Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Qatar-based Australian Martin Chalmers and Haitham Al-Tuwaijri took early leads in the car, motorcycle and quad categories after Thursday afternoon’s opening 10km super special at Rally Jeddah.
The fourth and final round of the Saudi Toyota Rally Championship is organised by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) with the Ministry of Sport and in partnership with Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) Motors.
Twenty-five cars, 11 motorcycles and four quads were cleared to start the three-day event, and Al-Rajhi continued his superb form with co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz, beating series rival Miroslav Zapletal by 33 seconds.
Saudi drivers Saleh Al-Saif and Dania Akeel were locked in their own battle for third and the early T3 lead. Al-Saif and co-driver Egor Okhotnikov hold a 2.7-second advantage over fellow Can-Am driver Akeel and Uruguayan navigator Sergio Lafuente.
Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh and Omar Al-Lahim completed the top five, Khalid Al-Feraihi was sixth with French co-driver Sébastien Delaunay, and seventh-placed Saeed Al-Mouri led T4 in his Can-Am with Jordanian navigator Ata Al-Hmoud.
Ibrahim Al-Muhanna, Osama Al-Sanad and Raed Abu Theeb were 23rd and lead the T5 truck category in their Mercedes.
Chalmers leads the bikes
Martin Chalmers won the motorcycle stage on his Beta to take a 21-second lead over Emirati Husqvarna rival Hamdan Al-Ali, with local rider Anass Al-Reheyani third.
Mishael Al-Ghuneim has recovered from the double ankle fracture he suffered at the Sharqiyah Baja last year and is using the event as a shakedown before riding a Husqvarna on the Dakar. The Saudi was sixth on the stage behind fourth-placed Othman Al-Ghfeli and Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera.
Haitham Al-Tuwaijri beat Yamaha rivals Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi and Hani Al-Noumesi in the quads.
Friday
The first of two longer desert selective sections runs 197km from Khulais to Asfan. It is split into sections of 109km (SS1B) and 88km (SS1C) by a neutralisation zone and refuelling point for the motorcycles, quads and T3 and T4 cars.