The Toyota duo took part in the candidate event for the Rally Saudi Arabia, held in the vicinity of the city of Jeddah. Only 22 driver pairs participated.
The opening day of the Rally Saudi Arabia candidate event proved difficult, as half of the six stages had to be cancelled due to safety concerns. However, on Saturday all six special stages were run as planned. Rally Saudi Arabia will conclude this rally season on 27–30 November.
In the candidate rally, Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah was in a class of his own. The 54-year-old Al-Attiyah won seven of the nine special stages, while second-placed Hänninen claimed two stage wins. At the finish, the gap between the two was just over one and a half minutes.
“It was nice to win the rally. But the good thing was that we had the rally back here in Saudi Arabia. I cannot wait for the next one in November. I want to do it in a Rally1 car!”, Al-Attiyah said.
Saudi driver Rakan Al-Rashed, who has also competed in the Finnish Championship series, finished third in the rally. However, the Toyota driver lost more than five minutes to the rally leader. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, driving a Citroën, placed fourth.
Hänninen was not disappointed about missing out on the win. The purpose of the trip was to gain experience of the local roads in preparation for November’s World Rally Championship round.
“It was okay. We saw all the stages and we learned a lot. From that side it was a good journey. Nasser is the king of the Middle East. I knew that before coming here,” Hänninen said.
“The result was not that important. We learned so many things. It’s nice to be second after Nasser. It was nice to see him again because we competed together many years ago.”
Al-Attiyah has won all three rounds of the Middle East Rally Championship this season. The series continues at the end of May in Jordan, followed by rallies in Lebanon and Cyprus.
Al-Attiyah has celebrated victory in the legendary Dakar Rally five times during his career. The Qatari driver won the classic event in 2011, 2015, and in the years 2019 and 2022–23.
Rally Saudi Arabia MERC, results:
| POS. | Driver | Car | Time |
| 1. | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Skoda | 1:34:05.5 |
| 2. | Juho Hänninen | Toyota | +1:37.4 |
| 3. | Rakan Al-Rashed | Toyota | +5:03.4 |
| 4. | Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari | Citroen | +6:00.9 |
| 5. | Abdullah Al-Rawahi | Skoda | +9:06.3 |
| 6. | Hamza Bakhashab | Can-Am | +13:06.2 |
