The Jordan Rally will kick off the 2021 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) on May 27-29.

Because of the worldwide COVID-19 scenario, a revised regional rallying calendar in 2020 is missing and this year's race has been pushed back one week on the calendar by Jordan Motorsport, however, it keeps its status as the second round of the MERC following the delay of the race in Oman.

Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah took the early lead in the 2021 series with a record-breaking 15th triumph in his home rally in Qatar at the end of January, and the winner of 13 Jordan rallies would be trying to maintain his extraordinary winning streak across 10 scheduled special stages.

Jordan Motorsport has officially revealed the rally's curriculum, which includes two legs of six and four gravel rounds in the Dead Sea and Mount Nebo locations, which have staged the FIA World Rally Championship three times (2008, 2010, and 2011).

The plan for the first leg on Friday, May 28th, includes two loops of three specials, with crews facing the 9.8km of Syagha, a difficult attack on the 34.70km of a spanking new Adasiyah special, and a lap through the 11.34km of a segment at the Baptism Site in a leg totaling 123.02 competitive kilometers.

Leg two (114.72km) begins with a challenging Jordan River stage of 31.01km, and there is no relief for riders with a passage through the new obstacle of Joufeh (26.35km) before noon regroups and servicing at the Dead Sea.

Both rounds are repeated in the afternoon, before the podium finish and post-event news conference, which begins at 17.30 hours.

This year's rally will be held in the Crown Plaza Dead Sea Resort and Spa, where all relevant COVID-19 regulations will be followed, including confirmation of negative testing (with a 48-hour validity) before admission to the service park space is granted.