BURAYDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – Qassim Rally Toyota starts with a ceremonial start and Prologue in Buraydah on Thursday afternoon.
Round three of the 2024 Saudi Toyota Championship is organised by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) and has an unofficial field of 38 cars, 18 motorcycles and six quads. It is run with the Ministry of Sport, official partner Jameel Motorsports and strategic partner Saudi Investment Bank, with the organising team led by SAMF President HRH Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal.
Championship picture
Defending champions Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk lead the overall standings by 21 points from Challenger rival Saleh Al-Saif and Overdrive team-mate Dania Akeel, with Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh and Moaaz Hariri well placed. Al-Rajhi leads Ultimate P, Al-Yaeesh tops Ultimate from Faris Al-Moshna, and Al-Saif and Hariri hold commanding leads in Challenger and SSV. Muneef Al-Shammeri leads Jafar Al-Qahtani by 16 points in Stock.
Top seed Mohammed Al-Balooshi leads the bikes by 14 points from Saudi Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera, with Kuwait’s Abdullah Al-Shatti, Hamdan Al-Ali and Ahmed Al-Jaber closest. Haitham Al-Tuwaijri leads Hani Al-Noumesi by 10 points in quads, with Abdulaziz Al-Shayban and Abdulaziz Al-Atawi needing strong results to keep the fight alive until the December finale in Jeddah.
Event history
The rally was first held in 2019, when Al-Rajhi won the cars in his Toyota, Khalil Al-Tuwaijri won the now-defunct NUTV class, and Al-Balooshi, Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi and Ibrahim Al-Muhanna won bikes, quads and trucks. After a break in 2020 and 2021, it returned to the Saudi Toyota Rally Championship in 2022, when Al-Rajhi won with Dirk von Zitzewitz and Abdullah Al-Sanad, Hamad Al-Harbi and Saleh Al-Saif won T2, T3 and T4. Mishal Al-Ghuneim topped the bikes and Al-Khulaifi won quads again. Last year Al-Rajhi, Al-Sanad and Al-Balooshi won again, Al-Saif took T3 in his Can-Am, Maha Al-Hameli won T4 and Haitham Al-Tuwaijri topped the quads.
Thursday starts with the press conference at the Mövenpick Qassim at 11:00, followed by the ceremonial start in the nearby National Park from 14:00 and the 7km Prologue from 15:00, with bikes and quads ahead of the cars.