The State of Kuwait roars back into the international motor sporting spotlight on Thursday afternoon with the ceremonial start and opening super special stage of the Kuwait International Rally, the second round of the 2009 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC). Absent from the regional rally series since 1996, the new-look Kuwait event is based at the Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex in Jahra and has attracted 30 teams, with 10 crews representing the host nation. The three-day, 14-special stage event is being organized by the Kuwait Motor Sports Club (KMSC) under the patronage of Faisal Al-Jazaf, chairman and general manager of the public authority for youth and sports in Kuwait. Competitors were able to carry out a low speed reconnaissance of the all-desert rally route on Tuesday and Wednesday, before teams cross the start podium under the famed Kuwait Towers in Kuwait City from 4 P.M. on Thursday afternoon. The competitive action will get underway with a timed spectator stage at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Circuit from 4.30 P.M. Leading the international contingent of 20 drivers is the defending regional champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, a five-time winner of the regional series who will be chasing his 31st MERC victory on this event, which marks the 150th in the history of the championship. Al-Attiyah teams up with the experienced Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini for the first time in a new Subaru Impreza, but is sure to be hard-pushed over the demanding Kuwait desert stages by the in-form Saudi Arabian driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and former champion Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi. Both Jordan's Amjad Farrah and Saudi Arabia's Ahmed Al-Sabban return to action for the first time this season in their respective Mitsubishi Lancer and Toyota S2000 . __
