The Oman International Rally kickstarts another season of Middle East rallying when it gets underway from the Sohar Entertainment Centre (SEC) on Thursday afternoon.Organised by the Oman Automobile Association (OAA), the opening round of the 2025 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) has attracted a field of 16 teams and competitors from nine countries, in addition to six crews competing in the Oman National Championship.Three recent Middle East champions head a star-studded regional field, who will tackle 13 special stages and 232.39 competitive kilometres over the coming three days.Qatar’s top seed Abdulaziz al-Kuwari finished his first ever Dakar Rally in fourth place in the Challenger category last week, but the defending regional champion will need to revert to special stage mode quickly this weekend. He wheels out a Qatar Motor & Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) backed Citroen C3 and has recruited the services of Irish co-driver Lorcan Moore.Likewise, Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah took part in the recent Dakar Rally and finished fourth with his French navigator Edouard Boulanger. The pair retain their partnership for the Qatari’s quest for a record eighth win in Oman in an Autotek Motorsport-run Skoda Fabia RS. Boulanger is making his MERC debut.Oman’s Abdullah al-Rawahi and his Jordanian co-driver Ata-Hmoud are also running an Autotek Skoda, as the local hero and 2023 regional champion attempts to complete a hat-trick of wins on his home rally.The QMMF has also supported an entry for Rashed al-Muhannadi and he runs a Peugeot 208 Rally 4 with backing from the Qatar Motorsports Academy. Irishman Gary Mcelhinney has competed in countries as diverse as the USA, Spain, Tanzania, Zambia and Barbados and will read the pace notes for the Qatari for the first time.Rakan al-Rashed is one of the leading rally drivers in the Middle East but has carved his recent reputation away from the MERC. The 35-year-old Saudi teams up with Portugal’s Hugo Magalhaes in a new Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2, as he tries to upset the regular contenders in the series on his return to regional action.In 2024, the duo tackled rallies in Sweden, Portugal, Finland and Latvia and won the Finnish Jari-Pekka Ralli outright in their Printsport Toyota.A fifth Rally 2 machine will be in the hands of Qatari veteran Nasser Khalifa Al-Atya and his Lebanese co-driver Ziad Chebab. Six teams will be chasing MERC2 honours in a fleet of Subarus and Mitsubishis.The Jordanian duo of Shadi Shaban and Issa al-Shorafa lead the way against Oman’s Abdullah al-Zubair and Zakariya al-Aamri, Lebanon’s Ahmad Khaled and India’s Mohamed Mansoor Parol.Shadi El Fakih wheels out last year’s MERC5-winning Renault Clio and Rally 4 competition for al-Muhannadi comes from the Indian pairing of Payyaakkal Panikkaveettil and Musa Sherif in their Ford Fiesta.There are also a pair of eligible T4 Can-Ams in the field for Saudi Arabia’s Ibrahim al-Muhanna and Yosra Jazzar. Neither Hamza Bakhashab nor Issa Abu Jamous registered for the pre-event reconnaissance sessions, although they were present on the original entry list. The start will take place indoors for the first time under the giant dome on site. Competitors will then tackle the opening 2.55km Super Special stage, starting at 16.43hrs.