The Syrian Automobile Club (SAC) has announced details of the seventh edition of the Syrian International Rally, to be held from August 30-September 2 under the patronage of the Syrian Ministry of Tourism and organised by the SAC.

According to information received here from Damascus, the event will be based at the town of Saydnaya, north of Damascus.

This year’s event will run from Thursday to Saturday for the first time, after finishing on a Friday for the last four years.

Syrian Hani Shaban will act as Clerk of the Course for the first time and becomes the first Syrian in the history of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship to hold such an office.

“We have been working at length to make some modifications to the special stages,” said Shaban.

This year’s Syrian International Rally will also feature Schindele’s live tracking technology for the first time, as the SAC is keen on monitoring security more accurately.

Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah won the event last season in his Subaru Impreza WRX STi and the defending regional champion heads for Syria with an 18-point lead in the championship over the UAE’s Shaikh Suhail Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum.

Beating the UAE driver by two points would ensure the Qatari of the regional title for the third time in four seasons. But he faces the added pressure of needing to finish at all costs.

Prior commitments to the UAE Desert Challenge in November with the X-Raid Team and the Asian Games in Doha in his role as a skeet shooter at the start of December mean that Al Attiyah may be unable to compete in the final two rounds of the regional rally series in Cyprus and Dubai.

This year’s event is supported by Areeba, the Sheraton Ma’aret Saydnaya, Syria’s Al Ghad radio station and Kawalees.