Sharqia (Saudi) Rally - 11-14 Nov 08

SAUDI ARABIA'S YAZEED AL-RAJHI CLINCHES SHARQIA RALLY VICTORY IN THRILLING CLIMAX
Second place for Jordan's Farrah; Qatar's Al-Attiyah takes third
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia looks ahead to joining MERC in 2009

Posted: November 16, 2008 9:46 PM

Yazeed Al-Rajhi and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel clinched a dramatic victory in Saudi Arabia's new FIA candidate Sharqia Rally on Thursday afternoon. The pair eventually finished 21.2 seconds clear of Jordan's Amjad Farrah and Lebanese co-driver Ahmed Ghaziri after 13 special stages and two days of competition in the Half Moon Bay area of the Al-Khobar region of Saudi's Eastern Province.

The final day developed into an epic battle between Farrah and Al-Rajhi, once Portugal's Armindo Araújo had been forced to withdraw his Mitsubishi before the restart. Farrah held a 13-second lead with two stages remaining, but the Saudi - a winner of the Kuwait candidate event earlier this year - completed his second international win by putting in two sensational stage times over the closing pair of sandy tests. Qatar's Khalifa Al-Attiyah and Rashid Al-Sulaiti clinched the final podium place.

"I knew that I had to push hard to win, but I wanted to win my home rally," insisted a delighted Al-Rajhi. "It was a great fight with Amjad this afternoon. I left nothing to chance over the last three stages and it worked. To win here is like a dream for me."

"I would like to congratulate the Saudi organisers on an excellent rally," said Farrah. "It was very enjoyable. The stages were challenging and we had a great battle over the last few stages with Yazeed. We look forward to coming here again in the future."

Sixteen of the original 22 cars resumed on Thursday morning, with England's David Scialom restarting under SupeRally, although Scialom was only planning to tackle leg two's stages as a test for his car before the final round of the regional series in Dubai after sand had clogged his radiator on Wednesday.

Event officials had monitored the passage of cars carefully over the opening day's stages using the championship's useful tracking system and Jaber Al-Marri was awarded a 10-minute time penalty for straying too far off the route. This was reduced to five minutes and the Qatari slipped from eighth to 13th at the restart.

Portugal's Armindo Araújo should have headed into the first of six sandy tests at A'Dannan with a handsome 1m 45s lead. But the Portuguese driver was unable to restart after event officials discovered that his car may have been interfered with during the overnight halt.

"There was a possibility that the driveability of the car may have been compromised by a human error," said Mishaal Al-Sudairy, President of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF). "The Saudi Arabian Motor Federation will carry out a full investigation into this unfortunate incident."

Kuwait's Meshari Al-Thafiri set the quickest time in the opening stage, as Farrah extended his lead over Al-Rajhi to 35 seconds with the second fastest time. But the Saudi hit back with a vengeance in SS9 and reduced the lead by 21 seconds. He was fastest again in the Dhallum stage and the pair returned to the King Fahd Coastal City separated by a mere eight seconds. "It's quite a battle out there this morning," admitted Farrah. "It's a case of keeping the concentration and driving hard."

Khalifa Al-Attiyah held a solid third place, with Essa Al-Dossari in fourth and Jordan's Ammar Hijazi and Saudi's Saeed Al-Mouri fighting for fifth overall. A mere two seconds was the gap after SS10, as Majed Al-Ghamdi lost four minutes in SS9 unblocking a clogged air filter and several cars sported bodywork damage from the heavy sand.

Al-Mouri drove 32 km on the road section into service with a front-right puncture. The tyre was down to the wire by the time he reached the control. Saudi's Ahmed Al-Sabban suffered in the treacherous sand and was running with the fear of clutch problems in his Toyota. The fluid overheated on the last stage of the loop and, by the time it had cooled down, he was over his time limit.

Farrah extended his lead to 13 seconds through SS11, but Al-Rajhi pushed hard through the closing kilometres to set two stunning times and clinch victory on his home event. Al-Attiyah maintained third place, Saudi Arabia's Essa Al-Dossari was fourth and Jordan's Ammar Hijazi confirmed fifth overall when 23-year-old Saudi rally debutant Saeed Al-Mouri lost time with gearbox and suspension problems on the final stage and slipped to ninth behind Jordan's Faris Hijazi, Kuwait's Meshari Al-Thafiri and Saudi's Majed Al-Ghamdi.

Jordan's Ibrahim Muhawish succumbed to turbo problems after the 11th stage, but Bahrain's Abdulrahman Ghuloom managed to finish 12th.

"I would like to thank all our officials and competitors for making this successful event possible," added Mishaal Al-Sudairy. "We are looking forward to taking this event to another level in 2009 and encouraging local drivers to reach the high standard and performance that was set by our visiting Portuguese team over the first day's special stages."

The Sharqia Rally was held under the patronage of HRH Prince Mohamed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Governor of the Eastern Province and the Chairman of the Higher Committee for the new Saudi Rally, and is scheduled to take its place as the third round of next year's FIA Middle East Rally Championship on April 7th-9th (subject to final FIA approval).

Results

Posted: November 16, 2008 9:41 PM

1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Matthieu Baumel (F) Subaru Impreza N14 1h 54m 31.9s
2. Amjad Farrah (HKJ)/Ahmed Ghaziri (RL) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 1h 54m 53.1s
3. Khalifa Al-Attiyah (QA)/Rashid Al-Sulaiti (QA) Subaru Impreza 1h 58m 50.7s
4. Essa Al-Dossari (KSA)/Michael Morrissey (IRL) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 2h 01m 14.3s
5. Ammar Hijazi (HKJ)/Ata Al-Hmoud (HKJ) Subaru Impreza 2h 02m 08.7s
6. Faris Hijazi (HKJ)/Emad Juma (HKJ) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 2h 03m 35.3s
7. Meshari Al-Thafiri (KT)/Fares Al-Thafiri (KT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 2h 04m 27.2s
8. Majed Al-Ghamdi (KSA)/Nicola Arena (I) Subaru Impreza 2h 05m 23.4s
9. Saeed Al-Mouri (KSA)/Amr Al-Rafai (KSA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 2h 05m 37.1s
10. Jaber Al-Marri (QA)/Ala'a Al-Hmoud (HKJ) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 2h 08m 37.5s

Sharqia (Saudi) Rally

STRONG INTERNATIONAL ENTRY HEADS TO NEW SHARQIA RALLY

Posted: November 7, 2008 2:27 PM

Saudi Arabia's new Sharqia Rally has attracted a bumper entry from some of the Middle East's leading rally drivers, with several teams opting to support the new event rather than make the trip to the Troodos Rally for the penultimate round of the FIA regional series this weekend. The three-day Sharqia Rally takes place in the Al-Khobar region of the Eastern Province on November 11th-13th.

With several of the regular teams in the FIA series no longer able to win the championship, it made sense to support an event in the southern Gulf region, rather than incur the costs of travelling to the Eastern Mediterranean. Obviously the likes of championship contenders Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, Misfer Al-Marri, Nick Georgiou and Nicos Thomas are committed to the Troodos event, but officials at the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF) are delighted with the potential turn-out for Saudi Arabia's maiden international special stage rally.

The Kingdom will be particularly well represented next week, with the likes of Farouk Ghurab, Saeed Al-Mori, Majed Al-Ghamdi, Mansour Al-Ghatani, Farhan Al-Shammer and Rajeh Al-Shammeri joining regional championship regulars Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Ahmed Al-Sabban on the entry list. Both the Al-Shammeris were front-runners in the Saudi Hail Baja round of the FIA International Cup for Bajas, but this will be their first attempt at an international stage rally.

Al-Ghamdi enjoyed a successful start to his career with the Toyota Rav4 programme several years ago and has become a regular face in regional rallying. He teams up with Italian co-driver Nicola Arena in Saudi Arabia at the wheel of a Subaru Impreza. Arena is better known for his partnership with Jordan's Amjad Farrah, who is also present on the impressive entry list.

Three other Jordanian crews have opted to follow Farrah to the Sharqia Rally. Faris Hijazi and his co-driver Imad Juma wheel out their Mimari Racing car and are joined by Ibrahim Muhawish and Yousef Al-Asmar in a Subaru Impreza and Ammar Hijazi and co-driver Ata Al Hmoud in their Subaru.

Qatar's Mohammed Al-Marri and Jaber Al-Marri have also entered the Sharqia Rally, while Manchester-based chemist David Scialom represents the United Kingdom, Meshari Al-Thafiri drives for Kuwait and Abdulrahman Ghuloom wheels out his trusty Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 5 to represent the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The event is being held under the patronage of HRH Prince Mohamed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Governor of the Eastern Province and the Chairman of the Higher Committee for the new Saudi Rally.

"We are delighted to welcome so many international rally teams to the Eastern Province," said Mishaal Al-Sudairy, President of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF). "We have good representation from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and many of the GCC countries. This bodes well for the future strength of our new rally when we hope to enter the regional championship in 2009.

The event will be based in the Half Moon Bay area of Al-Khobar, which is easily accessible for overseas competitors from the Bahrain Causeway. Scrutineering takes place next Tuesday (November 11th) at Automoto between Al Khobar and Damman. This will be followed by a spectator stage at King Fahd Coastal City and the two days of desert competitive action will be on Wednesday, November 12th and Thursday, November 13th.

PORTUGUESE WRC STAR ARMINDO ARAÚJO HEADS TO SAUDI ARABIA

Posted: October 29, 2008 3:04 PM

Portugal's WRC star Armindo Araújo has joined an impressive list of entrants for Saudi Arabia's official candidate event for the 2009 FIA Middle East Rally Championship on November 10th-13th, 2008.

The two-day, special stage event is being organised by the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF) under the patronage of HRH Prince Mohamed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Governor of the Eastern Province and the Chairman of the Higher Committee for the new Saudi Rally. It has been renamed the Sharqia (Arabic for Eastern) Rally, because it takes place in the Kingdom's vast eastern region.

Araújo is one of the fastest drivers in the FIA Production World Rally Championship (PWRC) and will be making his first appearance in the Middle East to sample rallying in showroom-type cars over desert terrain. The 31-year-old began rallying in 2000 and clinched the Portuguese Rally Championship's 1600 class two years later in a Citroën Saxo.

He won the title outright the following season and also clinched the 1600 class, before retaining both titles in 2004. He has since driven an official Mitsubishi Portugal entry on rounds of the WRC and gained vital experience with some useful performances in the PWRC.

Ahmed Al-Sabban is one of the region's most experienced drivers and the Saudi star has entered his Toyota S2000 car in his home event. Al-Sabban began rallying in the Middle East back in 1993 with a Ford Escort and has entered numerous rounds of the series in the past 15 years. This year he decided to become the first Arab driver to opt for the S2000 route instead of a traditional Group N car, but useful stage times have not been turned into top finishes and he missed the recent event in Jordan to prepare the Toyota for the Sharqia Rally.

"I am delighted that Saudi Arabia is hosting a special stage rally," enthused Al-Sabban. "This is something that many of us have been looking forward to for a long time. I know the Toyota has great potential. We just need to sort the reliability and some teething problems and we will be setting some top times."

The Saudi will be joined on the entry list by Jordan's Amjad Farrah, who has decided to tackle the Saudi event rather than take part in the seventh round of the Middle East rally series in Cyprus a few days before. Farrah is also a regular on the PWRC circuit, but has endured a miserable run of luck in the Gulf region and has yet to collect a point in the championship this year. Qatar's Khalifa Al-Attiyah and Lebanon's Saudi-based Doumit Bou Doumit join Farrah on the Sharqia Rally entry list.

Meanwhile, Ken Skidmore of Autotek has confirmed that Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi has acquired Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah's Jordan Rally-winning Subaru Impreza N14 and will use the Prodrive-built car for the first time in Saudi Arabia. Autotek has won every round of the regional series this season, with the exception of the Cyprus Rally, where Nicos Thomas received Autotek assistance.

The event will be based in the Half Moon Bay area of Al-Khobar, which is easily accessible for overseas competitors from the Bahrain Causeway. Scrutineering will take place on Tuesday, November 11th at Automoto between Al Khobar and Damman. This will be followed by a spectator stage at King Fahd Coastal City and the two days of desert competitive action will be on Wednesday, November 12th and Thursday, November 13th.

SAUDI ARABIA'S YAZEED AL-RAJHI PINNING HOPES ON HOME VICTORY

Posted: October 23, 2008 4:21 PM

Saudi Arabian rally star Yazeed Al-Rajhi is one of the top names entered for the new Saudi Rally, which will run as an official candidate event for the 2009 FIA Middle East Rally Championship on November 10th-13th, 2008.

The two-day, special stage event is being organised by the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF) under the patronage of HRH Prince Mohamed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Governor of the Eastern Province and the Chairman of the Higher Committee for the new Saudi Rally.

The event will take place a mere three days after the sixth round of the FIA regional series in Cyprus and several regional drivers, who have no chance of winning this year's FIA Middle East title, have opted to support Saudi's new special stage rally, instead of heading to the eastern Mediterranean island.

Al-Rajhi has already shown his winning pedigree this season by clinching an outright win in Kuwait in March and is relishing the chance to make it two wins on candidate events this season. The Saudi suffered a first day accident in Jordan last week and was unable to continue in his new Subaru Impreza N14, which has been prepared by Finland's Tommi Makinen Racing (TMR) and run on events under the management of Britain's Kevin Morris.

Al-Rajhi will, therefore, switch to another 2008-specification Subaru Impreza WRX for his home event and is expected to use Frenchman Matthieu Baumel as his co-driver. "I wouldn't miss my home rally for the world," enthused Al-Rajhi. "It is fantastic news that Saudi Arabia is on the motor sport map and planning to enter the FIA Middle East Championship in 2009. It was obvious that I would support my country."

Another seasoned regional campaigner keen to tackle the new rally is Sharjah's Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi, a former runner-up in the championship and multiple Group N winner. Al-Qassimi skipped the recent round of the series in Jordan, but is planning to tackle the Saudi event with British co-driver Steve Lancaster, who won the regional title with Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah in 2003.

"It will be the first time that I have been to Saudi Arabia, but our entire team is looking forward to it," said Lancaster. "I have heard how well organised the Baja was this year and how fabulous some of the stages were, so I am keen to see Saudi running a special stage event and getting into the championship next year."

The event will be based in the Half Moon Bay area of Al-Khobar, which is easily accessible for overseas competitors from the Bahrain Causeway. Saudi officials have also created a new two-kilometre spectator stage, which will run on Tuesday afternoon after scrutineering. According to Bahraini clerk of the course Elie Semaan, "the stage has nice sharp hairpins and short to long straights, which makes it challenging and technical for the driver."

"We are putting the finishing touches to the route and the logistics of the event now," enthused Mishaal Al-Sudairy, President of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF). "There will be strong support from Saudi Arabia and there has been keen interest from many overseas competitors."

Technical scrutineering will take place on Tuesday, November 11th. This will be followed by the spectator stage and the two days of desert competitive action will be on Wednesday, November 12th and Thursday, November 13th.

BRAND NEW SAUDI RALLY TAKES SHAPE IN EASTERN PROVINCE

Posted: October 18, 2008 2:26 PM

The Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF) has now completed the provisional route and registrations are open for the new Saudi Rally, which will run as an official candidate event for the 2009 FIA Middle East Rally Championship on November 10th-13th, 2008. Event regulations should be finalised by the end of this week.

The event is being organised under the patronage of HRH Prince Mohamed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Governor of the Eastern Province and the Chairman of the Higher Committee for the new Saudi Rally, with the full co-operation and support of the sport's governing body, the FIA, and the regional rallying co-ordinator and Vice-President of the FIA, Derek Ledger.

Event officials have chosen the King Fahd sport coastal city in the Half Moon Bay area of Al-Khobar as the headquarters for the event, which takes place just three days after the finish of the Troodos Rally, the penultimate round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship, in Cyprus.

Ammar Kadi, general secretary of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation visited the location recently and met with officials at the site that will accommodate Saudi Arabia's first international special stage rally. The competitive action will take place on nearby gravel and sandy special stages.

Bahrain's Elie Semaan and Oman's Hamoud Al-Jabri have been working tirelessly with the SAMF to devise an exciting route and format for the new event, which SAMF officials hope will take its place in the regional calendar for the first time in April 2009. Both Semaan and Al-Jabri have worked on numerous rounds of the FIA rally series for many years and Semaan is a former clerk of the course of both the Bahrain and Qatar rallies.

"We welcome both international and regional participation in the event," said Mishaal Al-Sudairy, President of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF). "HRH Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Al-Saud, Governor of the Eastern Province and the patron of the rally, has facilitated and will provide assistance to ensure the success of the event. We are honoured that he has offered to support this exciting new motor sport venture."

Competitors attending from GCC countries will be entitled to seven days at a five-star hotel, with the driver and co-driver sharing accommodation.
Flight assistance will be offered in terms of $1000 USD and $500 USD will be paid towards shipping assistance.

Non-GCC teams will be offered seven nights in the hotel on similar terms, $2000 USD towards flight assistance and $1000 USD towards shipping costs, in addition to support with visa formalities.

Technical scrutineering for the new Saudi Rally will take place on Tuesday, November 11th and the two days of competitive action will be on Wednesday, November 12th and Thursday, November 13th.

GENEROUS CONCESSIONS ON OFFER TO OVERSEAS TEAMS FOR NEW SAUDI RALLY
Compact route and rally HQ for new Saudi event

Posted: September 1, 2008 2:49 PM

The Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF) is offering generous incentives to GCC and non-Middle Eastern competitors keen to tackle the new Saudi Rally, an official candidate event for the 2009 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, which takes place on November 10th-13th, 2008.

The event is being organised under the patronage of HRH Prince Mohamed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Eastern Province, with the full co-operation and support of the sport's governing body, the FIA, and the regional rallying co-ordinator and Vice-President of the FIA, Derek Ledger.

The exciting new event will be the first international special stage rally ever to be held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and will be based in the eastern region of the country at Al-Khubar Half Moon Bay. The rally headquarters, spectator stage and rally accommodation will all be situated close to each other and the special stages have been purpose-built for this type of special stage event. They will be located around 30km from the rally headquarters.

Competitors attending the event from GCC countries will be entitled to seven days at a five-star hotel, with the driver and co-driver sharing accommodation. Flight assistance will be offered in terms of $1000 USD and $500 USD will be paid towards shipping assistance.

Non-GCC teams will be offered seven nights in the hotel on similar terms, $2000 USD towards flight assistance and $1000 USD towards shipping costs, in addition to support with visa formalities.

"We hope that all the regular teams from the FIA Middle East Rally Championship support our first FIA special stage rally," said Mishaal Al-Sudairy, chairman of the organising committee. "We are keen to enter the championship in 2009 and follow on from the successes of the Hail Saudi Baja with a new event in the regional rallying calendar."

Technical scrutineering for the new Saudi Rally will take place on Tuesday, November 11th and the two days of competitive action will be on Wednesday, November 12th and Thursday, November 13th.

Saudi Motorsport (Saudi Rally)

SAUDI ARABIA SET TO HOST FIRST EVER CANDIDATE ROUND FOR THE MIDDLE EAST RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

Posted: July 3, 2008 6:34 PM

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is set to host its first ever international special stage car rally, when the Eastern Province hosts the Saudi Rally, an official candidate event for the 2009 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, on November 10th-14th, 2008.

The event is being organised by the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF), under the patronage of HRH Prince Mohamed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Eastern Province, in the easily-accessible Dammam area with the full co-operation and support of the sport's governing body, the FIA, and the regional rallying co-ordinator and Vice-President of the FIA, Derek Ledger.

Event officials in Saudi Arabia are currently sourcing suitable special stages to host such an event, but the event's rally headquarters will be based at Half Moon Bay in the Al Khaleej village, where there will also be a spectator stage and technical scrutineering on Tuesday, November 11th.

It is hoped that the desert special stages will be situated around 20km from rally headquarters and the two days of competitive action will take place on Wednesday, November 12th and Thursday, November 13th.

"We have been encouraged by the success and support for the Hail Saudi Baja, which is now an established round of the FIA International Cup for Bajas," enthused Mishaal Al-Sudairy, chairman of the organising committee.

"The next step was to run a special stage event, with a view to joining the established events in the region in the prestigious FIA Middle East Rally Championship. Kuwait ran as a candidate rally this February and should become a round of the championship in 2009. Our aim is to follow it into the championship."

The Saudi Rally is being devised from scratch by Bahrain-based Lebanese consultant Elie Semaan and his technical advisor and assistant clerk of the course Hamoud Al-Jabry, both experienced regional rally organisers.

Semaan was the clerk of the course of the Qatar Rally this year and was a former organiser of the Bahrain International Rally. Al-Jabry worked in an official capacity on the Oman International Rally for many years and, more recently, was involved in the running of the popular UAE national rally series.

"The potential for running a superb special stage rally in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is enormous," said Semaan. "Our brief is to find an event in the Eastern Province that will adhere to the FIA regulations for the regional championship. It is an interesting region and an event in Saudi Arabia has great potential."

Other officials have been integral in the success of the Hail Saudi Baja, with Derek Ledger acting as a rally consultant and Saleh Al-Solai working as deputy chairman of the organising committee. Ammar Al-Qadhi will work in the role of rally director and Mohammed Atwa has been appointed as event secretary.

Saudi Arabian rally drivers have made their mark on the FIA Middle East Rally Championship for many years. Mohammed Al-Malki was the first driver to break on to the international scene and was followed into active competition by the eventual 1992 regional champion Mamdouh Khayat.

Abdullah Bakhashab won the regional series three years later before entering the FIA World Rally Championship and Ahmed Al-Sabban and Yazeed Al-Rajhi are regular competitors this season, with Al-Rajhi winning the Kuwait candidate event outright in February this year. Al-Sabban has been the first driver in the Middle East to experiment with the new S2000 category.

Saudi Motorsport (Saudi Rally)