Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Mohammed Al-Balooshi and Haitham Al-Tuwaijri won the car, motorcycle and quad categories at the three-day Saudi Baja 2022-Hail on Saturday afternoon.
The demanding final 183.42km Farhaniyah selective section west of Hail caused major changes on the leader boards. Motorcycle leader Alex McInnes crashed out of his overnight lead, and local driver Khaled Al-Feraihi lost fourth place in the cars with broken steering.
Al-Rajhi and German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz dominated in their Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux, and another stage win gave the Saudi a 24min 28sec winning margin over Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal (Ford F-150 Evo) and Slovak navigator Marek Sykora, extending his lead in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas Drivers’ Championship.
As we expected it was not so easy. We were not sure how the desert would react with all this rain we have had. We took it quite easy in the first part. We did not want to risk anything stupid because we were lying in a good position. But, in the second part, we speeded up a little bit. There was some navigation involved and some soft dunes and nice climbs through a pass. It was quite challenging and many guys got trouble. Everything went well and Yazeed did a great drive. The Hilux worked well. It was a beautiful stage, a little bit short maybe, but it was a Baja and we are very happy that we could win this race.
Dirk von Zitzewitz
The South Racing Can-Am Team’s Fernando Alvarez and Xavier Panseri achieved their goal of a podium finish, and third overall also brought victory in FIA T3 and confirmed the championship title for the Spaniard.
We win the category and the championship. We win everything and I am also third overall in the (Baja) championship. We had a good feeling with the car and we see what we can do now in Dubai.
Fernando Alvarez
Fourth overall and maximum FIA T4 points for Brazil’s Cristiano de Sousa Batista set up a head-to-head with Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thefiri for the Drivers’ Championship in Dubai next month. Al-Thefiri finished at the back of the field after first-day electrical problems, while Eduard Pons was fifth overall and second in T4.
Aliyyah Koloc boosted her hopes of winning the FIA Middle East Cup for Cross-Country Bajas by finishing sixth and second in T3, ahead of seventh-placed local driver Dania Akeel. Egidijus Valeiša, Hamed Al-Harbi and Mashael Al-Obaidan completed the top 10, with three female drivers in the top 10 for the first time.
Around 50km before the finish we broke the belt and it took a long time to remove it and we put a new belt on and we lost around 10 minutes. That’s why we dropped down to ninth and second in Middle East.
Hamed Al-Harbi
A wonderful rally with some bumpy sections. As usual, the organisers surprise us with great tracks.
Mashael Al-Obaidan
After losing a lot of time on the stage, Al-Feraihi got his car back to Parc Fermé in Hail.
We hit a big bump and we broke the steering. We finished the first part of the stage but we arrived at the neutralisation and it was closed. We make more than 50% of the stage and got the car into Parc Fermé, so we lose a lot of time and are not in a good position in the overall classification but at least we score points in the Middle East and national championships.
Sébastien Delaunay, co-driver to Khaled Al-Feraihi
Al-Balooshi wins on two wheels
When overnight leader Alex McInnes crashed heavily, suffering a broken nose and wrist and a back injury, several riders had a chance to fight for victory.
Experienced Emirati Mohammed Al-Balooshi was only fifth on the stage behind Abdullah Abu Aisheh, Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera and Abdullah Al-Shatti, but it was enough for the TM rider and 2020 winner to win the Saudi Baja by 4min 24sec from Kuwait’s Al-Shatti.
After later time penalties, local rider Mishal Al-Ghuneim completed the podium, with Anass Al-Reheyani and Abu Aisheh completing the top five.
Abdulaziz Ahli won the day’s quad stage on his Yamaha YFZ 450 R, but heavy penalties on Friday had already ended his hopes. Overnight leader Haitham Al-Tuwaijri comfortably held off his rivals to win, while Hani Al-Noumesi was a distant third after multiple champion Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi failed to finish.
Ahmed Al-Shammeri held on to win the Saudi National Baja for cars ahead of Ahmed Al-Ghashami and Motair Al-Shammeri. Yasir Al-Khuraif won the National Baja for motorcycles from Bader Al-Bader, and Abdulaziz Al-Atawi topped the quads.
The seventh round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas and the FIM Bajas World Cup, round three of the FIA Middle East Cup for Cross-Country Bajas and the third event of the Saudi Toyota Rally Championship was organised by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) with the Ministry of Sport and in partnership with Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) Motors.