BURAYDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Mohammed Al-Balooshi and Haitham Al-Tuwaijri extended their car, motorcycle and quad leads on the 186km Ash Shimasiyah desert stage of Rally Qassim Toyota 2023 on Friday morning.
After winning Thursday’s Prologue, Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk chose to start 10th on the road and used that position to win the stage in their Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux, extending their lead to 2min 41sec.
It was a good stage for us. I drive well and Timo did a great job with no mistakes. We had a clean run and we have a good gap and, I think for tomorrow, we take it easy.
Yazeed Al-Rajhi
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleón started ninth and set the second fastest time, 7min 04sec ahead of Saleh Alabdulali and Mohammed Al-Naim in a Yazeed Racing-backed Toyota.
I had a puncture in the very first kilometre of the stage and it took me two minutes roughly to change the tyre. The stage was very open, so it needed more attention for navigation and checkpoints. Lucas caught us after 70 or 80km and we finished the stage together. It was a decent start after a three-year hiatus and a new car for me with one day to practice and adapt. I’m hoping for a better run tomorrow.
Saleh Alabdulali
Race World’s Yasir Seaidan, partnered by former Dakar rider Michael Metge, was fourth and leads T3 by 5min 13sec in his Can-Am Maverick.
A nice fast stage but it was not suitable for Can-Ams with only 135km/h top speed on the speedy sections. We crossed the dunes nicely with the crispy hard top layer (sand) after the rain.
Yasir Seaidan
Dark Horse Team’s Saleh Al-Saif was fifth. Emiratis Rashid Al-Ketbi and Ali Mirza were 10th in the first R-X Sport Can-Am, behind the Nissans of Khalid Al-Feraihi, Faris Al-Moshna, Abdullah Al-Haydan and Al-Mashna Al-Ramali.
Dania (Akeel) urged me to participate in the rally. It was enjoyable. Our initial aim is to finish the rally safely without problems, so we drove accordingly.
Rashid Al-Ketbi
Dania Akeel and Stéphane Duplé were 11th and fourth in T3 in the second R-X Sport Maverick.
Fun and fast… A lot of open spaces. Beautiful desert scenery as always. The desert was green instead of brown because of all the rain. It was a big advantage for T1 cars. We would catch the T1 on the dunes in a short distance and then lose them again on the flats. It was interesting trying to pass the faster cars with a higher speed limit.
Dania Akeel
Mohammed Al-Asiri narrowly led T2 from Khaled Al-Shammeri and Abdullah Al-Sanad, while Maha Al-Hameli took the T4 lead from Ahmed Al-Shegawi.
Bikes and quads
FIM Bajas World Cup champion Al-Balooshi won the bike stage on his KTM 450 by 2min 59sec to lead local rider Anas Al-Rahyani by 3min 15sec. Martin Chalmers, Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera and Marwan Al-Ramani completed the top five, while Gerard Lubbinge lost more than 15 minutes.
Very fast tracks but we reached the finish line in one piece. I am hoping to continue on the same pace tomorrow.
Mohammed Al-Balooshi
It was a nice stage. I enjoyed it with such an atmosphere. They were very fast tracks so it should be taken cautiously by the newbies. I put in a good performance.
Marwan Al-Ramani
Qatar-based Belgian Emiel Stuckens won the quad stage to cut Al-Tuwaijri‘s lead to 58 seconds, with Abdulaziz Al-Atawi third and Hani Al-Noumesi fourth. Clutch problems sidelined Abdulrahman Alabdullatif before the start.
It was awesome. The weather was nice and the scenery was beautiful. The tracks were very fast and it was nice navigation. I liked it…
Emiel Stuckens
It was a fast and easy stage with no risks and no dramas. Tomorrow, I will push more…
Haitham Al-Tuwaijri
Saturday’s shorter Al Mithnab stage of 121km starts at 07:05 for the first bike and 08:35 for the first car.