# 2017 Middle East Rally Championship

The 2017 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 February to September.
Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah won his thirteenth MERC championship and his seventh consecutively. Al-Attiyah won three rallies over the course of the season creating a gap unable to be approached. Kuwaiti driver Meshari Al-Thefiri led the points after three rallies but was unable to score any points subsequently. Lebanese veteran Roger Feghali's one-off appearance and victory at his home event was enough to finish the year third in the championship.

## Event calendar and results

The 2017 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 | Qatar International Rally (3–4 February) | 1 | Rashid Al-Naimi | Subaru WRX Sti | 1:56:28.3 | 12 | 205.16 km | 10 | 5 |
| 1 | Qatar International Rally (3–4 February) | 2 | Nasser Al-Kuwari | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | 2:11:17.2 | 12 | 205.16 km | 10 | 5 |
| 1 | Qatar International Rally (3–4 February) | 3 | Meshari Al-Thefiri | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | 2:22:17.0 | 12 | 205.16 km | 10 | 5 |
| 2 | Jordan Rally (4–6 May) | 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta R5 | 2:56:37.0 | 18 | 238.20 km | 13 | 8 |
| 2 | Jordan Rally (4–6 May) | 2 | Marouf Abu Samra | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | 3:12:46.3 | 18 | 238.20 km | 13 | 8 |
| 2 | Jordan Rally (4–6 May) | 3 | Meshari Al-Thefiri | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | 3:17:15.0 | 18 | 238.20 km | 13 | 8 |
| 3 | Cyprus Rally (16–18 June) | 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta R5 | 2:31:44.3 | 14 | 219.74 km | 67 | 46 |
| 3 | Cyprus Rally (16–18 June) | 2 | Simos Galatariotis | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | 2:37:56.3 | 14 | 219.74 km | 67 | 46 |
| 3 | Cyprus Rally (16–18 June) | 3 | Panikos Polykarpou | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | 2:38:03.8 | 14 | 219.74 km | 67 | 46 |
| 4 | Rally of Lebanon (25–27 August) | 1 | Roger Feghali | Škoda Fabia R5 | 2:01:33.5 | 11 | 206.30 km | 31 | 22 |
| 4 | Rally of Lebanon (25–27 August) | 2 | Gilbert Bannout | Škoda Fabia R5 | 2:07:33.7 | 11 | 206.30 km | 31 | 22 |
| 4 | Rally of Lebanon (25–27 August) | 3 | Rodolphe Asmar | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | 2:11:41.2 | 11 | 206.30 km | 31 | 22 |
| 5 | Shiraz International Rally (13–15 September) | 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta R5 | 1:55:02.0 | 12 | 202.14 km | 12 | 8 |
| 5 | Shiraz International Rally (13–15 September) | 2 | Vojtěch Štajf | Škoda Fabia R5 | 1:56:32.3 | 12 | 202.14 km | 12 | 8 |
| 5 | Shiraz International Rally (13–15 September) | 3 | Hormoz Kalhor | Kia Cerato | 2:31:57.2 | 12 | 202.14 km | 12 | 8 |

## Championship standings

The 2017 MERC for Drivers points was as follows:
| Pos. | Driver | Vehicle | QAT | JOR | CYP | LBN | SHI | Total |
| 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta R5 | Ret | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 136 |
| 2 | Meshari Al-Thefiri | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | 2 | 3 | 5 | 13 | | 71 |
| 3 | Roger Feghali | Škoda Fabia R5 | | | | 1 | | 39 |
| 4 | Rashed Al Naimi | Subaru WRX Sti | 1 | | | | | 37 |
| 5 | Vojtěch Štajf | Škoda Fabia R5 | | | | | 2 | 31 |
| 6 | Simos Galatariotis | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | | | 2 | | | 30 |
| 7 | Gilbert Bannout | Škoda Fabia R5 | | | | 2 | | 28 |
| 8 | Savvas Savva | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | | 3 | | | 25 |
| 9 | Ihab Al-Shorafa | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | 4 | | | | 24 |
| 10 | Rodolphe Asmar | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | | | | 3 | | 23 |
| 11 | Ali Mesgarha | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | | | | 3 | 20 |
| 11 | Asem Aref | Renault Clio | Ret | 5 | 8 | Ret | | 20 |
| 13 | Costas Laos | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | | 4 | | | 17 |
| 13 | Patrick Njeim | Citroën DS3 R3T | | | | 4 | | 17 |
| 15 | Nadim Halabi | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | | | 5 | | 14 |
| 16 | Eddy Abou-Karam | Hyundai i20 R5 | | | | 7 | | 12 |
| 17 | Mehmet Yucel | Ford Fiesta S2000 | | | 6 | | | 10 |
| 18 | Edith Weiss | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | | 7 | | | 7 |
| 19 | Khalid Mohammad Al-Suwaidi | Škoda Fabia R5 | Ret | | | | | 6 |
| 20 | Nabil Abdelhak | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | | | | 8 | | 5 |
| 20 | Khaled Juma | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | | Ret | | | | 5 |
| 20 | Daniel Landa | Škoda Fabia R5 | | | | | Ret | 5 |
| 23 | Michalis Posedias | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | | | Ret | | | 4 |
| 24 | Rakan Al-Rashed | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | Ret | | | | 3 |
| 24 | Demetris Papasavvas | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | | Ret | | | 3 |
| 26 | Elie Nehme | Renault Clio R3 | | | | 9 | | 2 |
| 26 | Essam Al-Nejadi | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | Ret | | | | 2 |
| 26 | Andreas Filippou | Subaru Impreza STi N15 | | | Ret | | | 2 |
| 26 | Joseph Hindy | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | | | | Ret | | 2 |
| 30 | Matthias Njeim | Peugeot 208 R2 | | | | 10 | | 1 |
| 30 | Salem Al-Thafferi | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | | Ret | | | | 1 |
| 30 | Nassib Nassar | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | | | Ret | | 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) |