2022 KUWAIT INTERNATIONAL RALLY, March 17th-19th, 2022
FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), round 3
For immediate release
Thursday, February 10th, 2022
FULL SPEED AHEAD FOR 2022 KUWAIT INTERNATIONAL RALLY IN MID-MARCH
• Kuwait International Rally returns to the MERC for first time since 2018
KUWAIT CITY (KUWAIT): Officials at the Kuwait International Motorsport Club (KIMC) have confirmed that the 26th Kuwait International Rally will be the third round of the 2022 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) on the revised dates of March 17th-19th.
Kuwait’s premier rally has not taken place since 2018 and is now running under the supervision of a new organising committee with Emad Bukhamseen taking over as the chairman of the board of the KIMC alongside members, Issa Hamzeh, Mohammed Bukhamseen, Garbis Karzelian, Hamad Marafie, Hamad Al-Saif, Meshari Al-Sabti and Fuad Abu Arja.
“We look forward to welcoming international competitors to Kuwait for the rally in March,” said Emad Bukhamseen, a businessman who specialises in investments, real estate and publishing. “Our team will work hard to make the new event a success and a worthy round of the regional rally championship.”
Meshari Al-Sabti will act as Clerk of the Course on this occasion, ably supported by his assistant Hamad Al-Saif. Hamad Marafie will work as the Rally Director.
The three-day event is running in co-operation with the Kuwait International Automobile Club (KIAC).
It is popular with many regional teams and officials are expecting a quality international field to tackle 180.60km competitive kilometres and 10 special stages across a route of 517.62km. There will be two loops of three desert stages on Friday, March 18th and two specials run twice on Saturday, March 19th.
Rally headquarters, the service park and start and finish podiums will be based at Kuwait Motor Town.
The Kuwait International Rally became a round of the MERC in 1984, although regional unrest and two Gulf Wars meant it did not run between 1990-1994 and 1997-2007.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah has the record for the most number of victories. The Qatari earned his seventh success in 2018, having eclipsed the four wins earned by Mohammed Ben Sulayem (1985, 1988, 1989 and 1996) in 2015. The event was an ever present in the regional calendar since returning as a candidate rally in 2008, although it did not run in 2017.
That 2008 candidate event was won by Saudi driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi, while Al-Attiyah notched up his seven wins in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018. There were solitary successes for Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi in 2010 and Qatar’s Khalid Al-Suwaidi in 2012.
The 2019 event was cancelled at the 11th hour and the Covid-19 crisis put paid to any plans for the rally in 2020 and 2021.
Entries for the 2022 event opened today (February 10th) and the closing date has been set for Wednesday, March 2nd.
For further information, contact the Kuwait International Motorsport Club (KIMC), P.O. Box 2100, Safat 13021, Kuwait, E-mail: info@kimc.com and kuwaitrally@hotmail.com – Website: www.kuwaitimc.com
Ends
For further media information:
English: Neil Perkins, International Media Officer, 2022 Kuwait International Rally, UK mobile: +44 7831 123153, E-mail: ndppublicity@gmail.com and Arabic Media Officer – Firas Nimri, nimrifiras@yahoo.com. Facebook group: MERC
www.kuwaitimc.com
Twitter: @KuwaitRally