Oman International Rally from Oct 30

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Top race drivers from the Gulf region are expected to be in action in the three-day Oman International Rally Championship which makes a return to the sultanate after seven years.

The rally which is a candidate event for the 2015 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) will be held from October 30-November 1.

Speaking at a press meet on Wednesday Anwar al Zadjali the Oman Automobile Association's (OAA) advisor and vice-chairman of the organising committee said 'We expect 20-25 teams to participate in the rally. At the moment Abu Dhabi Racing Team which will field six cars has confirmed its entry. We are expecting a good representation from Omani drivers.'

Though the points earned in the event will not to be considered for the MERC title Oman's challenging terrain will serve as a good build-up for the drivers for the MERC's final race the Dubai International Rally from November 27-29.

The MERC which comprises six rallies this year is headed for a tight finish featuring three drivers - the Qatari duo of Nasser al Attiyah and Abdulaziz al Kuwari and Khalid al Qassimi of UAE.

With just the Dubai International Rally to go Attiyah leads the standings with 75 points. He is closely followed by Qassimi (69) in second place and Kuwari (66) in third. A victory in Dubai will hand Qassimi the title. Qassimi's participation at the Oman event is an added boost for the organisers who are keen to make the rally a success and get the sultanate back on the MERC calendar next year.

Qassimi and his co-driver Chris Patterson in their Citroen DS3 RRC will be hoping to use the Oman rally as a platform to launch their final bid for the title against Attiyah (Ford Fiesta RRC) and Kuwari (Ford Fiesta RRC).

Wednesday's press event was also attended by Hani Shaban the clerk of the course (course official) and an FIA member Ahmed al Jhdhamy representing the Ministry of Sports Affairs and Ibrahim al Mahrouqi from the Ministry of Tourism.

Shaban said 'The primary focus is to ensure a safe and secure rally. We look to have high overall safety standards for the drivers officials and spectators. The stages are excellent here. With 15 per cent of the rally to be covered on asphalt it will provide a tricky challenge for the competitors.'

The FIA member was also the clerk of the course at Iran's first international rally event held recently the Shiraz Rally which was hit by tragedy on September 26 with the death of a co-driver when his car flipped and rolled over.

Arash Ramin Yekta teammate of driver Hossein Ghodsi was killed in the accident during the opening stage of the second day. With the representatives of the sports and tourism ministries giving the rally in Oman a thumbs-up Zadjali hoped that Oman could some day pitch for hosting the World Rally Championship.