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Cyprus - 16-18 May 08

Posted: May 15, 2008 2:20 PM - 5352 Hits

Round 2 - 2008 Middle East Rally Championship

Live Results: Cyprus Rally

Top drivers sign up for 2008 Cyprus Rally

Posted: May 6, 2008 2:22 PM

The organizers of the 2008 Cyprus Rally have confirmed a strong international field for this month's event, with competitors from across the region set to do battle on the holiday island.

Round 2 of the 2008 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) calendar, the Cyprus Rally will take place over the weekend of the 17th and 18th May; with just a couple of weeks to go, final preparations are now well underway for what promises to be an unforgettable weekend's motorsport.

Entries have now closed and the organizers have confirmed a starting line-up of 55 crews, featuring many of the best-known drivers in the region.

Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Ulster co-driver Chris Patterson will be looking to continue their considerable success in Cyprus over recent years. They have already shown winning form so far this year, starting their 2008 MERC season with a start-to-finish victory in Round 1 - the NBK Qatar International Rally back in January - in their Subaru Impreza WRX N14.

They were followed in second place by the Subaru Impreza WRX STi of Qatar's Misfer Al-Marri and co-driver Stephen McAuley (GB), while Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah (QA) and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel came third.

All three crews will be competing in the 2008 Cyprus Rally, along with a host of other familiar faces including, among others, Jordan's Amjad Farrah, Lebanon's Michel Saleh, Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al-Rajihi and Kuwait's Salah Bin-Eidan.

With many of the region's top drivers looking to score victory in Cyprus this month, local fans will be hoping for another Cypriot win, after last year's event saw Charalambos Timotheou become the first Cypriot driver to win the Cyprus Rally since 1991. Timotheou will be competing this year (in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), alongside other familiar faces from across Cyprus, including Andreas Tsouloftas, Dimitris Papasavvas and Pantelis Pamboukka, all of whom finished in the top ten of the 2007 event.

One of the most eagerly anticipated FIA motorsports events, the Cyprus Rally regularly attracts competitors and fans from across the world. A new route is being introduced for 2008, made up of a healthy mix of new special stages, stages first introduced in 2007 and a selection of classic stages which have challenged many of the world's best drivers. Reinvigorated for 2008, the Cyprus Rally is ready for its return to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar in 2009.

This year's Cyprus Rally will again be based around the popular coastal resort of Limassol. The Service Park will be located on the town's seafront promenade, just metres from the Mediterranean, while Rally Headquarters and the Press Office will be located at Limassol's Apollonia Hotel.

The Ceremonial Start will be held on the promenade at 20.00 on Friday 16 May, followed by two days of action. Saturday will see drivers tackle a total of 453.23km, including 104.65km of special stages, with a further 456.24km on Sunday, including 123.39km of special stages.

More Details:

Sunshine island prepares a new and exciting Cyprus Rally 2008

Posted: January 28, 2008 10:41 PM

Preparations are under way for Cyprus Rally 2008, one of the most exciting events of the FIA motorsport calendar, which will take place on the eastern Mediterranean sunshine island on 16/18 May.

The rally route, looping through the pine-clad Troodos mountains, has again been revamped, with newly-built tracks which will test the abilities of seasoned competitors from all over Europe and the region, including 23 who are challenging for the FIA Middle East Championship, of which the Cyprus Rally is part.

Takis Kyriakides, Cyprus Rally Clerk of the Course, said: "The new route will incorporate old tracks, which have been kept in fine condition through re-grading operations and regular maintenance, and the new ones designed and constructed this year. As a result of the new work, it will feature some new, very long and fascinating special stages through the mountains.

"This year, we are producing a totally new road book in full colour, with photographs of every sign which will appear during the event, and we also have a new Chairman of the Organizing Committee in the person of the former Cyprus Minister of Commerce, Tourism & Industry, Antonis Michaelides.

"Much work has gone into the preparation and Cyprus Rally 2008 will follow in the footsteps of its predecessors as an event certain to be memorable for motorsport fans, many of whom travel thousands of miles to witness the spectacle."

Cyprus Rally 2008, featuring 228 km of special stages, will again be based in the exuberant south coast town of Limassol, where a ceremonial start will be held at 20.00 on Friday 16 May, alongside the famous palm-lined promenade.

A carnival atmosphere will pervade the scene, with music and entertainment for an hour before the start, while a VIP stage will be set up next to the start ramp, with cocktails and refreshments.

Another big attraction will be the much-loved Seafront Service Park, set alongside the promenade, close to many of Limassol's most popular cafes and restaurants.

The event, organized by the Cyprus Automobile Association (CAA) and sponsored by the Cyprus Tourism Organization, will be orchestrated from a new rally headquarters, and the seafront service park will provide an opportunity for spectators to watch at close quarters as team mechanics work against the clock to service and repair their cars to keep them in the rally.

Cyprus Rally 2008 is one of two rounds of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) to be held on the island this year - the other is The Troodos Rally, which will be run on 6/7 November.

Current leader of the MERC is Qatari Nasser Al Attiya, who has won in Cyprus five times before, with ten points; second is Qatari Misfer Al Marri with eight points; third is another Qatari, Khalifa S Al Attiya, with six points.

Round 3 of MERC, the Cyprus Rally will be observed by the FIA with a view to its return to the World Rally Championship calendar for 2009, in which it currently has a provisional place.

Mr Kyriakides said: "We are confident that the work we have undertaken on the route, over many months and at great expense, will combine with the familiar fluent running of the rally, and will result is the Cyprus Rally regaining a WRC place next year."

For further information about Cyprus Rally 2008, please visit

Topics: CYPRUS  Middle East Rally Championship (FIA) 

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