Yazeed Al-Rajhi and German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz extended their Rally Qassim lead to 10min 35sec with the fastest time on Thursday’s tricky 184km desert selective section.
The Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux driver clocked 1hr 39min 22sec on the Ash Shimasiyah stage despite a puncture near the finish.
It was a good day. Everything went well for us. We start in 10th position. I think the first car it was difficult to open because some places were tricky navigation. We lead now and that should be more than enough for tomorrow.
Yazeed Al-Rajhi
It was a good day. It was exciting. I didn’t know what to expect from this rally championship in the open desert. The road book was challenging. We had to look a little bit at the navigation and slow down a little to understand the road book. But Yazeed did a great job. It was a difficult stage, I have to admit. It was tricky in some places. Good fun and many friendly people here. Yazeed is a hero here and the people are very open-minded and great. Three kilometres before the end we hit a stone and got a puncture on the rear-right but decided to drive it to the finish, so no problem.
Dirk von Zitzewitz
Saudi Border Guard team driver Khalid Al-Feraihi relied on the navigation of experienced French co-driver Sébastien Delaunay to set the second fastest time and move up to second overall.
It was a good day overall. We did not get lost.
Khalid Al-Feraihi
Navigation delays cost Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal time and the Ford F-150 driver dropped to fourth behind Al-Mashna Al-Rimali. Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri is now fifth.
It was a fast stage; the weather was moderate. We expected it to be hotter. It was difficult to navigate with long sandy tracks. We got lost several times and broke the drive shaft in the first 80km, so I lose the four-wheel drive and there was a puncture at the end.
Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri
Sixth-placed Abdullah Al-Sanad moved to the top of the T2 standings for series-production cross-country cars, and Saleh Al-Saif edged 2min 18sec ahead of fellow Can-Am driver Dania Akeel in T3.
We had a great time. It was smooth, excellent. We practiced a lot to find the cap to save time and avoid going in circles. In the beginning we went off track for around two minutes and then made sure it didn’t happen again.
Dania Akeel
The car jumped high and landed on a rock, so we broke the drive shaft. We stopped to check the car and we could not fix it, so we decided to complete the stage as we could and we were lucky to reach the finish line.
Eighth-placed Ahmed Al-Shegawi
Saeed Al-Mouri and Jordanian co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud lead Maha Al-Hameli and Swedish co-driver Annie Seel by 15min 42sec in T4.
Al-Ghuneim takes motorcycle lead
Mishal Al-Ghuneim opened a useful 20min 45sec lead over Qatar-based Australian Martin Chalmers in the motorcycles. The Saudi KTM rider won the stage comfortably, helped when Chalmers received a three-minute penalty for speeding in a restricted zone. Fawaz Al-Toami was third.
It was a good start. I had a good pace in the first 30km or so. But, when I arrived at waypoint four, I realised that my Stellar didn’t track the waypoint before and I got frustrated a bit and I headed back seven kilometres to retrack the waypoint and start again. By then, I had lost so much time. At km40, I got lost a bit and lost another 10 minutes there. I thought it was not my day. I saw everyone start ahead of me but then I noticed, at km140, that everyone came off the track and I saw no tracks in front of me and I got excited again. I was surprised to finish first!
Mishal Al-Ghuneim
Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi won the quad section on his Yamaha, finishing more than 13 minutes ahead of Abdulaziz Al-Atawi and over half an hour clear of overnight leader Haitham Al-Tuwaijri, after both rivals were penalised for missing a waypoint and speeding.
Rally Qassim is organised by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) with the Ministry of Sport and in partnership with Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) Motors Toyota, under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Dr. Faisal bin Mishaal bin Saud bin Abdulaziz, Prince of the Al-Qassim region.
The final day features a shorter 123km selective section south-west of Buraydah, reached by a 54km liaison.