Balooshi eyes clean sweep as Rajhi, Akeel vie for top spot at Saudi Rally

Jeddah Rally Toyota will draw the curtain on a highly-competitive and increasingly-popular Saudi Toyota Rally Championship this weekend.

The three-day round of the all-terrain series is based at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit (JCC) and has attracted a field of 38 cars, 16 motorcycles and six quads. Action gets underway with a Prologue stage of 11km from 15.00hrs on Thursday afternoon.

Three-time FIM Bajas World Cup winner Mohammed Al Balooshi has won the motorcycle category in all three rounds of this year’s Saudi Toyota Championship and starts as the clear favourite to continue his remarkable recent run of form.

Main competition for the Emirati comes from the host nation’s Abdulhalim Al Mogheera, Ahmed Al Jaber and Mishal Al Ghuneim, Lebanon’s Rafic Eid, Doha-based Australian Martin Chalmers and UAE-based Briton Alex McInnes.

Haitham Al Tuwaijri won the quad category in Jeddah Rally Toyota for the last two seasons and will be aiming for a hat-trick when he takes on title rivals Hani Al Noumesi, Abdulaziz A Shayban and Abdulaziz Al Atawi. Al Shayban emerged victorious at the last round in Qassim, while Al-Tuwaijri was triumphant in Tabuk back in May and in Ha’il at the start of the season.

Yazeed Al Rajhi leads his Overdrive Racing team-mate Dania Akeel by 21 points in the Ultimate P category and has a 28-point cushion over the recent winner of the FIA Middle East Baja Cup in the overall championship standings.

The duo will go head-to-head to decide both titles in their Toyota Hiluxes. Their respective navigators, Timo Gottschalk and Stéphane Duplé, are also separated by 28 points in the Co-drivers’ Championship.

The battle for third place in the points’ standings is still wide open: Saleh Al Saif heads into the weekend with a 24-point lead over Hamad Al Harbi with Moaaz Hariri, Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh and Miroslav Zapletal within striking distance of finishing fourth.

Al Yaeesh will also be aiming to seal victory in the Ultimate category at the wheel of his Nissan Patrol. He leads fellow Nissan driver Fares Al Moshna by seven points with Khalid Al Shammeri starting as the favourite to finish the season in third in class.

Harbi (Can-Am) and Saif (OT3) are great rivals in other FIA championships and they head into the weekend’s Jeddah showdown separated by just two points in the quest to win the prestigious Challenger category.

Maha Al Hameli and German rival Annett Quandt are closely matched in the battle for the final place on the Challenger podium, with Hamza Bakhashab knowing that if he delivers a top performance through the deserts to the north of Jeddah he will also move into podium contention.

Four Nissan Patrol drivers are still within a shout of securing the Stock title for series-production cross-country machines.

Majed Al Thunayyan is the new FIA Middle East Baja Cup’s Stock champion and will take the start with a two-point cushion over Sufian Al Omar and a three-point advantage over Saudi Border Guard driver Jafar Al-Qahtani. Fourth-placed Muneef Al-Shammeri is 14 points off the outright class lead.

Moaaz Hariri has already won the Can-Am-dominated SSV category in his Maverick XRS Turbo RR. The Saudi starts the event with a 42-point lead over Abdullah Al-Shegawi, who will go up against R-X Sport’s Orjwan Ammar and Abdullah Al Haydan in the battle for second and third place.

Jeddah Rally Toyota 2024 is being organised by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) in conjunction with the Ministry of Sport, with official partner Jameel Motorsport and strategic partner Saudi Investment Bank. It is running under the supervision of SAMF Chairman Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al Abdullah Al Faisal.

Agencies