Nasser Al-Attiyah

Rallying

Having been inspired to start racing by Formula One world champion Jackie Stewart's book Winning Is Not Enough, al-Attiyah started competing in the Middle East Rally Championship in 2003, where he claimed 65 race wins and 13 titles.[2] He drove a Subaru Impreza until 2009 and a Ford Fiesta since 2010, except in 2012 when he drove Peugeot 207 in two rounds, and in 2016 when he drove a Škoda Fabia.[3][4] Al-Attiyah also competed at the Production World Rally Championship from 2004 to 2009. He won the title in 2006,[5] his third year in the championship alongside co-driver Chris Patterson, driving a Subaru Impreza. He gained the championship lead after finishing second in the PWRC class in the Rally Mexico and afterwards won the following two rounds, Rally Argentina and Acropolis Rally. He also finished runner-up in 2005 and third in 2009. He scored his first points during the 2009 season, finishing eighth overall in the Rally Argentina.

In 2010 and 2011, al-Attiyah drove in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship for the Barwa Rally Team, classifying seventh overall in both years. For the 2012 season, al-Attiyah moved to compete in the top division for the Qatar World Rally Team. He secured a career-best fourth place at the Rally de Portugal.[6] In 2013 he switched to a Ford Fiesta WRC. He finished fifth overall at three races, and ranked 11th in the final standings.

Al-Attiyah stepped back to the WRC-2 in 2014. Driving a Ford Fiesta RRC, he scored four wins and won the championship. In 2015 he defended the championship with three wins.

In 2023, Al-Attyah claimed his 19th championship in the MERC. In an unprecedented case, he shared the title with Abdullah Al-Rawahi, as the pair had scored the same results across five events.[7]

Cross-country rally

Al-Attiyah debuted at the Dakar Rally in 2004 with Mitsubishi, finishing 10th overall. He entered the next three editions with an X-Raid BMW, finishing sixth in 2007.

After winning the 2008 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup in a BMW, al-Attiyah took part alongside Swedish female co-driver Tina Thörner in the 2009 Dakar Rally in Argentina.[8] He was among the frontrunners until he got disqualified on 8 January 2009 after he had missed 9 checkpoints, the rules stating that 4 missed checkpoints are the maximum.[9] He finished second in the Rally dos Sertões from Goiânia to Natal in Brazil (24 June-3 July 2009) behind Carlos Sainz of Spain.[10]

In the 2010 Dakar Rally, al-Attiyah finished second, 2'12" behind Carlos Sainz, the smallest gap in the history of the race.[11] On 15 January 2011, al-Attiyah won the legendary Dakar race ahead of fellow Volkswagen drivers Sainz and Giniel de Villiers,[12] making him the only Arab to ever win the difficult race.[13]

Al-Attiyah claimed the 2015 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup with five wins and the 2015 Dakar Rally, driving a Mini All4 Racing X-Raid, and the 2016 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup for Toyota with six wins.

In 2019, al-Attiyah won the Silk Way Rally driving Toyota Hilux for the Toyota Gazoo Racing team. He finished second place in the 2019 Baja 1000.[14] He also won the 2019 Dakar Rally.

In 2022, al-Attiyah won the 2022 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia,[15] making him the only Arab to win the Dakar rally on Arab soil, ahead of 9 time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb (co-driver Fabian Lurquin). He would also win the inaugural FIA World Rally-Raid Championship title.

In 2023, al-Attiyah won 2023 Dakar Rally, winning the rally for the fifth time in his career, again finishing ahead of Sébastien Loeb.[16] With two further victories, the Qatari would defend his W2RC title.[17] During the same season, he and co-driver Mathieu Baumel would also clinch the World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas.[18]

Ahead of the 2024 campaign, al-Attiyah would leave Toyota to partner Sébastien Loeb at Prodrive.[19]

Extreme E

Al-Attiyah signed with Abt Cupra XE to race in the 2022 Extreme E Championship, first alongside 2001 Dakar Rally winner Jutta Kleinschmidt[20] and later with Klara Andersson. The team scored a win in Chile and a third place in Chile, ranking 6th in points. Al-Attiyah and Andersson continued together at Abt Cupra for the 2023 season. Al-Attiyah raced the first four rounds of the season and was replaced by Sébastien Loeb and Adrien Tambay in Rounds 5–8 and 9–10 respectively as he focuses on the Baja World Cup.[21][22]

Shooting

In shooting, al-Attiyah came in fourth place in the 2004 Olympic Games in clay pigeon shooting[23] and 15th overall in the 2008 Olympic Games, missing out on qualification for the final round by 2 points.[24] In the 2012 Olympic Games he won the bronze medal after a shoot-off against Valeriy Shomin.[25][26]

Circuit racing career summary

WRC results

PWRC results

SWRC results

WRC-2 Results

ERC results

Dakar Rally results

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete World Rally-Raid Championship results

(key)

• Season still in progress.

Complete Extreme E results

(key)