Jordan S2000 switch for Al Qassimi

The UAE’s Khalid Al-Qassimi has switched cars for the forthcoming Jordan Rally to enable him to mount a challenge for this year’s Middle East Rally Championship title (MERC).

Al-Qassimi, the Middle East title winner in 2004, had been lined up to drive a Focus World Rally Car as part of the factory Ford team in Jordan. But after strong performances in the opening two rounds of this year’s MERC in a Ford Fiesta S2000, the Emirati has been given the chance to fight for the whole series - starting with the round which runs on the second and third days of the Jordan Rally.

Al-Qassimi and his Ulster co-driver Michael Orr currently hold the joint lead of the 2010 MERC after two of eight rounds. The pair won the most recent event in Kuwait and had led the opening rally in Qatar until two punctures in the penultimate stage forced their retirement.

In Jordan, the pair will go up against one of the other joint leaders, the defending champion Nasser Al Attiyah.

"At the beginning of the year our programme was to do nine WRC events, the WRC candidate round in Abu Dhabi and maybe one or two Middle East Championship rounds - now with the whole MERC we’re up to 18!" Al Qassimi told wrc.com.

"It’s going to keep me busy but I’m really excited. In Jordan I will still have the same support team and mechanics, but they’ll work on my S2000 car not my Focus. I was a bit unlucky about what happened in Qatar, but we’re still in the fight. I’m grateful to the Abu Dhabi government and Ford who have given me this chance to try and win the title again."