Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah in action in this file photo.
Lusail, Qatar: Entries are now open for the 2026 Qatar International Rally,which takes place on February 4-7. The event will be the second round of the 2026 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC).
The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) has unveiled a revised itinerary and format for the most popular round of the regional rally series. It takes its place in a series that also includes gravel rounds in Oman, Jordan, Cyprus and Saudi Arabia and an asphalt surface event in Lebanon.
In a revised route of 704.90km, the QMMF has planned 225.16km to be timed competitively against the clock.
In a compact format to alleviate additional costs for competitors, administration checks will take place on February 3 from 10.00am at the Lusail International Circuit with the day also including a permitted recce of the opening super special stage.
Competitors will be permitted a full day of reconnaissance of the gravel desert stages on February 4 with scrutineering scheduled in tandem at Lusail from 9.00am.
A hectic Thursday (February 5) sees a new one-hour practice session with a maximum of two passes through a new 5.56km special scheduled for Rally2 cars at Al-Khor from 08.15hrs.
This will also act as the new qualifying stage for Rally2 crews, starting at 10.00am. The result of that will determine the starting order for leg one. The slowest driver in the qualifying stage will run as the first Rally2 entrant on the road on Friday. Non-Rally2 machines will be permitted a maximum of two passes apiece during a 90-minute shakedown on the Al-Khor stage from 10.45am.
The ceremonial start will then take centre stage at Lusail from 2.30pm and this precedes a planned super special stage at Lusail.
Friday’s action features two loops of three gravel stages and a proposed second pass through the Lusail stage to round off the day’s action.
Six further special stages are planned for February 7 before the rally reaches a conclusion with the post-event press conference (6.00pm) immediately preceding the ceremonial finish at 6.30pm.
An opening run through the slightly modified Umm Birka (22.98km) special gets the day’s action underway from 8.03am and is followed by the first passes through Ras Laffan (16.73km) and a revised Al-Thakira (15.28km) stage from 8.57am and 9.22am. Another return to the service park in Lusail precedes the repeat runs of the three specials from 11.43am, 12.37pm and 1.02pm.
The second pass through Al-Thakira will also act as the event’s Power Stage, with additional bonus points available for the leading crews.
The event will be held under the chairmanship of QMMF President Abdulrahman Al-Mannai, senior committee member Abdulrazaq Al-Kuwari and the QMMF’s Executive Director Amro Al-Hamad. Portugal’s Pedro Almeida again works as the Clerk of the Course alongside his deputy Rashid Al-Sulaiti.
“No sooner have we crowned our champions for 2025 and we are looking ahead to the first of our exciting international sporting events in 2026,” Al-Hamad said.
“Our team at the QMMF has been working hard in recent weeks to fine-tune another challenging route to test competitors for the second round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship.
This is the 46th Qatar International Rally to be held in the last 51 years. It is one of the oldest motor sport events in the Middle East and continues to write its own chapter in the expanding history of the QMMF.”
