JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – Jeddah Rally Toyota brings down the curtain on a highly competitive and increasingly popular Saudi Toyota Rally Championship this weekend.
The three-day all-terrain round is based at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit (JCC) and has drawn 38 cars, 16 motorcycles and six quads. Action starts with an 11km Prologue from 15:00 on Thursday.
Al-Rajhi vs Akeel
Yazeed Al-Rajhi leads Overdrive Racing team-mate Dania Akeel by 21 points in Ultimate P and by 28 points overall over the new FIA Middle East Baja Cup winner. Their navigators, Timo Gottschalk and Stéphane Duplé, are also 28 points apart in the Co-drivers’ standings.
Third overall is still open: Saleh Al-Saif leads Hamad Al-Harbi by 24 points, with Moaaz Hariri, Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh and Miroslav Zapletal fighting for fourth. Al-Yaeesh also targets the Ultimate title in his Nissan Patrol, seven points ahead of Fares Al-Moshna, with Khalid Al-Shammeri favourite for third.
Class battles
Al-Harbi (Can-Am) and Al-Saif (OT3) are just two points apart in the Challenger fight. Maha Al-Hameli and Germany’s Annett Quandt are close in the battle for the final Challenger podium spot, with Hamza Bakhashab able to join them with a strong run.
Four Nissan Patrol drivers can still win Stock: new FIA Middle East Baja Cup Stock champion Majed Al-Thunayyan leads Sufian Al-Omar by two points and Saudi Border Guard driver Jafar Al-Qahtani by three, with Muneef Al-Shammeri 14 points back. Moaaz Hariri has already won SSV, starting with a 42-point lead over Abdullah Al-Shegawi, who battles R-X Sport’s Orjwan Ammar and Abdullah Al-Haydan for second and third.
Al-Balooshi chases a clean sweep
Three-time FIM Bajas World Cup winner Mohammed Al-Balooshi has won the motorcycle class at all three rounds so far and is the clear favourite. His main rivals include Saudis Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera, Ahmed Al-Jaber and Mishal Al-Ghuneim, Lebanon’s Rafic Eid, Doha-based Australian Martin Chalmers and UAE-based Briton Alex McInnes.
Haitham Al-Tuwaijri, quad winner in Jeddah for the last two seasons, targets a hat-trick against Hani Al-Noumesi, Abdulaziz Al-Shayban and Abdulaziz Al-Atawi. Al-Shayban won the last round in Qassim, while Al-Tuwaijri won in Tabuk in May and Ha’il at the start of the season.
The ceremonial start takes place in the JCC F1 Circuit Parking area from 13:00 on Thursday, before the Prologue from 15:00 sets the order for Friday’s first desert stage.