– Mohammed Al-Balooshi and Abdulaziz Al-Shayban take motorcycle and quad wins
Yazeed Al-Rajhi and his German navigator Timo Gottschalk cruised to an emphatic victory at Qassim Rally Toyota 2024 with the Saudi extending his lead in the Saudi Toyota Championship while also testing new set-ups on his Toyota Hilux for the forthcoming Dakar Rally.
Strong winds and heavy rain put a damper on the day’s proceedings, but Al-Rajhi was quickest on the second 120km special stage through the desert near Buraydah on Saturday morning, He duly confirmed victory by 6min 03sec from Ultimate T1+ team-mates Dania Akeel and Stéphane Duplé in the second of the Overdrive Racing cars. The Czech duo of Miroslav Zapletal and Marek Sykora came home in third place in their Offroad Sport Ford F-150.
Emirati Mohammed Al-Balooshi held to his first day advantage to secure victory in the motorcycle category. Al-Balooshi finished fifth on the final stage to win the two-wheel event by just 59 seconds. Saudi rider Abdulaziz Al-Shayban snatched victory in the quad section after final stage delays for Haitham Al-Tuwaijri.
Hamad Al-Harbi and Aleksei Kuzmich topped the standings in the Challenger category in their Can-Am Maverick X3. The Saudi won the section for lightweight prototype cross-country machines by 7min 29sec from runner-up Waleed Al-Dhakeel, with Hamza Bakhashab, Maha Al-Hameli and Annett Quandt rounding off the finishers.
Abdullah Al-Haydan incurred a one-minute speeding penalty overnight but it failed to prevent the Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR driver from winning the SSV category with his co-driver Bader Al-Ajmi and finishing fourth overall in the car category.
Abdullah Al-Shegawi came home in second place, Moaaz Hariri rolled and continued to finish third and Orjwan Ammar and Mona Kurdi rounded off the SSV finishers.
Faris Al-Moshna topped the Ultimate category standings in his Nissan and Sufian Al-Omar won the Stock section for series production cross-country machines.
Kuwait’s Abdullah Al-Shatti was awarded a four-minute time penalty overnight for speeding but the stage one winner rode close to Al-Balooshi and Saudi rival Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera through the closing kilometres. Al-Balooshi held on to claim the outright win from the impressive Al-Mogheera on his KTM.
Al-Shatti finished fifth behind South Africa’s Hanno Geyser and final stage winner Mishal Al-Ghuneim (Husqvarna) after Hamdan Al-Ali stopped and dropped out of contention on the final morning.
Quad championship leader Haitham Al-Tuwaijri suffered major time delays on the final stage and that enabled Abdulaziz Al-Shayban to storm through and claim first place on his Yamaha Raptor.
Al-Tuwaijri held on to second place and Hani Al-Noumesi came home in third. CF Force rider Abdulrahman Alabdullatif failed to complete the full route on Saturday and incurred additional penalties as a result.
The third round of the 2024 Saudi Toyota Championship was organised by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) in conjunction with the Ministry of Sport and in partnership with Jameel Motorsports as an official partner and the Saudi Investment Bank as a strategic partner.
The 2024 Saudi Toyota Championship concludes with Jeddah Rally Toyota on December 19th-21st.
Qassim Rally Toyota 2024 – positions after SS2
Ultimate T1+
1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) Toyota Hilux Overdrive, 3hr 21min 09sec
2. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive, 3hr 27min 12sec
3. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sykora (SVK) Ford F-150, 3hr 34min 25sec
Ultimate
1. Faris Al-Moshna (SAU)/Saud Al-Tamimi (SAU) Nissan, 4hr 02min 45sec
2. Fahad Al-Marnass (SAU)/Yazeed Al-Shammeri (SAU) Nissan Patrol, 4hr 03min 27sec
3. Hussain Al-Albaid (SAU)/Fahad Al-Omar (SAU) Nissan Patrol, 4hr 13min 27sec
4. Khaled Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Majid Al-Shammeri (SAU) Nissan Patrol, 4hr 14min 27sec
5. Mohammed Al-Harqan (SAU)/Mohammed Al-Dawish (SAU) Nissan Patrol, 4hr 34min 54sec
6. Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh (SAU)/Omar Al-Lahim (SAU) Nissan, 5hr 08min 25sec
7. Mubarak Al-Zubaidy (SAU)/Hassan Ali Obaid (ARE) Nissan Patrol, 13hr 34min 00sec
8. Al-Mashna Al-Ramali (SAU)/Abdullah Al-Ramali (SAU) Nissan Patrol, 22hr 00min 00sec
9. Owaid Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Ayidh Al-Harbi (SAU) Toyota Pick-Up, 12hr 00min 00sec
Challenger
1. Hamad Al-Harbi (SAU)/Aleksei Kuzmich (ARE) Can-Am Maverick X3, 3hr 53min 57sec
2. Waleed Al-Dhakeel (SAU)/Egor Okhotnikov (ANA) G Rally Team OT3, 4hr 01min 26sec
3. Hamza Bakhashab (SAU)/Martin Pasek (POL) Can-Am Maverick X3, 4hr 08min 32sec
4. Maha Al-Hameli (SAU)/Oriol Mena (ESP) Can-Am Maverick X3, 4hr 15min 42sec
5. Annett Quandt (DEU)/Annie Seel (SWE) Yamaha YXZ 1000R, 4hr 24min 08sec
SSV
1. Abdullah Al-Haydan (SAU)/Bader Al-Ajmi (ARE) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR, 3hr 53min 36sec
2. Abdullah Al-Shegawi (SAU)/Raid Al-Asaf (SAU) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR, 3hr 58min 28sec
3. Moaaz Hariri (SAU)/Kirill Shubin (KGZ) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR, 4hr 10min 08sec
4. Orjwan Ammar (SAU)/Khalid Al-Kendi (ARE) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR, 4hr 14min 05sec
5. Mona Kurdi (SAU)/Albert Veliamovič (LTU) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR, 4hr 48min 31sec
Stock
1. Sufian Al-Omar (SAU)/Yasir Al-Khuraif (SAU) Nissan Patrol, 4hr 08min 25sec
2. Majed Al-Thunayyan (SAU)/Fahad Al-Sufyani (SAU) Nissan Patrol, 4hr 45min 21sec
3. Jafar Al-Qahtani (SAU)/Hussam Al-Zahrani (SAU) Nissan Patrol, 4hr 51min 41sec
4. Mohammed Asiri (SAU)/Sulaiman Al-Oraini (SAU) Nissan Patrol, 4hr 52min 24sec
5. Faisal Al-Sharari (SAU)/Mazen Al-Saeedi (SAU) Nissan Patrol, 22hr 00min 00sec
Bikes
1. Mohammed Al-Balooshi (ARE) KTM Rally Bike, 4hr 51min 54sec
2. Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera (SAU) KTM Rally Bike, 4hr 52min 53sec
3. Hanno Geyser (ZAF) KTM Rally Replica, 4hr 58min 31sec
4. Mishal Al-Ghuneim (SAU) Husqvarna 450 Rally Replica, 4hr 58min 51sec
5. Abdullah Al-Shatti (KWT) Kawasaki KX450, 5hr 05min 58sec
6. Ahmed Al-Jaber (SAU) KTM EXC 450, 5hr 12min 54sec
7. Philip Horlemann (ARE) Husqvarna FE501, 5hr 24min 34sec
8. Rafic Eid (LBN) Gas Hurlimann 450 Rally Replica, 5hr 32min 13sec
9. Ehab Al-Hakeem (SAU) Fantic Rally Factory, 6hr 12min 56sec
10. Badr Al-Hamdan (SAU) Kove, 6hr 45min 19sec
11. Jatin Ganesh Jain (LBN) Kove Rally Pro 450, 7hr 49min 06sec
12. Abdulrahman Al-Medaihesh (SAU) Yamaha WR450F, 8hr 33min 56sec
Hamdan Al-Ali (ARE) Honda CRF 450RX, RETIRED – SS2
Quads
1. Abdulaziz Al-Shayban (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700, 5hr 14min 27sec
2. Haitham Al-Tuwaijri (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700, 5hr 26min 06sec
3. Hani Al-Noumesi (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700, 5hr 29min 01sec
4. Abdulrahman Alabdullatif (SAU) CF Moto C Force 1000, 24hr 57min 27sec
Abdulaziz Al-Atawi (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700, RETIRED – SS1
Neil Perkins,