Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk stormed into a commanding 4min 21sec lead after the opening 245km selective section of the Tabuk Toyota Rally 2024 through the Zaita desert on Friday.
The Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux crew opened the road on the second round of the Saudi Toyota Championship and led the scenic and demanding special from start-to-finish. “No issues, no problems, all is good,” said Al-Rajhi.
Their team-mates Dania Akeel and Stéphane Duplé also ran strongly to put the pair of Ultimate P class cars at the top of the leader board.
Akeel added: “It was spectacular and a lot of fun, amazing views and a really nice race. The first 85km were open and fast and the remainder were more technical between the rocks and the mountains and canyons. We took care to pass without any surprises. I love this car a lot and I feel more confident every kilometre.”
Saleh Al-Saif was the best of the rest and the first of the Challenger drivers in his Dark Horse OT3 with Qatari co-driver Nasser Al-Kuwari. The Saudi moved into a comfortable category lead over fourth-placed Can-Am driver Abdullah Al-Haydan.
Al-Saif said: “The stage is different to last year. A lot of new terrain and tracks. It was a little bit tricky and rocky and we had a puncture at the beginning and we stopped to change. About 10km before the end, we also had another puncture and decided not to change it. My aim is to be second in the championship.”
Moaaz Hariri continued his excellent run of recent form to set a top six stage time with co-driver Kirill Shubin and top the SSV category in his fifth-placed Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR. Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh continued to set the pace amongst the Nissan drivers running in the Ultimate class and held sixth overall.
Maha Al-Hameli, Hamad Al-Harbi, Waleed Al-Dhakeel and Owaid Al-Shammeri rounded off the top 10, while Jafar Al-Qahtani headed the Stock category for series-production cross-country vehicles. Abdullah Al-Shegawi retired with electrical issues.
MX Ride Dubai’s Mohammed Al-Balooshi claimed the stage win on two wheels on his Husqvarna with a time of 3hr 07min 42sec. But the Emirati still trails local rider Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera by 1min 50sec in the overall standings after the Saudi won the Prologue stage that was multiplied by a co-efficient on Friday evening.
