual co-driver Irishman Lorcan Moore, and drives a Toyota GR Yaris supported by Jameel Motorsport. 

Al-Atya and his Lebanese co-driver Ziad Chehab keep faith in the trusty Motortune Ford Fiesta Rally 2 that has seen them earn points for third in Oman and Qatar and seventh in Jordan so far this season. 

A retirement in Qatar proved costly for Al-Rawahi and his navigator Ata Al-Hmoud and they face an uphill task to overturn the points deficit in their Oman Rally Team Škoda Fabia, despite claiming points for second place in both Oman and Jordan. 

Rally 2 competition comes from the Cypriot trio of Panayiotis Yiangou (Hyundai), Simos Galatariotis (Škoda) and Huseyin Sukuroglu (Volkswagen), but the local drivers are not registered for MERC points.

Oman’s Zakariya Al-Aamri and Jordanian driver Shaker Jweihan will duel for supremacy in the FIA MERC2 category. Al-Aamri took full advantage of Jweihan’s woes in Jordan and Lebanon to take vital points and he arrives in the Mediterranean with an 18-point lead over his rival. Jweihan has already taken showroom class victories this season in Oman and Qatar. 

Their respective co-drivers Mohammed Al-Mazrui and Mustafa Juma are also separated by 18 points. 

Cypriot Costas Laos is also chasing MERC2 points with his co-driver Michalis Stylianou in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. Lebanon’s Ahmad Khaled and Mazkour Omar are registered for the MERC in a Renault Clio running in the Rally 3 category. 

The Lebanese pairing of Shadi El-Fakih and Samer Sfeir have already confirmed victory in the MERC4 category with an unassailable 90 points. 

Organised by the Cyprus Automobile Association, competitors will face a dozen gravel special stages and 183.92 competitive kilometres in a route of 657.74km on Saturday and Sunday. The service park, rally HQ and media centre will be located in Nicosia with the start and finish taking centre stage in the port city of Larnaca.

2026 Cyprus Rally – entry list: 

1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Candido Carrera (ESP)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2*

2. Abdullah Al-Rawahi (OMA)/Ata Al-Hmoud (JOR)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Škoda Fabia R5 Rally 2*

3. Hamza Bakhashab (KSA)/Joseph Matar (LBN)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Toyota Yaris GR Rally 2*

4. Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Ziad Chehab (LBN)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Ford Fiesta Mk II Rally 2*

5. Panayiotis Yiangou (CYP)/Aristos Nicolaou (CYP)                                                       Hyundai i20 R5 Rally 2 

6. Simos Galatariotis (CYP)/Antonios Ioannou (CYP)                                                      Škoda Fabia RS Rally 2

7. Huseyin Sukuroglu (CYP)/Kemal Topcuoslu (CYP)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Volkswagen Polo GTI Rally 2

8. Costas Zenonos (CYP)/Phanos Christophi (CYP)                                                          Ford Fiesta Rally 3 

9. Michalis Posedias (CYP)/Pambos Laos (CYP)                                                                Renault Clio Rally 3 

10. Ahmad Khaled (LBN)/Mazkour Omar (LBN)                                                               Renault Clio Rally 3*

11. Zakariya Al-Aamri (OMA)/Mohammed Al-Mazroui (OMA)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Subaru Impreza N14*

12. Shaker Jweihan (JOR)/Mustafa Juma (JOR)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X*

14. Costas Laos (CYP)/Michalis Stylianou (CYP)                                                                Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX*

15. Prodromos Prodromou (CYP)/Charis Episkopou (CYP)                                           Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X

16. Constantinos Sioferos (CYP)/Stelios Elia (CYP)                                                          Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X

17. Yiangos Yiangou (CYP)/Pavlos Egglezou (CYP)                                                           Renault Clio Rally 3 

18. Dimitris Parellis (CYP)/Andreas Papandreou (CYP)                                                  Opel Corsa Rally 4 

19. Zacharias Manoli (CYP)/Petros Laos (CYP)                                                                  Peugeot 208 R2

20. Floros Stylianou (CYP)/Aggelos Makrides (CYP)                                                        Ford Fiesta Rally 4 

*denotes registered for MERC

2026 FIA Middle East Rally Championship – positions after round 4:

Drivers

1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)                                                                        70pts

2. Hamza Bakhashab (KSA)                                                                                  66pts

3. Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya (QAT)                                                                          61pts

4. Abdullah Al-Rawahi (OMA)                                                                             56pts

5. Bassel Abu Hamdan (KSA)                                                                               51pts 

6. Shaker Jweihan (JOR)                                                                                        41pts

7. Shadi El-Fakih (LBN)                                                                                           39pts

8. Zakariya Al-Aamri (OMA)                                                                                 38pts

9. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)                                                                               35pts

10. Elias Dehni (LBN)                                                                                              29pts

11. Mohammed Al-Shorafa (JOR)                                                                      28pts

11. Sami Fleifel (JOR)                                                                                             28pts, etc

MERC2

1. Zakariya Al-Aamri (OMN)                                                                                 78pts

2. Shaker Jweihan (JOR)                                                                                        60pts

3. Sami Fleifel (JOR)                                                                                                51pts

4. Jassim Al-Muqahwi (KUW)                                                                              41pts

5. Charbel Chebly (LBN)                                                                                        21pts

6. Mohamed Mansoor Parol (IND)                                                                    19pts

MERC3

1. Rhea Dhagher (LBN)                                                                                          30pts

MERC4

1. Shadi El-Fakih (LBN)                                                                                           90pts

2. Robert Aaraj (LBN)                                                                                             24pts

3. Jason Wehbe (LBN)                                                                                            21pts

Timetable of events

Thursday, October 22

Scrutineering checks, Nicosia                                                            09.00-16.00hrs

Friday, October 23

Free practice for FIA Priority and MERC drivers, TBA                   08.30hrs-10.30hrs

Qualifying Stage (4.00km) -FIA Priority and MERC drivers, TBA         11.03hrs

Shakedown for all other cars, TBA                                                   11.45hrs-12.45hrs

Pre-rally press conference, Larnaca Phinikoudes area                 17.30hrs

Ceremonial start, Larnaca Phinikoudes area                                  18.00hrs 

Saturday, October 24

Start of leg 1 (six stages)                                                                    08.30hrs

Finish of leg 1                                                                                       19.02hrs

Sunday, October 25

Start of leg 2 (six stages)                                                                    08.00hrs

Podium ceremony, Larnaca Phinikoudes area                               16.30hrs

Post-event press conference, Finish ramp                                     18.00hrs

Ends