Nasser Al-Attiyah

Nasser Salih Nasser Abdullah al-Attiyah ( : nāṣir ṣāliḥ nāṣir ʿabd allāh al-ʿaṭiyyah; born 21 December 1970) is a Qatari rally driver and sport shooter. He was the 2006 Production World Rally Champion, 2014 and 2015 WRC-2 champion, a 20 time Middle East Rally Champion, a five-time FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies champion, a three-time World Rally-Raid Champion, and a six-time (2011, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2026) Dakar Rally winner. His six victories in the Dakar Rally make him the only Middle Easterner and West Asian to win the competition more than once.

In shooting, al-Attiyah won the bronze medal in the men's skeet event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Career 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. 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.

Al-Attiyah also competed at the Production World Rally Championship from 2004 to 2009. He won the title in 2006, 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. 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.

Cross-country rally Al-Attiyah debuted at the Dakar Rally in 2004 with Mitsubishi, finishing tenth 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. 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. He finished second in the Rally dos Sertões from Goiânia to Natal in Brazil (24 June-3 July 2009) behind Carlos Sainz of Spain.

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

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. He also won the 2019 Dakar Rally.

In 2022, al-Attiyah won the 2022 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia, making him the only Arab to win the Dakar rally on Arab soil, ahead of nine 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. With two further victories, the Qatari would defend his W2RC title. During the same season, he and co-driver Mathieu Baumel would also clinch the World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas.

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

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 and later with Klara Andersson. The team scored a win in Chile and a third place in Chile, ranking sixth 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.

Shooting

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

World records held in Skeet from 2005 to 2012Men

Personal life He is a distant relative of Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar.

Career results

Circuit racing career summary

WRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pts 2004 Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STi MON SWE32 MEXRet NZL20 CYP GRE TUR ARG14 FIN GER JPN GBR ITA FRA22 ESP AUS13 NC 0 2005 Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STi MON SWE MEX NZL16 ITA CYP18 TUR16 GRE ARG17 FIN GER GBR21 JPN FRA ESP AUS13 NC 0 2006 QMMF Subaru Impreza WRX Spec C MON30 SWE MEX10 ESP FRA ARG15 ITA GRE17 GER FIN JPN CYP19 TUR AUS NZL26 GBR NC 0 2007 QMMF Subaru Impreza WRX Spec C MON SWE27 NOR MEXRet POR ARGRet ITA GRE19 FIN GER NZL ESP FRA JPN IRE17 GBR NC 0 2008 QMMF Subaru Impreza WRX STi MON SWE40 MEX ARGRet JOR ITA GRERet NC 0 Subaru Impreza STi N14 TUR23 FIN GER NZL ESP FRA JPN GBRRet 2009 Autotek Subaru Impreza STi N14 IRE NOR CYP11 18th 1 Barwa Rally Team POR16 ARG8 ITA9 GREDSQ POL FIN AUS ESP GBRRet 2010 Barwa Rally Team Škoda Fabia S2000 SWE MEXRet JOR18 TUR NZL13 NC 0 Ford Fiesta S2000 POR25 BUL FIN29 GER JPN FRA ESP GBR 2011 Barwa Rally Team Ford Fiesta S2000 SWE MEXEX POR JORRet ITA11 ARG GRE16 FIN GER16 AUS FRARet ESP11 GBR NC 0 2012 Qatar World Rally Team Citroën DS3 WRC MON SWE21 MEX6 POR4 ARG9 GRERet NZL FIN GER8 GBR10 FRARet ITA ESP 12th 28 2013 Qatar World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC MON SWE MEX5 POR5 ARG GRE5 ITA FIN GER13 AUS FRA ESPRet GBRWD 11th 30 2014 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC MON SWE MEX POR9 ITARet POL FIN GER17 AUS11 FRA ESP10 GBR17 22nd 4 Drive DMACK ARG10 2015 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC MON SWE MEX7 ARG POR11 ITA12 POLRet FIN AUS10 FRA 16th 7 Škoda Fabia R5 GER17 ESP12 GBR M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Puma Rally1 MON SWE KEN ESP POR ITA GRE EST FIN PAR CHL EUR JPN SAU NC 0

PWRC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 PWRC Points 2004 Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STi SWE7 MEXRet NZL7 ARG3 GER FRA7 AUS5 7th 17 2005 Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STi SWE NZL4 CYP5 TUR3 ARG1 GBR3 JPN AUS5 2nd 35 2006 QMMF Subaru Impreza WRX Spec C MON3 MEX2 ARG1 GRE1 JPN CYP5 AUS NZL7 1st 40 2007 QMMF Subaru Impreza WRX Spec C SWE7 MEXRet ARGRet GRE5 NZL JPN IRE3 GBR 9th 12 2008 QMMF Subaru Impreza WRX STi SWE17 ARGRet GRERet NC 0 Subaru Impreza STi N14 TUR10 FIN NZL JPN GBRRet 2009 Autotek Subaru Impreza STi N14 NOR CYP3 3rd 31 Barwa Rally Team POR4 ARG1 ITA1 GREDSQ AUS GBRRet

SWRC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 SWRC Points 2010 Barwa Rally Team Škoda Fabia S2000 SWE MEXRet JOR4 NZL5 7th 34 Ford Fiesta S2000 POR7 FIN7 GER JPN FRA GBR 2011 Barwa Rally Team Ford Fiesta S2000 MEXEX JORRet ITA4 GRE6 FIN GER2 FRARet ESP2 7th 56

WRC-2 Results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WRC-2 Points 2014 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC MON SWE MEX POR1 ITARet POL FIN GER5 AUS1 FRA ESP1 GBR6 1st 118 Drive DMACK ARG1 2015 Nasser Al-Attiyah Ford Fiesta RRC MON SWE MEX1 ARG POR1 ITA5 POLRet FIN AUS1 FRA 1st 112 Škoda Fabia R5 GER4 ESP3 GBR

ERC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Points 2014 Qatar World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RRC JÄN LIE GRE IRE AZO YPR EST CZE CYP VAL COR NC 0 2017 Autotek Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5 AZO CAN GRE CYP POL ZLI RMC LIE 8th 45 2018 Autotek Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5 AZO CAN GRE CYP RMC ZLI POL LIE 23rd 16 2019 Autotek Motorsport Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 AZO CAN LIE POL RMC CZE CYP HUN 8th 39

Dakar Rally results

Complete World Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points 2015 Campos Racing Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 ARG1 ARG2 MAR1 MAR2 HUN1 HUN2 GER1 GER2 RUS1 RUS2 SVK1 SVK2 FRA1 FRA2 POR1 POR2 JPN1 JPN2 CHN1 CHN2 THA1 THA2 QAT1 QAT2 NC 0

Complete World Rally-Raid Championship results (key) Season still in progress.

Complete Extreme E results (key) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 2022 Abt Cupra XE Spark ODYSSEY 21 DES ISL1 ISL2 COP ENE 6th 46 2023 Abt Cupra XE Spark ODYSSEY 21 DES1 DES2 HYD1 HYD2 ISL11 ISL12 ISL21 ISL22 COP1 COP2 16th 20