Huge national effort puts Jordan Rally back on track

An epic reconstruction operation has put Jordan back on line to host the forthcoming third round of the World Rally Championship from 1-3 April.

The worst rains for 20 years decimated large parts of the rally route, rendering many roads impassable, but a joint national effort between the army, Government and Amman Municipality and co-ordinated by the organising committee over the last 10 days has put the Kingdom back on track.

“We still have a lot of work to do but the effort has been astonishing,” said Khaled Zakaria, clerk of the course. “The storms left us with an almighty challenge but it has been taken head on with 90 per cent of the work now complete. It has been an incredible team endeavour considering the damage that we faced.”

No stages have been cancelled, however, the route has required some fine-tuning, resulting in the iconic water splash next to the Dead Sea - popular for thousands of fans - no longer being included in the route. It has also meant the total special stages’ kilometres have been trimmed from 346 to 339.

There was also severe damage to the Service Park which has also now been rectified.
Jordan’s problems are compounded by the fact that a majority of the stages run under sea level, meaning that rainwater continues to cascade down from the higher ground many days after the rain has stopped.

The event gets underway with a ceremonial start in the Roman provincial city of Jerash to the north of Amman on April 1, before snaking its way through the Jordan Valley towards the Dead Sea on Day One. Day Two and Three will see action sweep through the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea areas before a podium finish in the Service Park.

Source: WRC