2019 Middle East Rally Championship

The 2019 Middle East Rally Championship was an international rally championship sanctioned by the FIA. The championship was to be contested over five events held in five different countries across the Middle East region, running from March to November. One event, the Cyprus Rally, is shared with the 2019 European Rally Championship. The season-ending Kuwait International Rally was cancelled.

2019 Middle East Rally Championship
Previous: 2018 Next: 2020

Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah won his fifteenth MERC championship and his ninth consecutively. Al-Attiyah won all four rallies contested. Fellow Qatari driver Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari was second in the championship but scored less than half the points Al-Attiyah scored. Al-Kuwari was second in Qatar and Jordan but would score only four points for the rest of the season. Kuwaiti driver Meshari Al-Thefiri was again third in the championship.

Event calendar and results

The 2019 MERC was as follows:[1]

Round Rally name Podium finishers Statistics
Rank Driver Car Time Stages Length Starters Finishers
1 Manateq Qatar International Rally
(14–16 March)[2]		 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 1:56:18.8 11 203.72 km 22 14
2 Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Škoda Fabia R5 1:59:48.4
3 Hamed Al-Thani Ford Fiesta R5 2:07:22.4
2 Jordan Rally
(25–27 April)[3]		 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 3:00:48.5 21 244.09 km 22 11
2 Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Škoda Fabia R5 3:04:56.7
3 Marouf Abu Samra Ford Fiesta R5 3:08:27.6
3 Rally of Lebanon
(30 August–1 September)[4]		 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 2:06:19.3 11 215.94 km 24 15
2 Rodrigue Rahi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 2:13:28.6
3 Patrick Njeim Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 2:14:55.6
4 Cyprus Rally
(27–29 September)[5]		 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 3:02:51.3 12 199.76 km 53 34
2 Chris Ingram Škoda Fabia R5 3:06:42.2
3 Mikko Hirvonen Ford Fiesta R5 3:07:25.3
5 Kuwait International Rally
(31 October–2 November)		 Cancelled

References
  1. "Events Calendar Season 2019". FIA.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  2. "44. Manateq Qatar International Rally 2019". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  3. "Jordan Rally 2019". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 28 April 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  4. "42. Rally of Lebanon 2019". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  5. "48. Cyprus Rally 2019". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
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