The Saudi Arabian Motor Federation has now finalized the dates and route format for the Ha’il International Rally, an FIA-sanctioned cross-country event that will run for nearly 1000 competitive kilometres through the north-central region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from March 21st-28th, 2013.
The event is being staged under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Saud Bin Abdul Mohsen Bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Ha’il, President of the Supreme Commission for Ha’il Development and the Head of the Supreme Commission of the Ha’il Rally.
New rally director Anwar Helmi has confirmed that the expanded Ha’il International Rally will feature four desert stages through the scenic An Nafud desert and a shorter 6km super special stage to get the competition underway. The route will offer a wide variety of desert terrain, including gravel trails, sand dunes, wadis, areas of tricky navigation and the passing of small oasis farms.
“The rally will be open to all categories of cars and motorcycles for the first time,” said HRH Prince Sultan bin Bandar Al-Faisal, chairman of the SAMF. “We have also increased the distance this year to raise the level of the challenge for our competitors. Our team has just completed a comprehensive survey of the route of the event.”
Scrutineering and documentation will take place at the Maghwat Conference Centre on Friday, March 22nd and Saturday, March 23rd. This will be followed by the pre-event press conference and a permitted period to carry out the reconnaissance of the super special stage on Saturday afternoon.
The ceremonial start takes place at 10.00hrs on Sunday, March 24th and precedes the super special stage at 15.30hrs. The first of four desert selective sections gets underway at 06.00hrs on Monday, March 25th and the competitive action finishes on Thursday, March 28th, with the finishing ceremony rounding off proceedings at 19.00hrs.