– Al-Yaeesh, Al-Ghuneim and Al-Tuwaijri lead car, motorcycle and quad categories
The first Tabuk-Neom Rally, a new round of the 2023 Saudi Toyota Rally Championship, gets underway in the northern Saudi city of Tabuk on Thursday afternoon.
Pending scrutineering and administration check, 35 cars, 20 motorcycles and three quads will take part in the second round of the series being hosted by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) under the chairmanship of H.R.H. Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal.
The ceremonial start will take place at King Khalid Sport City from 13.30hrs and this precedes a 3.52km Qualifying Stage that gets underway at 16.00hrs. This will determine the starting order for the first of the weekend’s two longer desert stages of approximately 205km and 136km, respectively.
The event is being held in conjunction with the Ministry of Sport and in partnership with official sponsor Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) Motors and strategic sponsor Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB).
After missing the opening round of the series in Ha’il because of an injury sustained in a freak skiing accident in southern France, the defending champion and pre-season favourite Yazeed Al-Rajhi has it all to do if he is to retain his title in a Toyota Hilux prepared by Overdrive Racing. The Riyadh man’s German co-driver Timo Gottschalk heads straight to Saudi Arabia after competing with veteran Armin Kremer in the WRC Masters Cup category at last weekend’s Rally of Portugal.
In Al-Rajhi’s absence, maximum points in the car category on the opening round went to Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh and the Nissan driver will take the start in Tabuk with a 10-point advantage over Al-Mashna Al-Ramali.
Saudi’s regular international competitor Saleh Al-Saif is third in the rankings and also holds a six-point cushion over fellow Can-Am racer Yasir Seaidan in the category for T3 lightweight prototype machines.
Saudi Arabia’s heading female rallying duo of Dania Akeel and Maha Al-Hameli are third in the T3 section and first in T4, respectively, and both are relishing the challenge of amassing vital championship points this weekend. Akeel teams up with Germany’s Taye Perry on this occasion and Ukraine’s Dmytro Tsyro sits alongside Al-Hameli.
The T2 class for series production cross-country vehicles has been well supported again in Tabuk. Khalid Al-Hamzani currently leads the way in the Saudi Toyota Championship with an eight-point cushion over Saudi Border Guard Team driver Haylan Al-Subaie. Al-Subaie’s team-mate Jafar Al-Qahtani is third. The T2 section has attracted 12 entries this weekend.
Motorcycle championship leader Mishal Al-Ghuneim is top seed this weekend on two wheels on his Beta 430RR. The experienced Saudi currently has a five-point advantage over Ehab Al-Hakeem but several GCC riders will be hoping to take the laurels in Tabuk on Saturday afternoon.
Mohammed and Sultan Al-Balooshi both ride KTMs and are experienced campaigners. Al-Ghuneim will be hard-pushed to claim another maximum points’ haul against the Emirati brothers and other rivals, like Bahrain’s Salman Farhan, Qatar’s Mohammed Al-Kaabi and Abdulrahman Al-Sheeb and Kuwait’s Sarah Khuraibet.
Haitham Al-Tuwaijri leads the quad category in the Saudi Toyota Rally Championship by five points from fellow Yamaha Raptor rival Abdulaziz Al-Atawi. Hani Al-Noumesi is third and all three riders will tussle for supremacy over challenging terrain in the northern deserts again this weekend.
2023 Saudi Toyota Rally Championship – positions after round 1:
Cars (overall)
1. Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh (SAU) 40pts
2. Al-Mashna Al-Ramali (SAU) 30pts
3. Saleh Al-Saif (SAU) 23pts
4. Yasir Seaidan (SAU) 21pts
5. Dania Akeel (SAU) 16pts
6. Metab Al-Qnoon (SAU) 13pts
6. Ahmed Al-Shammeri (SAU) 13pts
8. Khalid Al-Hamzani (SAU) 11pts
9. Haylan Al-Subaie (SAU) 8pts
10. Jafar Al-Qahtani (SAU) 7pts, etc
Cars – T2
1. Khalid Al-Hamzani (SAU) 40pts
2. Haylan Al-Subaie (SAU) 32pts
3. Jafar Al-Qahtani (SAU) 27pts
4. Ahmed Al-Shegawi (SAU) 21pts
5. Ibrahim Al-Muhanna (SAU) 16pts, etc
Cars – T3
1. Saleh Al-Saif (SAU) 39pts
2. Yasir Seaidan (SAU) 33pts
3. Dania Akeel (SAU) 27pts
4. Hamad Al-Harbi (SAU) 21pts
5. Abdullah Al-Shegawi (SAU) 17pts
Cars – T4
1. Maha Al-Hameli (SAU) 39pts
2. Saeed Al-Mouri (SAU) 34pts
Motorcycles
1. Mishal Al-Ghuneim (SAU) 25pts
2. Ehab Al-Hakeem (SAU) 20pts
Quads
1. Haitham Al-Tuwaijri (SAU) 25pts
2. Abdulaziz Al-Atawi (SAU) 20pts 3. Hani Al-Noumesi (SAU) 16pts