Toyota Hilux driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz stayed out of trouble to win the Abha-based Rally Aseer, round one of the 2022 Saudi Toyota Rally Championship, in emphatic style.
The Saudi was fastest on both selective sections, and his time of 1hr 36min 54.6sec on the longer second stage secured a winning margin of 26min 01.5sec.
This was a challenging rally, not easy, but the car was perfect and Dirk did a great job with the navigation. It’s great to get back to winning ways and to make such a good start to the Saudi Toyota Championship.
Yazeed Al-Rajhi
Event Stewards gave Miroslav Zapletal and Slovak co-driver Marek Sykora a 12-minute penalty for a timing infringement on Friday afternoon, dropping the Czech from second to sixth before the final 186.73km section. That promoted Saleh Al-Saif to second, with the Can-Am driver starting the day 14min 44sec behind Al-Rajhi.
The final day was split into two sections between Tareeb and Al-Qa’ah. Al-Saif and Spanish co-driver Oriol Vidal could not hold their position, setting fourth fastest time in their Black Horse Can-Am Maverick X3, but finished fourth overall and won T3.
Zapletal was second fastest on the day and passed four crews, including Al-Saif and third-placed Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri and Peruvian co-driver Hector Garcia, to regain second overall. Khalid Al-Feraihi and French navigator Sébastien Delaunay were fifth.
Hamad Al-Harbi and Russian co-driver Alexey Kuzmich held off a late challenge from Dania Akeel and Uruguayan navigator Sergio Lafuente to finish sixth overall and second in T3 in their Al-Shegawi Racing Can-Am. Akeel was seventh, despite finishing with a cracked windscreen after hitting a tree branch.
Saudi Border Guard (SBG) driver Jafar Al-Qahtani took eighth and won T2 for series-production cross-country vehicles, with SBG team-mate Haylan Al-Subaie and Ahmed Al-Shegawi second and third in class.
Saeed Al-Mouri and Maha Al-Hameli both failed to finish the opening stage, and the T4 battle was decided on the final morning with both carrying heavy penalties. Al-Mouri and Jordanian co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud beat Al-Hameli and Spanish co-driver María de Los Angeles to the stage win and took T4 thanks to fewer penalties for missed waypoints.
Mubarak Al-Zubaidi and Abdullah Al-Sanad joined Muneef Al-Salmani among the retirements as 17 crews started the final stage. Ibrahim Bin Sahnan and Fahad Al-Maioweed withdrew during the morning.
The event was organised by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) with the Ministry of Sport, the Saudi Motorsport Marshals Club and the Saudi Motorsport Company, in partnership with Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) Motors Toyota.
Round two of the Saudi Toyota Rally Championship is Rally Qassim on October 12-14.