Before reaching the dizzy heights of the FIA World Rally Championship or Formula One, most of the world's leading drivers have learned their trade in go carts. The same can be said of some of Jordan’s current crop, with a National Karting Championship now making up an important part of the calendar. Hosted in co-operation with Rotax, the Championship consists of five events.

The origins of rallying in Jordan can be traced all the way back to 1961 when His Late Majesty King Hussein participated in a Scavenger Hunt. The first Jordan Rally was held in 1981, and it became a part of the Middle East Rally Championship in 1983. In 2008, 2010 and 2011 Jordan hosted the FIA World Rally Championship. The Jordan National Rally Championship normally consists of four rounds.

Jordan's Al Hussein Rumman Hill Climb is one of the Middle East's longest standing sporting events and has become a highlight on the Kingdom's social and sporting calendar. First held in 1962, it has welcomed some of the region’s best drivers and the record was held up until 2001 by His Majesty King Hussein. The event is held on a specially created track on the breathtaking Rumman Hill which is located between Amman and Jerash. The event is normally held in the summer months of July or August, attracting huge crowds to one of the most picturesque areas of northern Jordan.

With the rallying scene booming, Speed Tests were introduced to the jordanmotorsport calendar in 1964. With a determination to take jordanmotorsport to the people, organisers have regularly held Speed Tests close to population areas and they can regularly attract crowds in excess of 10,000 fans. Some of Jordan’s biggest names in jordanmotorsport have been crowned the National Speed Test Champion, with the annual series normally consisting of five rounds.

Drifting has taken the world by storm over the past 10 years and in 2014, Jordan organised its first National Championship. With entry lists regularly exceeding 50 cars and thousands of fans flocking to watch the action, Drifting has become one of the most popular sports in Jordan, with its local drivers going on to prove themselves on the regional stage as well. An annual Championship can see up to five rounds held at several locations.

In 2017, Jordan welcomed its latest National Championship following a rise in popularity for off road driving. Enthusiasts have turned out in huge numbers to tackle specially created courses in a number of locations with the national series normally consisting of three events.

The jewel in the crown on the Jordan jordanmotorsport calendar is the annual Jordan Rally which holds a special place in the heart of the region’s petrol heads. As the leading round on the FIA Middle East Rally Championship, its winners’ list reads like a who’s who of Middle East jordanmotorsport with the biggest names to have graced our roads all winning the sought after title.

Such was its reputation, it stepped up for three editions of the World Rally Championship in 2008, 2010 and 2011, becoming the first Arab country to do so in the modern era of rallying. But it all started back in 1981 when Lebanese driver Michel Saleh, with his co-driver Tony Samia, took the inaugural title in a Toyota Celica GT.

The following year it was included as a round on the Middle East Championship which Saleh won, before the great Saeed Al Hajiri took the honours a year later. In 1984, jordanmotorsporting icon Mohammed Ben Sulayem started his dominance of the regional series with his first international victory in Jordan in a Toyota Celica Turbo, with Saleh in second.

Al Hajiri won the next two, with His Majesty King Abdullah II (then Prince Abdullah) taking third place in 1986 driving an Opel Manta 400, a feat he repeated two years later. Ben Sulayem resumed his domination, winning 11 of the next 14 Jordan Rallies with only Abbas Al Mosawi (1992), Sheikh Hammad Al Thani (1993) and Abdullah Bakhashab (1995) breaking his clean sweep of that period.

But 2003 signalled the arrival of the new kid on the block, with Nasser Al Attiyah, of Qatar, announcing his arrival with a victory. He ended Ben Sulayem’s domination by launching his own Jordan era with no less than 11 Jordan Rally victories since. However, it was a home grown talent that put his name on the trophy in 2004 when Amjad Farrah became the only Jordanian to win the title by capitalising on a final stage engine blow out from leader Hamed Al Wahaibi.

In 2005, with HRH Prince Feisal recognising the value that jordanmotorsport has in promoting a country, Jordan launched a bid to become a round on the FIA WRC, and succeeded in hosting three editions in 2008, 2010 and 2011 and a completely remodeled route through the Jordan Valley and around the Dead Sea. It worked a treat, with three tremendous events capped by the closest finish in WRC history when Sébastien Ogier beat Jari-Matti Latvala by just 0.2 seconds. The previous two WRC winners were Mikko Hirvonen (2008) and Sébastien Loeb (2010).

Despite no longer being a part of the world series, the Jordan Rally is still organised to the highest of standards and is based at the Dead Sea.