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Rally Oman
The third leg of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship saw some innovative changes this year.
By Nitin Nair

The Maidan al Fatah stadium, Wattayah, is bathed in floodlight as an army of volunteers go about their duties. The sense of urgency in the air is in stark contrast to the calm surrounding Nasser Saleh al Attiyah, the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) titleholder.

The evening before Rally Oman 2006, held between April 5-7 sees the Qatari ace and his co-driver Chris Patterson in their Subaru Impreza WRXi as favourites to win again. Their recent form – victories in the UAE and Qatar legs – only reinforced this belief. “It’s been a good start to the season this far and Oman is one of my favourite rally circuits,” said Nasser, eyeing the specially laid out track within the stadium, the main attraction at this year’s event. For the first time in MERC history, a Super Special Stage was being held within a stadium to bring in the crowds. The stage will pit two race cars on the parallel tracks of the circuit for two timed laps. Understandably, Nasser was raring to go. “I’ve seen such stages all over the world. It’s a good thing that the Middle East is now getting a spectator stage because it’s a great way to popularise the sport.”

Simo Lampinen, the Clerk of the Course, was also hoping that the special stage would set Rally Oman apart from the rest in the region. “This stage is a concept that worked very well at the Race of Champions at Paris. Though the drivers wouldn’t want to go at
full throttle on these laps, this stage will provide audiences with enough thrills.”
Rally Oman, the third leg of the MERC, is the sultanate’s premier motorsport event. Though rallying as a sport has been around here since the late 1970s, Oman became a part of the FIA-sanctioned event only in 1983-84. This year’s event was preceded by the news of Hamed al Wahaibi’s retirement. The Omani rally ace, who made a lukewarm return to the international rally stage last year, announced his decision just one week before the event, citing personal reasons.

Home aspirations now squarely lay on the shoulders of Nizar al Shanfari, the former Group N MERC champion, who had two disastrous races in the first two legs of the season this year in his Subaru Impreza WRXi. Nizar, with co-driver George Aletraris, had failed to finish in UAE and Qatar after suffering machine failures both times. He was keen on making an impression on his home turf.

This year’s rally also marked the debut of Nicholai Georgiou, son of former Muscat-based rally ace Tony Georgiou. The 23 year old, based out of London, had three weeks practise in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo in the run-up to the event. “Our aim was to finish to drive clean and complete the rally,” said Nicholai, who eventually surprised everyone with a strong sixth place finish.

The first day of the rally turned out to be a disappointment for the crowds that trooped in. The first of the two Super Special Stages on April 5 had to be called off after the first four cars finished their laps. The cars had kicked up so much dust that visibility became a security concern. However, that problem was sorted out in time for the final day when water was used on the tracks to prevent the dust from kicking up.

In the end, there were no real surprises. Nasser expectedly swept the first place followed closely by the UAE’s Sheikh Suhail bin Khalifa al Maktoum. Nasser’s archrival Sheikh Khalid al Qassimi suffered fuel feed-related problems on the opening day and retired with electrical gremlins during the second leg. Nizar gave the home crowds plenty to cheer about with his third place finish. “It’s good to be among the top three finishers again,” said Nizar. “I’ve had two bad races in the series so far in UAE and Qatar. But winning in front of your home fans is always special.” The Omani’s return to form also coincided with his announcement that he would be competing in the rest of the regional series as well. With Hamed gone from the scene now, Oman will now look solely towards Nizar to bring in the motorsport laurels. And it’s already a happy new beginning.