JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – Yazeed Al-Rajhi stayed firmly on course to retain his Saudi Toyota Rally Championship title by setting the fastest time on the first 246km desert stage of Jeddah Rally Toyota 2023 on Friday.
Strong winds and shifting sand grounded the safety and medical helicopters, delaying the second section of the stage until conditions improved. Al-Rajhi and German co-driver Timo Gottschalk won the stage, which started in Rabigh, by 14min 27sec in their new Overdrive Toyota Hilux to lead by 14min 38sec in the final round of the cross-country season.
All is good. We take longer time because of safety but everything was going well. Me and Timo did a good job. The new car has sone evolutions but it is working well for us. This rally is a good test but it is also important to win this race.
Yazeed Al-Rajhi
Closest title rival Saleh Al-Saif kept up the pressure and led T3 in his G Rally Team OT3. Race World’s Yasir Seaidan was third overall and led T4 in his Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR.
The car is new and we are testing with it for the Dakar Rally. Today’s stage was the same Dakar stage that we passed years ago, so it was an excellent test. I moved to another class (T3 to T4) but it is generally similar and I am satisfied with the experience so far.
Yasir Seaidan
Argentina’s Nicolás Cavigliasso, the 2019 Dakar quad winner, and Valentina Pertegarini were fourth and second in T3 in their Wevers Sport Taurus T3, with Dania Akeel fifth and third in T3 in the second Wevers car.
I am very happy. It was a long stage but I am happy to race here. The car was perfect and the navigation was perfect, good dunes…no problems.
Nicolás Cavigliasso
It was nice but we had a couple of issues. We missed the turn in the canyon and lost some time. We had one issue with the car and we stopped for a minute but it was fun.
Dania Akeel
Lionel Baud and daughter Lucie were sixth in their Overdrive Toyota, with T1 leader Al-Mashna Al-Ramali, Khaled Al-Feraihi, Hamad Al-Harbi and Moaz Hariri completing the top 10; Hariri moved to second in T4 ahead of Abdullah Al-Shegawi and Maha Al-Hameli.
It was a little bit difficult. We had to find the right way. It was a nice stage and the second part was very nice with the dunes. We have some things to do on the car.
Lionel Baud
The first 10km was rocky but we were able to pass slowly. The last section was going well but I made a mistake entering a valley with a closed end. I had to exit it by driving in reverse so I lost seven minutes. We will try to make up for it tomorrow.
Khaled Al-Feraihi
Sufian Al-Omar led T2 in 12th in his Nissan from Khaled Al-Hamzani, and Japan’s Teruhito Sugawara, Hirokazu Someiya and Yuji Mochizuki pulled clear in the T5 trucks.
Bikes and quads
Overnight leader Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera won the bike stage by 1min 55sec to lead Mishal Al-Ghuneim by 8min 20sec, with Bader Al-Hamdan third and Philip Horlemann fifth behind championship leader Ehab Al-Hakeem.
It was like a Dakar stage and would be difficult for cars and quads. Luckily, I was able to pass on two wheels.
Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera
It was a nice stage. I opened the track and I was lost twice for one kilometre but got back on the track quickly thanks to my experience at the Qassim Rally.
Bader Al-Hamdan
Haitham Al-Tuwaijri won the quad stage to lead Abdulaziz Al-Atawi by 26min 12sec, with Belgian Emile Stuckens third after title rival Hani Al-Noumesi lost more than half an hour.
It was an excellent stage. The first 10km was rocky and I got stuck a little but, after that, everything was good and smooth.
Haitham Al-Tuwaijri
Saturday’s final 109km stage starts at Khulais, northeast of Jeddah, with the first bike at 08:00 and first car at 09:30.