Al-Attiyah wins Cyprus Rally by 4.63 seconds to claim 21st Middle East title

Nicosia, Cyprus. Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah claimed his 10th Cyprus Rally victory, beating Simos Galatariotis by 4.63 seconds and securing his 21st Middle East championship title. The rally’s 52nd edition concluded the five-round 2026 FIA Middle East Rally Championship.

Final-stage push decides victory

Galatariotis and co-driver Ioannou took a 3.6-second advantage into the last stage in their Skoda Fabia. Three successive stage victories had allowed them to erase a one-minute deficit to Al-Attiyah and Carrera, who encountered difficulties on both opening afternoon stages.

Al-Attiyah tackled the deciding stage without carrying a spare tyre and recorded a time 8.7 seconds quicker than his Cypriot challenger. Galatariotis and Ioannou completed the event with damage to their Skoda Fabia.

The result gave Galatariotis his third Cyprus Rally podium appearance and his first since his 2018 victory.

Only one edition has produced a narrower winning gap: Galatariotis defeated Magalhaes by 0.7 seconds in 2018. The Cyprus Automobile Association has organised the rally since 1970.

Poseidias earns first Cyprus Rally podium

Michalis Poseidias and Pambos Laos took the remaining podium position in a Renault Clio while also winning Rally3. For Poseidias, it was a first podium appearance at the Cyprus Rally.

They recovered from a deficit of nearly three minutes to Yiangou and Nicolaou, last year’s local champions. The Hyundai i20 crew suffered several problems during the afternoon stages and ultimately placed fourth.

Turkish Cypriot crew Sukuroglu and Topcuoslu brought their Volkswagen Polo home fifth after posting the penultimate stage’s second-quickest time. Sixth went to Zenonos and Christofi in a Ford Fiesta; they also recorded a second-quickest stage time during Sunday’s running.

Stage wins and retirement

Al-Attiyah and Carrera collected six stage victories, compared with four for Galatariotis and Ioannou. Al-Rawahi and Itu won one stage in their Skoda Fabia but retired during the afternoon’s opening stage while holding third place.