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Middle East Rally Championship 2009

KUWAIT INTERNATIONAL RALLY RETURNS TO FIA
MIDDLE EAST RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP ON THURSDAY

KUWAIT INTERNATIONAL RALLY, March 5th-7th 2009
FIA Middle East Rally Championship, round two

•Qatar's Al-Attiyah tops bumper entry for 150th MERC event
•Strong line-up includes UAE's Al-Qassimi and Saudi's Al-Rajhi
•4pm start on Thursday afternoon at Kuwait Towers for new rally

JAHRA (Kuwait): The State of Kuwait roars back into the international motor
sporting spotlight on Thursday afternoon (tomorrow) with the ceremonial
start and opening super special stage of the Kuwait International Rally,
the second round of the 2009 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC).

Absent from the prestigious regional rally series since 1996, the new-look
Kuwait event is based at the Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex
in Jahra, near Kuwait City, and has attracted 30 teams, with 10 crews
representing the host nation. The three-day, 14-special stage event is
being organised by the Kuwait Motor Sports Club (KMSC) under the patronage
of Faisal Al-Jazaf, chairman and general manager of the public authority
for youth and sports in the State of Kuwait.

Competitors were able to carry out a low speed reconnaissance of the
all-desert rally route on Tuesday and Wednesday (today), before teams cross
the ceremonial start podium under the famed Kuwait Towers in Kuwait City
from 4pm on Thursday afternoon. The competitive action will get underway
with a timed spectator stage at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Circuit
from 4.30pm.

Several of the leading drivers joined KMSC president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Dawood
Al-Sabah at the official pre-event press conference on Wednesday evening at
rally headquarters within the confines of the shooting complex. "We extend
a warm welcome to all our international competitors and wish everyone a
safe and successful rally," said Sheikh Ahmad.

Leading the international contingent of 20 drivers is the defending
regional champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, a five-time winner of the
regional series who will be chasing his 31st MERC victory on this event,
which marks the 150th in the history of the championship.

Al-Attiyah teams up with the experienced Italian co-driver Giovanni
Bernacchini for the first time in a new Subaru Impreza, but is sure to be
hard-pushed over the demanding Kuwait desert stages by the in-form Saudi
Arabian driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and former champion Sheikh Khalid
Al-Qassimi.

The pair finished second and third overall on the opening round of the
series in Qatar, behind Al-Attiyah, although Al-Rajhi's exciting new Kronos
Peugeot 207 S2000 should be better suited to the smoother, sandier stages
in Kuwait, as opposed to the rougher and rockier terrain he faced in
January.

Punctures cost several drivers, including Al-Qassimi, valuable time in
Qatar, but the UAE driver is anxious to close the four-point championship
points' gap on Al-Attiyah at this early stage of the new season. The rapid
Rashid Al-Ketbi could also spring a surprise for the Emirati contingent,
but Sheikh Khalid's brother Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi withdrew at the last
minute with an ear infection.

Qatar's Misfer Al-Marri was disappointed with his performance in Doha and
last year's championship runner-up will need to be on the top of his game
if he is to match Al-Attiyah on these fast desert stages. Mubarak Al-Hajri,
1993 regional champion Sheikh Hamed Bin Eid Al-Thani and Nasser Al-Suwaidi
are three other rated Qatari drivers in the field.

Mufeed Mubarak, Salah Bin Eidan and Meshari Al-Sabti head the impressive
10-strong local contingent, with rookies Elie Chichati and Ebrahim
Al-Modakha, joining Eid Falah, Meshal Al-Nejadi, Essam Al-Nejadi and
Meshari and Yousef Al-Thafiri on the entry list.

Both Jordan's Amjad Farrah and Saudi Arabia's Ahmed Al-Sabban return to
action for the first time this season in their respective Mitsubishi Lancer
and Toyota S2000 and London-based Lebanese driver Nick Georgiou will be
hoping to put the disappointing last stage retirement in Qatar firmly to
the back of his mind. Farrah failed to score a single point in last year's
championship campaign and a last minute engine change before the start of
this event was hardly the preparation the Jordanian needed for a successful
weekend.

Other likely front-runners include Lebanese veteran Michel Saleh - the
winner of the first Kuwait International round of the MERC in 1984 - and
Jordan's Ammar Hijazi in his new Al-Mimari Subaru Impreza N15, while
Abdulrahman Ghuloom and daughter Carina Ghuloom are the sole Bahraini
entrants. Cheshire-based chemist David Scialom represents the United
Kingdom in his venerable Subaru Impreza.

"The stages are sandy and very fast," admitted visiting Ulster co-driver
Allan Harryman. "There are some long straights out there. You wouldn't want
to get a line wrong on these tracks. It is going to be quite a fight
between the top crews. The pace will not be for the faint-hearted."

Competitors' progress can be followed via live tracking over the course of
the three days of competitive action using the following website:
http://tracking.sporttraxx.com/races/kuwait-2009/

Top 20 starters:
1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QA)/Giovanni Bernacchini (I) Impreza
2. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Matthieu Baumel (F) 3. Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi (UAE)/Michael Orr (GB) Impreza
4. Misfer Al-Marri (QA)/Chris Patterson (GB) Impreza
5. Rashed Al-Ketbi (UAE)/Khaled Al-Kendi (UAE) 6. Salah Bin Eidan (KT)/Craig Parry (GB) Impreza
8. Mubarak Al-Hajri (QA)/Adel Hussein (QA) 9. Amjad Farrah (HKJ)/Nicola Arena (I) Evolution IX
10. Nick Georgiou (RL)/Joseph Matar (RL) Lancer Evolution IX
11. Michel Saleh (RL)/Ziad Chehab (RL) 12. Khalid Al-Suwaidi/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QA) 14. Ahmed Al-Sabban (KSA)/Dermot O'Gorman (IRL) 15. Eid Falah (KT)/Khalid Khalifa (KT) Evolution VIII
16. Nasser Al-Suwaidi (QA)/Ramzi Al-Mansour (HKJ) Lancer Evolution VIII
17. Meshal Al-Nejadi (KT)/Ahmad Al-Khrass (KT) Evolution IX
18. Ammar Hijazi (HKJ)/Ata Al-Hmoud (HKJ) 19. Meshari Al-Thafiri (KT)/Fares Al-Thafiri (KT) Lancer Evolution IX
20. Sheikh Hamed Bin Eid Al-Thani (QA)/Hamed 21. Mufeed Mubarak (KT)/TBA Evolution
22. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QA)/Wael Marjan (UAE) Subaru
Peugeot 207 S2000
Subaru
Subaru
Subaru Impreza
Subaru
Subaru Impreza
Mitsubishi Lancer
Mitsubishi
Subaru Impreza
Subaru Impreza
Toyota S2000
Mitsubishi Lancer
Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi Lancer
Subaru Impreza
Mitsubishi
Al-Marri (QA) Subaru Impreza
Mitsubishi Lancer
Subaru Impreza

2009 FIA Middle East Rally Championship -
positions after round 1 of 7:

Drivers
1.Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QA) 10 pts
2. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA) 8 pts
3. Khalid Al-Qassimi (UAE) 6 pts
4. Misfer Al-Marri (QA) 5 pts
5. Rashid Al-Ketbi (UAE) 4 pts
6. Saleh Bin Eidan (KT) 3 pts
7. Abdullah Al-Qassimi (UAE) 2 pts
8. Mubarak Al-Hajri (QA) 1 pts

Co-drivers
1. Matthieu Baumel (F) 10 pts
2. Michael Orr (GB) 8 pts
3. Chris Patterson (GB) 6 pts
4. Khalid Al-Kendi (UAE) 5 pts
5. Steve Lancaster (GB) 4 pts
6. Ahmad Al-Khrass (KT) 3 pts
7. Anwar Al-Sharrah (KT) 2 pts