– Al-Mogheera and Al-Tuwaijri top motorcycle and quad standings after stage one
Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk stormed into a commanding 4min 21sec lead after the opening 245km selective section of the Tabuk Toyota Rally 2024 through the Zaita desert on Friday.
The Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux crew opened the road on the second round of the Saudi Toyota Championship and led the scenic and demanding special from start-to-finish. « No issues, no problems, all is good, » said Al-Rajhi.
Their team-mates Dania Akeel and Stéphane Duplé also ran strongly to put the pair of Ultimate P class cars at the top of the leader board.
Akeel added: « It was spectacular and a lot of fun, amazing views and a really nice race. The first 85km were open and fast and the remainder were more technical between the rocks and the mountains and canyons. We took care to pass without any surprises. I love this car a lot and I feel more confident every kilometre. »
Saleh Al-Saif was the best of the rest and the first of the Challenger drivers in his Dark Horse OT3 with Qatari co-driver Nasser Al-Kuwari. The Saudi moved into a comfortable category lead over fourth-placed Can-Am driver Abdullah Al-Haydan.
Al-Saif said: « The stage is different to last year. A lot of new terrain and tracks. It was a little bit tricky and rocky and we had a puncture at the beginning and we stopped to change. About 10km before the end, we also had another puncture and decided not to change it. My aim is to be second in the championship. »
Moaaz Hariri continued his excellent run of recent form to set a top six stage time with co-driver Kirill Shubin and top the SSV category in his fourth-placed Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR. Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh continued to set the pace amongst the Nissan drivers running in the Ultimate class and held fifth overall.
Maha Al-Hameli, Hamad Al-Harbi, Waleed Al-Dhakeel and Owaid Al-Shammeri rounded off the top nine, while 10th-placed Jafar Al-Qahtani headed the Stock category for series-production cross-country vehicles. Abdullah Al-Shegawi retired with electrical issues.
MX Ride Dubai’s Mohammed Al-Balooshi claimed the stage win on two wheels on his Husqvarna with a time of 3hr 07min 42sec. But the Emirati still trails local rider Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera by 1min 50sec in the overall standings after the Saudi won the Prologue stage that was multiplied by a co-efficient on Friday evening.
Al-Balooshi said: « Today, it was a very long stage and quite busy with the road book. I am really happy. I picked the strategy to start 10th and I knew if everything went right, I would win. I didn’t expect to catch everybody at 60km. Then I led to the finish. That’s why I’m here to improve my navigation. I am really happy with that overall and I am happy to be able to compete in the championship. I have won in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman but I don’t have a KSA title. This would make my list complete. I did win something in KSA in 2009 but it would be special to win this title. »
Hamdan Al-Ali and Kuwait’s Abdullah Al-Shatti were classified in third and fourth and Ahmed Al-Jaber rounded off the top five.
Mishal Al-Ghuneim holds seventh place. He said: « It was a very interesting stage and a big difference to the Bajas I have been used to in Saudi over the past couple of years. The level is going higher and higher, both from a technical level of the terrain and the navigation. It is a full-on Dakar level on a mini-scale. »
Haitham Al-Tuwaijri moved to the front of the quad standings from Abdulaziz Al-Shayban and Hani Al-Noumesi.
Tomorrow (Saturday), competitors tackle a second selective section of 168km that starts to the southwest of Tabuk. This precedes the ceremonial finish in the evening.
2024 Tabuk Toyota Rally – Positions after SS1
Cars (top 14 only)
1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) Toyota Hilux, 2hr 12min 39sec
2. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA) Toyota Hilux, 2hr 21min 55sec
3. Saleh Al-Saif (SAU)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) OT3, 2hr 29min 17sec
4. Moaaz Hariri (SAU)/Kirill Shubin (FIA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo, 2hr 48min 36sec
5. Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh (SAU)/Omar Al-Lahim (SAU) Nissan Patrol, 2hr 49min 20sec
6. Maha Al-Hameli (SAU)/Oriol Vidal (ESP) Can-Am Maverick X3, 2hr 53min 47sec
7. Hamad Al-Harbi (SAU)/Aleksei Kuzmich (ARE) Can-Am Maverick X3, 2hr 55min 19sec
8. Waleed Al-Dhakeel (SAU)/Egor Okhotnikov (FIA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo, 2hr 55min 59sec
9. Owaid Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Ayidh Al-Harbi (SAU) Toyota Hilux, 3hr 01min 05sec
10. Jafar Al-Qahtani (SAU)/Hussan Al-Zahrani (SAU) Nissan Patrol, 3hr 02min 58sec
11. Khaled Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Majed Al-Shammeri (SAU) Nissan Patrol, 3hr 05min 35sec
12. Esraa Al-Dkheil (SAU)/Aleksandr Alekseev (KGZ) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo, 3hr 19min 16sec
13. Motair Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Eisa Al-Shammeri (SAU) Nissan Patrol, 3hr 20min 17sec
14. Annett Quandt (DEU)/Annie Seel (SWE) Can-Am Maverick X3, 3hr 20min 45sec
Bikes
1. Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera (SAU) KTM 450, 4hr 07min 12sec
2. Mohammed Al-Balooshi (ARE) Husqvarna Rally Bike, 4hr 09min 02sec
3. Hamdan Al-Ali (SAU) Honda CRF 450 RX, 4hr 27min 27sec
4. Abdullah Al-Shatti (KWT) Husqvarna Rally Bike, 4hr 30min 19sec
5. Ahmed Al-Jaber (SAU) KTM 450, 4hr 47min 25sec
6. Philip Horlemann (ARE) Husqvarna FE501, 4hr 52min 30sec
7. Mishal Al-Ghuneim (SAU) Husqvarna 450 Rally, 5hr 17min 49sec
8. Hanno Geyser (ZAF) Beta, 5hr 21min 19sec
9. Jason Joslin (KWT) Husqvarna 350 FE, 5hr 26min 16sec
10. Eid Rafic (LEB) Husqvarna EXCF, 5hr 29min 14sec
Quads
1. Haitham Al-Tuwaijri (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700, 4hr 50min 53sec
2. Abdulaziz Al-Shayban (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700, 4hr 53min 57sec
3. Hani Al-Noumesi (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700, 4hr 55min 07sec
4. Mohammed Al-Name (SAU) Honda TRX 700XX, 6hr 31min 16sec
5. Abdulaziz Al-Atawi (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700, 7hr 08min 32sec
Neil Perkins,