# 2014 Middle East Rally Championship

The 2014 Middle East Rally Championship season was an international rally championship sanctioned by the FIA. The championship was contested over six events held in six countries across the Middle East region, running from February to November.
Reigning champion Nasser Al-Attiyah defended his championship, winning four of the six rallies to be held, but the title was not decided until several days after the event. Al-Attiyah's fourth victory – at the Dubai International Rally – had originally been the first of the season for Khalid Al-Qassimi; Al-Qassimi had won the event by 0.3 seconds, and the championship title by a single point. Al-Attiyah protested the results, claiming that Al-Qassimi had violated designated driving regulations. Event officials rejected Al-Attiyah's protest, but the FIA's International Court of Appeal accepted a subsequent protest. Al-Qassimi was given a 30-second post-event penalty, and his one-point title-winning margin, became a deficit of thirteen to Al-Attiyah. Third place in the championship went to Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, who won the Cyprus Rally, which was held alongside the European Rally Championship event. The season's only other winner was Nicolas Amiouni, who won his home event in Lebanon.

## Event calendar and results

The 2014 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 (20–22 February) | 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta RRC | 2:13:11.4 | 12 | 264.51 km | 19 | 14 |
| 1 | Qatar International Rally (20–22 February) | 2 | Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari | Ford Fiesta RRC | 2:13:41.5 | 12 | 264.51 km | 19 | 14 |
| 1 | Qatar International Rally (20–22 February) | 3 | Khalid Al-Qassimi | Citroën DS3 RRC | 2:16:04.6 | 12 | 264.51 km | 19 | 14 |
| 2 | Kuwait International Rally (20–22 March) | 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta RRC | 2:09:38.4 | 13 | 222.20 km | 22 | 16 |
| 2 | Kuwait International Rally (20–22 March) | 2 | Khalid Al-Qassimi | Citroën DS3 RRC | 2:10:05.9 | 13 | 222.20 km | 22 | 16 |
| 2 | Kuwait International Rally (20–22 March) | 3 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Ford Fiesta RRC | 2:11:50.7 | 13 | 222.20 km | 22 | 16 |
| 3 | Jordan Rally (1–3 May) | 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta RRC | 3:00:53.2 | 21 | 273.00 km | 25 | 19 |
| 3 | Jordan Rally (1–3 May) | 2 | Khalid Al-Qassimi | Citroën DS3 RRC | 3:02:55.4 | 21 | 273.00 km | 25 | 19 |
| 3 | Jordan Rally (1–3 May) | 3 | Abdullah Al-Qassimi | Ford Fiesta RRC | 3:15:26.7 | 21 | 273.00 km | 25 | 19 |
| 4 | Rally of Lebanon (29–31 August) | 1 | Nicolas Amiouni | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X | 2:39:47.5 | 13 | 245.66 km | 30 | 21 |
| 4 | Rally of Lebanon (29–31 August) | 2 | Rodrigue Rahi | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | 2:41:15.9 | 13 | 245.66 km | 30 | 21 |
| 4 | Rally of Lebanon (29–31 August) | 3 | Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari | Ford Fiesta RRC | 2:43:03.0 | 13 | 245.66 km | 30 | 21 |
| 5 | Cyprus Rally (19–21 September) | 1 | Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari | Ford Fiesta RRC | 3:05:14.9 | 15 | 232.02 km | 8 | 7 |
| 5 | Cyprus Rally (19–21 September) | 2 | Khalid Al-Qassimi | Citroën DS3 RRC | 3:05:50.1 | 15 | 232.02 km | 8 | 7 |
| 5 | Cyprus Rally (19–21 September) | 3 | Abdullah Al-Kuwari | Ford Fiesta R5 | 3:30:26.9 | 15 | 232.02 km | 8 | 7 |
| 6 | Dubai International Rally (27–29 November) | 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta RRC | 1:59:27.8 | 12 | 251.00 km | 18 | 16 |
| 6 | Dubai International Rally (27–29 November) | 2 | Khalid Al-Qassimi | Citroën DS3 RRC | 1:59:57.5 | 12 | 251.00 km | 18 | 16 |
| 6 | Dubai International Rally (27–29 November) | 3 | Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari | Ford Fiesta RRC | 2:03:51.5 | 12 | 251.00 km | 18 | 16 |

## Championship standings

The 2014 MERC for Drivers points was as follows:
| Pos. | Driver | Vehicle | QAT | KUW | JOR | LBN | CYP | DUB | Total |
| 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ford Fiesta RRC | 1 | 1 | 1 | | Ret | 1 | 100 |
| 2 | Khalid Al-Qassimi | Citroën DS3 RRC | 3 | 2 | 2 | | 2 | 2 | 87 |
| 3 | Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari | Ford Fiesta RRC | 2 | 6 | | 3 | 1 | 3 | 81 |
| 4 | Abdullah Al-Kuwari | Ford Fiesta R5 | 5 | 7 | Ret | 6 | 3 | 6 | 47 |
| 5 | Abdullah Al-Qassimi | Ford Fiesta RRC | | 4 | 3 | | | 5 | 37 |
| 6 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Ford Fiesta RRC | 4 | 3 | | | | | 27 |
| 7 | Nicolas Amiouni | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | | | | 1 | | | 25 |
| 8 | Salah Bin Eidan | Ford Fiesta R5 | Ret | 5 | 5 | | | | 20 |
| 8 | Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | | 8 | | | 5 | 7 | 20 |
| 10 | Rodrigue Rahi | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | | | | 2 | | | 18 |
| 11 | Meshari Al-Thefiri | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | 9 | 12 | 10 | | 4 | | 15 |
| 12 | Mohamed Al-Mutawaa | Citroën DS3 R3T | 6 | 9 | 9 | | | 9 | 14 |
| 13 | Marouf Abu Samra | Škoda Fabia S2000 | | | 4 | | | | 12 |
| 13 | Nabil Abdelhak | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | | | | 4 | | | 12 |
| 13 | Khalid Mohammad Al-Suwaidi | Ford Fiesta RRC | | | | | | 4 | 12 |
| 16 | Mohamed Al-Sahlawi | Citroën DS3 R3T | 7 | 10 | 17 | | | 8 | 11 |
| 17 | Bassel Abou-Hamdan | Citroën DS3 R3T | | | | 5 | | | 10 |
| 17 | Ala'a Rasheed | Ford Fiesta RRC | 8 | | 7 | | | | 10 |
| 19 | Edith Weiss | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | | | | | 6 | 15 | 8 |
| 19 | Husam Salem | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII | | | 6 | | | | 8 |
| 21 | Nehme Elie | Renault Clio R3 | | | | 7 | | | 6 |
| 21 | Nada Zaidan | Subaru Impreza STi N12 | | | | | 7 | | 6 |
| 23 | Ala Khalifeh | Ford Fiesta R5 | | | 8 | | | | 4 |
| 23 | "Matador" | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII | | | | 8 | | | 4 |
| 25 | Eddy Abou-Karam | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | | | | 9 | | | 2 |
| 26 | Mansoor Yahya Bel Helei | Citroën DS3 R3T | 10 | 13 | 15 | | | 13 | 1 |
| 26 | Bechara Bechir | Renault Clio RS | | | | 10 | | | 1 |
| 26 | Rashid Al-Ketbi | Ford Fiesta R5 | | | | | | 10 | 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) |