Dead Sea, Jordan: Defending FIA Middle East Rally champions, Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and Chris Patterson, will lead 38 starters into the first of 18 timed gravel special stages in the Dead Sea area of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan this morning.
The two-day event is the fourth round of the regional rally series and finishes adjacent to the King Hussain Bin Talal Convention Centre tomorrow evening.
Qatar's Al Attiyah and Ulsterman Patterson will cross the ceremonial start podium at the King Hussain Bin Talal Mosque in Amman three points behind their arch UAE rival Shaikh Khalid Al Qasimi and his British co-driver Nicky Beech.
Convincing wins
Al Qasimi won the recent Oman Rally and arrives in Jordan with a slender three-point lead in the championship, although Al Attiyah has taken a pair of outright victories in Qatar and Cyprus so far this year.
"It is important for me to take as many points as possible," said last year's winner Al Attiyah. "But it would also be nice to win the event outright, especially with such large media attention and interest in the event before it joins the WRC next year."
Jordan's Amjad Farrah became the first Jordanian winner of his home event in 2004, but Farrah and his Italian co-driver Nicola Arena will also be mindful of the need to collect valuable championship points in the baking heat of a May weekend at the lowest place on earth.
Farrah is currently third in the championship, a mere one point behind Al Attiyah and is well-placed to become the first Jordanian ever to lead the FIA Middle East Drivers' Championship.
Shaikh Abdullah Al Qasimi's preparations for the event suffered a slight set-back with the late return of his British co-driver Steve Lancaster from a WRC event in Argentina.
But the UAE driver will be hoping to build upon the 14 points and fourth place he has so far achieved in the series.
Lebanese veteran Michel Saleh is also in contention for top honours and has so far amassed 11 points this season.
Farrah heads a 12-strong Jordanian team, which includes a pair of new Jordan Challenge Rally Team Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions for Ala Khalifeh and Amir Al Najjar, running under the management of former co-driver Malek Al Hariri.
