At the wheel for the first time of a Mitsubishi since the end of his career with Subaru, Nasser Al Attiyah dominated the opening round of the 2009 MERC series in his native Qatar. He won every stage on the first leg before easing off. Nasser's nearest challenger was the Subaru of Khalid-Al Qassimi but a puncture on the final stage dropped him behind the Peugeot 207 of Yazeed Al Rajhi, which scored the best result to date in the MERC for a Super 2000 car. MERC's Pirelli Star Driver winner Nick Georgiou was lying fifth but then retired with punctures and broken suspension.

Nasser's future programme with Mitsubishi is still not defined. "I was told by Mitsubishi after Dakar that everything is on hold for three months or so, but I do not know how this affects me. I will continue with this project if I am happy, I will stop this if I am not. I need support for this project, however, I really do not know the overall situation". Nasser recently made a major decision to end his associations with BMW for Cross Country rallying, in which he gain two FIA titles in 2008, and with Subaru, with whom he was also MERC champion in 2008, in order to compete in both areas of the sport with Mitsubishi. After the finish of the event he stated the Evo X was not as powerful as Subaru but was well suited for high speed desert conditions. It was his seventh successive win on this event, and the first win for a lady driver or codriver in the history of the MERC.

3mmm

Final classification NBK Qatar Rally MERC round 1
1. Nasser Al-Attiyah/Tina Thörner       Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X       2h 26m 30.5s
2. Yazeed Al-Rajhi/Matthieu Baumel      Peugeot 207 S2000             2h 28m 59.0s
3. Sheikh Al-Qassimi/Michael Orr        Subaru Impreza                2h 30m 51.7s
4. Misfer Al-Marri/Chris Patterson      Subaru Impreza                2h 31m 07.5s
5. Rashid Al-Ketbi/Khalid Al-Kendi      Subaru Impreza                2h 31m 12.1s
6. Salah Bin Eidan/Dermot O'Gorman      Subaru Impreza                2h 34m 02.3s