Riders from Saudi Arabia and the GCC dominate the motorcycle and quad entry for this week’s Hail Cross-Country Rally, the four-day finale to the 2021 off-road season.
While most attention in north-central Saudi Arabia will be on the FIA World Cup fight between Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Argentina’s Lucio Alvarez, the two-wheel competitors will chase their own success without the world’s top cross-country riders present.
Austria’s Matthias Walkner won the 2021 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship on a works KTM, and with Honda, KTM, Sherco, Husqvarna, Yamaha and GasGas finalising their Dakar preparations, the door is open for regional riders.
Twenty-six bikes and 10 quads will tackle four desert selective sections set by the Saudi Arabian Motor and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF).
The bike field
2019 Sharqiya Baja winner Mishal Al-Ghuneim heads the motorcycles on his Husqvarna FR 450 Rally, with fellow Saudis Fawaz Al-Toimi, Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera and Mohammed Al-Khater his main rivals.
Qatar is represented by Sheikh Mohammed Al-Thani (Honda), Mohammed Al-Kaabi (Beta), Abdulrahman Al-Sheeb (Beta) and Ali Mubarak Al-Badi (Yamaha).
Sarah Khuraibet, fourth in the Women’s category of the FIM Bajas World Cup, represents Kuwait on her Husqvarna, and Salman Farhan is Bahrain’s only entrant, also on a Husqvarna.
With Mohammed Al-Balooshi skipping Hail to finalise his Dakar preparations, Othman Al-Ghefeli leads the Emirati challenge on a Honda CRF, alongside Hamdan Al-Ali and Abdullah Lanjawi. Lebanon’s Ehab Al-Hakeem and Italy’s Mauro Torrini complete the international entry.
Quads
Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi won the Hail quad category six times between 2014 and 2019. The Yamaha Raptor 700 rider leads nine Saudi rivals, including Sultan Al-Masoud, 2021 Sharqiya Baja winner Hani Al-Noumesi and Haitham Al-Tuwaijri, the 2021 FIM Bajas World Cup quad champion.
Scrutineering and technical checks take place at rally headquarters in Hail on December 6th and 7th, before the ceremonial start at Maghwat from 18.00hrs on Tuesday. Four desert stages follow from December 8th-11th.