The 52nd Cyprus Rally delivered one of the most dramatic finishes of all time.

Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah beat Simos Galatariotis by just 4.63 seconds, securing the victory and being crowned Middle East Champion for the 21st time in his career, as well as winning the Cyprus Rally for the 10th time!

This is the second-smallest winning margin in the history of the event, which has been organised by the Cyprus Automobile Association since 1970.

The smallest margin was the 0.7-second victory by Galatariotis over Magalhaes in 2018.

Galatariotis / Ioannou (Skoda Fabia) headed into the final stage with a 3.6-second lead after winning three consecutive special stages to overturn a one-minute gap to Al-Attiyah / Carrera, who had faced problems on the first two afternoon stages. They finished with their Skoda Fabia damaged.

The Qatari driver went all out on the final special stage, driving without a spare tyre and managing to go 8.7 seconds faster than his Cypriot rival. Galatariotis secured a place on the Cyprus Rally podium for the third time, his first since winning the event in 2018.

The 52nd Cyprus Rally was the fifth and final round of the 2026 FIA Middle East Rally Championship.

Michalis Poseidias and Pambos Laos finished on the winners’ podium in their Renault Clio, claiming victory in the Rally3 category. It was Poseidias’ first-ever podium finish at the Cyprus Rally. The crew overcame a gap of almost three minutes to last year’s local champions, Yiangou / Nicolaou (Hyundai i20), who encountered numerous problems on the afternoon stages and eventually finished fourth.

In fifth place were Turkish Cypriots Sukuroglu / Topcuoslu (Volkswagen Polo), who had set the second-fastest time on the penultimate special stage. Zenonos / Christofi (Ford Fiesta) finished sixth, having also set the second-fastest time on one of Sunday’s stages.

Al-Attiyah / Carrera won a total of six speecial stages, while Galatariotis / Ioannou claimed four and Al-Rawahi / Itu (Skoda Fabia) won one. The crew retired on the first afternoon stage while running in third place.

One special stage, the first of Sunday, was cancelled because spectators failed to comply with instructions from the safety marshals.

The 22-year-old Saudi Arabian driver Hamza Bakhashab, co-driven by Lebanese Matar, was fast on Sunday, setting two stage times inside the top three. He finished seventh in his Skoda Fabia.

Yiangos Yiangou / P. Englezos (Renault Clio) finished eighth, while Prodromou / Episkopou (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) took ninth overall and first place in the RC4 category. Al-Atya / Chehab (Ford Fiesta) finished tenth.

C. Laos / Stylianou (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) came 11th, followed by the highest-placed two-wheel-drive crew, Parellis / Papandreou, in 12th. Jordanian crew Jweihan / Juma (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) completed the top 13.

Sixteen of the 17 crews that started on Friday (23 October) took the start of the second leg, after Sioferos / Ilia (Peugeot 208) had permanently retired on the opening day. Two more two-wheel-drive crews retired on the second day: Manoli / P. Laos (Peugeot 208) and Stylianou / Makrides (Ford Fiesta).

The rally covered a total distance of 657.74 km, including 183.92 km across 12 gravel special stages.

The Local Rally

Kokias / Constantinou (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) won the local event, which attracted 11 crews, of which six made it to the finish. Chapelis / Chrysanthou (Subaru Impreza) finished second, followed by Christodoulou / Nestoros (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII) in third place.

Tricomitis / Nicolaou (Suzuki Vitara) took fourth place, while N. Kyriacou / Zouppouris (Honda Civic) finished fifth and also won the two-wheel-drive category (RCS1). G. Kyriakou / L. Laos (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII) also completed the rally.

The sponsors of the 52nd International Cyprus Rally were Psaltis Auto Parts, ENEOS Motor Oil and INEOS Grenadier. Supporting partners were ANCO Catering Equipment, AP Group of Companies, Farmakas Natural Spring Water and STOP FIRE.

The Municipality of Larnaca hosted the rally’s official ceremonies.