JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – Yazeed Al-Rajhi and German navigator Timo Gottschalk opened the road on the final 103km stage and led from start to finish to clinch a fourth successive Saudi Toyota Rally Championship – and Al-Rajhi’s fifth career win at Jeddah Rally Toyota.
The Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux crew won the final stage by 3min 01sec to finish 11min 03sec clear of team-mates Dania Akeel and Stéphane Duplé.
We are happy. Most important, we win the championship and we win the race and are ready for Dakar. I am happy to win every race and take the title, my fourth. The team has done a great job this season and we have improved the car a lot.
Yazeed Al-Rajhi
Penalty hands McInnes the bike win
Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera started the last stage five seconds behind UAE-based Briton Alex McInnes. Starting fourth on the road, he won the stage by 23 seconds for a provisional 18-second victory – but a one-minute post-finish penalty handed McInnes the win by 42 seconds. Mohammed Al-Balooshi clinched the overall Saudi Toyota Rally Championship.
From a navigational point of view, this rally was very difficult. I managed to finish in first place (before the time penalty). This gives me a big boost, because the stages in Jeddah are very similar to Dakar. This means I am ready for the challenge of Dakar and the confidence is very high after the win.
Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera
Finally I get to win the Saudi Championship. This is the last round of the last championship of the year. After winning the FIM Bajas World Cup and also the Qatar Off-Road Championship, now I win here in Saudi Arabia. It is like icing on the cake. What a way to finish the season. Now we are looking forward to the Dakar Rally.
Mohammed Al-Balooshi
Hani Al-Noumesi won the final day in quads, but Haitham Al-Tuwaijri did enough to win the category and seal a third straight Saudi Quad Championship.
This was a fantastic rally. Yesterday was amazing in the rain and it was very exciting. I’m so proud to win the Saudi Rally Championship for the third time in a row. It’s a hat-trick! My aim is to win again next year for the fourth time, in addition to winning the (FIM Bajas) World Cup next year.
Haitham Al-Tuwaijri
This was a very beautiful rally. I had so much fun riding today and I managed to claim P1 in the stage. I believe I finished second in the championship.
Hani Al-Noumesi
Challenger, SSV and Stock
Yasir Seaidan was second fastest on the day in his Taurus T3 Max, winning the Challenger category and taking the final overall podium place.
The stages were very cool, diverse and included different terrain. This was perfect as we prepare for Dakar, so we really benefitted a lot from these stages. I’m optimistic that this result is the perfect way to head into the start of next year.
Yasir Seaidan
Waleed Al-Dhakeel (Taurus MC-5) was fourth, nearly 10 minutes behind Seaidan, and Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal completed the top five, third in Ultimate P in his self-built Ford F-150 Evo.
Dark Horse G Rally Team OT3 driver Saleh Al-Saif passed Germany’s Annett Quandt on the final morning for sixth overall and third in Challenger – enough to beat Hamad Al-Harbi to the Saudi Challenger title. Quandt and team-mate Maria Gameiro gave the X-Raid Fenic a strong competition debut in seventh and ninth, with Al-Harbi eighth.
Abdullah Al-Shegawi (Can-Am) completed the top 10 and won SSV. Saudi Border Guard driver Jafar Al-Qahtani won the Stock class in his Nissan Patrol and narrowly took the title after Mohammed Al-Asiri hit trouble on the final morning. Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh finished 13th to clinch the Saudi Ultimate title. Japan’s Teruhito Sugawara, Hirokazu Somemiya and Yuji Mochizuki brought their Hino 600 home in a useful pre-Dakar truck test.
Bikes and quads
After 15 minutes were handed back to him following a GPS issue on Friday, McInnes opened the road on the last day defending a five-second lead. Philip Horlemann held third, while Al-Balooshi passed Ehab Al-Hakeem for fourth and the title. Abdullah Lanjawi, Mohammed Meerza, Ahmed Al-Jaber, Martin Chalmers and Mishaal Al-Ghuneim completed the top 10, with Salman Humood and Sarah Khuraibet 11th and 12th. Behind Al-Tuwaijri, Abdulaziz Al-Shayban, Al-Noumesi and Abdulaziz Al-Atawi completed the quad finishers on Yamaha Raptors.
The rally was organised by the SAMF with the Ministry of Sport, official partner Jameel Motorsport and strategic partner Saudi Investment Bank, under the chairmanship of HRH Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal.
Final results – cars (top 10)
- Yazeed Al-Rajhi / Timo Gottschalk (Toyota Hilux) – 2hr 54min 25sec
- Dania Akeel / Stéphane Duplé (Toyota Hilux) – 3hr 05min 28sec
- Yasir Seaidan / Michael Metge (Taurus T3 Max) – 3hr 08min 20sec
- Waleed Al-Dhakeel / Egor Alexandrovich (Taurus MC-5) – 3hr 17min 43sec
- Miroslav Zapletal / Michal Goleniewski (Ford F-150) – 3hr 24min 10sec
- Saleh Al-Saif / Albert Veliamovič (G Rally Team OT3) – 3hr 24min 54sec
- Annett Quandt / Annie Seel (X-Raid Fenic) – 3hr 26min 07sec
- Hamad Al-Harbi / Aleksei Kuzmich (Can-Am Maverick X3) – 3hr 30min 19sec
- Maria Gameiro / José Marques (X-Raid Fenic) – 3hr 34min 20sec
- Abdullah Al-Shegawi / Raid Al-Assaf (Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR) – 3hr 38min 46sec
Bikes (top 5) and quads
- Alex McInnes (Husqvarna FE 450) – 4hr 45min 37sec
- Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera (KTM) – 4hr 46min 19sec
- Philip Horlemann (KTM 450 Rally Replica) – 5hr 07min 44sec
- Mohammed Al-Balooshi (KTM) – 5hr 15min 32sec
- Ehab Al-Hakeem (Yamaha WR 450F) – 5hr 18min 15sec
- Haitham Al-Tuwaijri (Yamaha Raptor 700) – 5hr 11min 30sec
- Abdulaziz Al-Shayban (Yamaha Raptor 700) – 5hr 11min 42sec
- Hani Al-Noumesi (Yamaha Raptor 700) – 5hr 33min 11sec
- Abdulaziz Al-Atawi (Yamaha Raptor 700) – 5hr 36min 07sec