The pair won nine of the event’s 13 gravel special stages, as Al-Attiyah moved into second position in the Drivers’ Championship with his 36th outright MERC success and a record-breaking fourth win in Syria.
Bernacchini clinched his seventh MERC win as a co-driver and now ties Jordan’s Khaled Zakaria as the fourth most successful navigator in championship history. It was the Italian’s first win in Syria.
“This is a fantastic win for me,” said a delighted Al-Attiyah. “I have missed three rounds of the championship this season, but I still have a chance to win the title again now. Misfer (Al-Marri) is doing what he has to do, but I will go into the last two rounds knowing that I have a great chance if I can win both rallies.” Sharjah’s Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi continued his run of excellent form to take second position and move into a similar place in the Drivers’ Championship standings after six of eight rounds. Syria’s Haitham Al-Yousefi retired from second position on the final stage with radiator problems and Ahmad Hamsho finished as the leading local driver in sixth overall.
Qatar’s Misfer Al-Marri started cautiously on Friday, but found a sensible pace over the closing stages to claim third overall and six points for being the third registered driver home. He will now take a 10-point championship lead to Cyprus next month and a pair of third places on the remaining two rounds will be enough to see him claim a maiden regional title. His Italian co-driver Nicola Arena continues to lead the Co-Drivers’ Championship.
Fifteen of the original 19 starters began the second day and Al-Attiyah was in control through the 17.3 km of the Deir Ateyah stage. He extended his lead to 8m 33 secs, as Abdullah Al-Qassimi reduced Haitham Al-Yousefi’s hold on second position by 22 secs. Qatar’s Khaled Al-Suwaidi had been plagued by problems on day one and illness forced him to withdraw before the restart.
Al-Attiyah was again quickest through Runnet and the top-eight held station advantage had grown to 8m 52.4s and another fastest time in SS10 saw his lead grow to a staggering 10m 21 secs. There were no changes inside the top nine, although Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thafiri overhauled Syria’s Amir Arnaout to snatch 10th position.
Al-Marri claimed the fastest time on the second Deir Ateyah stage, but Al-Attiyah beat Al-Yousefi by over 30 secs and extended his lead to 10m 52.1 secs. The series leader was again quickest in Runnet, but Al-Attiyah had noticeably eased his pace and headed into the final stage with an outright lead of 11m 11.9 secs. Al-Thafiri passed fellow Kuwaiti Essam Al-Nejadi to take ninth overall.
Al-Marri completed his hat trick of stage wins in the final 25.30 km stage, but Al-Attiyah had done enough to claim a straightforward victory and further emphasize the performance advantage of the S2000 cars over their Group N counterparts. But there was late misery for Al-Yousefi, who retired from second position with a broken radiator and handed the runner-up spot to Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi.
The next round of the 2010 FIA Middle East Rally Championship will be the Limassol-based FX Pro Cyprus Rally on Nov. 5-7.