Rally Jeddah 2022: Al-Rajhi, Chalmers and Al-Tuwaijri fastest on opening stage at Rally Jeddah

Saudi Toyota Rally Championship, round 4 – December 15th-17th, 2022

Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Qatar-based Australian Martin Chalmers and Haitham Al-Tuwaijri earned early leads in the car, motorcycle and quad categories at Rally Jeddah, after the opening 10km super special stage on Thursday afternoon

The fourth and final round of the Saudi Toyota Rally Championship is being organised by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF), in conjunction with the Ministry of Sport and in partnership with Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) Motors.

Twenty-five cars, 11 motorcycles and four quads were permitted to the start the three-day event and Al-Rajhi continued his excellent run of form with co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz to beat series rival Miroslav Zapletal by 33 seconds in the car classification.

Saudi drivers, Saleh Al-Saif and Dania Akeel, were locked in their own mini-tussle for third place and the early lead in the T3 category. Al-Saif and co-driver Egor Okhotnikov held a 2.7-second cushion over fellow Can-Am driver Akeel and her Uruguayan navigator Sergio Lafuente.

Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh and Omar Al-Lahim rounded off the top five, Khalid Al-Feraihi was sixth with French co-driver Sébastien Delaunay and seventh-placed Saeed Al-Mouri led the T4 section in his Can-Am with Jordanian navigator Ata Al-Hmoud.

Ibrahim Al-Muhanna teamed up with Osama Al-Sanad and Raed Abu Theeb to hold 23rd and lead the T5 truck category in their Mercedes.

Martin Chalmers, riding a Beta, won the motorcycle stage and edged into a 21-second advantage over Emirati Husqvarna rival Hamdan Al-Ali in the two-wheel category. Local rider Anass Al-Reheyani rounded off the top three.

Mishael Al-Ghuneim is now recovered from the double ankle fracture he sustained at the Sharqiyah Baja last year and is using the event as a shakedown before taking part in the Dakar on a Husqvarna. The Saudi finished the stage in sixth behind fourth-placed Othman Al-Ghfeli and Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera.

Haitham Al-Tuwaijri got the better of Yamaha rivals Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi and Hani Al-Noumesi in the quad category.

Friday:
The first of two longer desert selective sections starts in Khulais and finishes in Asfan and runs for 197km. It is split into two sections of 109km (SS1B) and 88km (SS1C) by a neutralisation zone and refuelling point for motorcycles, quads and T3 and T4 cars.

Rally Jeddah – positions after SS1A (10km):
Cars
1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Dirk von Zitzewitz (DEU) Toyota Hilux 5min 34.1sec
2. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sykora (SVK) Ford F-150 Evo 6min 07.9sec
3. Saleh Al-Saif (SAU)/Egor Okhotnikov (FIA) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3) 7min 07.0sec
4. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Sergio Lafuente (URY) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3) 7min 09.7sec
5. Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh (SAU)/Omar Al-Lahim (SAU) Nissan 7min 10.9sec
6. Khalid Al-Feraihi (SAU)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Nissan 7min 17.9sec
7. Saeed Al-Mouri (SAU)/Ata Al-Hmoud (JOR) Can-Am Maverick XRS (T4) 7min 37.2sec
8. Abdullah Al-Sanad (SAU)/Abdulatif Al-Sanad (SAU) Nissan 7min 40.0sec
9. Hamed Al-Harbi (SAU)/Alexander Alkseev (FIA) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3) 7min 45.0sec
10. Metab Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Bader Al-Ajmi (KWT) Nissan 7min 51.8sec

Source SAMF