Jordan Rally May 2013

UPS AND DOWNS FOR MAYO PAIR AT RALLY JORDAN
Kiltimagh co-driver John Higgins had a narrow escape at the Jordan Rally, on Friday last. The Subaru Impreza, in which he was competing in with United Arab Emirates driver, Majed al-Shamsi, slid off a cliff face into a ravine.
It fell over 20ft and landed on its roof. Despite the mishap, Higgins said: “We were both fine. We came to a loose sharp left with a big drop, and the back wheels went over the edge. The car just fell back over the edge and landed upside down.” Al-Shamsi added “In Jordan, the stages are really hard. If you go out of the line you’re on the loose gravel and you lose the car, that’s it.

“That’s what happened. I tried to turn the car in but, no way – it just slipped off the ridge.”

The pair emerged from the car unhurt, a testament to the high standard of safety features and equipment, evident in a modern day Rally Car.
Elsewhere on the two day event, which took place at the Dead Sea, Killian Duffy somehow managed to compete, a truly remarkable feat of four rallies in four weeks, spanning three different continents. Co-driving his team mate Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, the pair were never able to match the pace of the leading trio but the WRC 2 leaders finished a solid fourth in their Seashore Ford Fiesta.
The event was won by WRC regulars, Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and his Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini.