# 2018 Middle East Rally Championship

The 2018 Middle East Rally Championship was an international rally championship sanctioned by the FIA. The championship was contested over five events held in five Middle East countries from April to November. One event, the Cyprus Rally, is shared with the 2018 European Rally Championship.
Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah won his fourteenth MERC championship and his eighth consecutively. Al-Attiyah won the season opening Jordan Rally and later the Kuwait International Rally which was returning to the schedule after being left of the 2017 calendar. Al-Attiyah was also the leading MERC competitor to finish at the Cyprus Rally. Czech driver Vojtěch Štajf won the last event of the year in Qatar, held just two weeks after Kuwait. He was also second in Jordan and the second placed MERC driver in Cyprus. He was runner up in the championship. Kuwaiti driver Meshari Al-Thefiri was third in the championship finishing second in Kuwait and third in Jordan. Lebanese veteran Roger Feghali's one-off appearance at his home event saw him win the rally for the fourteenth time.

## Event calendar and results

The 2018 MERC was as follows:
| Round | Rally name | Podium finishers | Podium finishers | Podium finishers | Podium finishers | Statistics | Statistics | Statistics | Statistics |
| Round | Rally name | Rank | Driver | Car | Time | Stages | Length | Starters | Finishers |
| 1 | Jordan Rally (26–28 April) | 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta R5 | 1:56:30.3 | 14 | 167.80 km | 13 | 12 |
| 1 | Jordan Rally (26–28 April) | 2 | Vojtěch Štajf | Škoda Fabia R5 | 2:04:33.5 | 14 | 167.80 km | 13 | 12 |
| 1 | Jordan Rally (26–28 April) | 3 | Meshari Al-Thefiri | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | 2:06:50.3 | 14 | 167.80 km | 13 | 12 |
| 2 | Cyprus Rally (15–17 June) | 1 | Simos Galatariotis | Škoda Fabia R5 | 1:55:40.2 | 13 | 180.91 km | 59 | 46 |
| 2 | Cyprus Rally (15–17 June) | 2 | Bruno Magalhães | Škoda Fabia R5 | 1:55:40.8 | 13 | 180.91 km | 59 | 46 |
| 2 | Cyprus Rally (15–17 June) | 3 | Norbert Herczig | Škoda Fabia R5 | 1:57:01.6 | 13 | 180.91 km | 59 | 46 |
| 3 | Rally of Lebanon (6–8 July) | 1 | Roger Feghali | Škoda Fabia R5 | 2:07:43.0 | 11 | 222.86 km | 27 | 20 |
| 3 | Rally of Lebanon (6–8 July) | 2 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta R5 | 2:09:07.4 | 11 | 222.86 km | 27 | 20 |
| 3 | Rally of Lebanon (6–8 July) | 3 | Rodolphe Asmar | Škoda Fabia R5 | 2:14:06.3 | 11 | 222.86 km | 27 | 20 |
| 4 | Kuwait International Rally (1–3 November) | 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta R5 | 1:58:24.6 | 13 | 198.52 km | 13 | 10 |
| 4 | Kuwait International Rally (1–3 November) | 2 | Meshari Al-Thefiri | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | 2:10:43.8 | 13 | 198.52 km | 13 | 10 |
| 4 | Kuwait International Rally (1–3 November) | 3 | Jasem Al-Maqahwi | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII | 2:26:27.7 | 13 | 198.52 km | 13 | 10 |
| 5 | International Rally of Qatar (15–17 November) | 1 | Vojtěch Štajf | Škoda Fabia R5 | 1:39:46.7 | 10 | 153.82 km | 16 | 6 |
| 5 | International Rally of Qatar (15–17 November) | 2 | Adel Hussein | Ford Fiesta R5 | 1:43:54.5 | 10 | 153.82 km | 16 | 6 |
| 5 | International Rally of Qatar (15–17 November) | 3 | Abdullah Al-Kuwari | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | 1:52:48.0 | 10 | 153.82 km | 16 | 6 |

## Championship standings

The 2018 MERC for Drivers points was as follows:
| Pos. | Driver | Vehicle | JOR | CYP | LBN | KUW | QAT | Total |
| 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta R5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Ret | 153 |
| 2 | Vojtěch Štajf | Škoda Fabia R5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 131 |
| 3 | Meshari Al-Thefiri | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | 3 | | 8 | 2 | Ret | 59 |
| 4 | Roger Feghali | Škoda Fabia R5 | | | 1 | | | 38 |
| 5 | Khaled Juma | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | 4 | | | 5 | | 32 |
| 5 | Henry Kahy | Škoda Fabia R2 | 7 | 17 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 32 |
| 7 | Adel Hussein | Ford Fiesta R5 | | | | | 2 | 29 |
| 8 | Christos Demosthenous | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | | 3 | | | | 25 |
| 9 | Abdullah Al-Kuwari | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | | | | | 3 | 24 |
| 9 | Rodolphe Asmar | Škoda Fabia R5 | | | 3 | | | 24 |
| 11 | Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | | | | 3 | | 19 |
| 11 | Alexandros Tsouloftas | Citroën DS3 R5 | | 4 | | | | 19 |
| 11 | Eddy Abou-Karam | Hyundai i20 R5 | | | 4 | | | 19 |
| 14 | Mohamed Al-Meer | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | | | | | 4 | 17 |
| 14 | Ihab Al-Shorafa | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | 6 | | | 8 | | 17 |
| 16 | Ahmad Shabaan | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | 5 | | | | | 16 |
| 17 | Savvas Savva | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | 5 | | | | 15 |
| 18 | Rashid Al-Mohannadi | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | | | | 5 | 14 |
| 19 | Costas Zenonos | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | 6 | | | | 12 |
| 20 | Abdullah Al-Rawahi | Subaru Impreza STi N14 | Ret | 15 | | 6 | Ret | 11 |
| 20 | Rony Kanaan | Citroën DS3 R3T | | | 6 | | | 11 |
| 22 | Panayiotis Yiangou | Hyundai i20 R5 | | 7 | | | | 8 |
| 23 | Matthias Njeim | Peugeot 208 R2 | | | 7 | | | 7 |
| 24 | George Englezou | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | 8 | | | | 5 |
| 24 | Panikos Polykarpou | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | 9 | | | | 5 |
| 26 | Asem Aref | Renault Clio | 8 | | | | | 4 |
| 27 | Salah Bin Eidan | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | | | | Ret | 3 |
| 27 | Michel Slaiby | Ford Fiesta R5 | | | Ret | | | 3 |
| 29 | Costas Laos | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | 11 | | | | 1 |
| 29 | Kyriakos Kyriakou | Subaru Impreza STi R4 | | 12 | | | | 1 |
Key :
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | 2nd place |
| Bronze | 3rd place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Did not finish (Ret) |
| Black | Excluded (EX) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Withdrew entry from the event (WD) |