AL-RAJHI FENDS OFF AKEEL’S CHALLENGE TO LEAD JEDDAH RALLY TOYOTA AFTER STAGE ONE
JEDDAH (SAUDI ARABIA): Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Dania Akeel were locked in a fascinating duel for honours on the opening 191km stage of Jeddah Rally Toyota that ran through the scenic desert to the north of the city on Friday.
Just 6min 35sec separated the Overdrive Racing duo after the day’s stage, part of which was held in rain and stormy conditions, and Al-Rajhi and his German navigator Timo Gottschalk will now open the road for Saturday’s season finale. Akeel and Stéphane Duplé need to finish in front of their rivals to have any chance of winning the Saudi Toyota Rally Championship but will have their work cut out to overhaul Al-Rajhi on Saturday.
Al-Rajhi said: “It was a good day for us. Timo and I did it well. Nothing special but winning the stage was the most important. Let’s hope it all continues and I can win the championship for the fourth time to end the season.”
Akeel added: “A lot of diverse terrain as usual in Jeddah. We opened the road from about 70km. I enjoyed it a lot. The plan is to at least stay in this position and maybe progress.”
Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera and Haitham Al-Tuwaijri continued to lead their respective motorcycle and quad categories, while Mishaal Al-Ghuneim claimed the stage win on two wheels with his Husqvarna.
Al-Mogheera said: “I was the 10th competitor on the start and the leader of the bikes and I managed to complete the first part on my own. I was a bit nervous to be alone. At one point I was lost but Ahmed Al-Jaber and Mohammed Al-Balooshi joined me and we completed the stage together.”
Al-Tuwaijri added: “We got lucky with the rain today but we got very muddy. The start of the stage wasn’t great for me but I managed to make up a lot of ground in the later part and won the stage. My accident in Qatar prevented me from competing for the Baja World Cup in quads on the last two events.”
Bike stage winner Al-Ghuneim said: “If you see the Prologue results, you know I am out of contention for this rally. I really messed up the Prologue. I had 40 minutes of penalties. I had a problem with the GPS and completely lost my way. Anyway, this is the last rally of the season and I wanted to finish well before Dakar. Today, was a really good day and I won the stage. Riding in the rain was pleasant. I loved it.”
Penalties were awarded to several drivers and riders after the Prologue on Thursday evening for missing vital waypoints.
UAE-based Briton Alex McInnes earned a two-minute one and Mohammed Al-Balooshi was awarded 10 minutes that pushed him down the rankings before the restart. Both Martin Chalmers and Sarah Khuraibet were awarded four minutes and, in the cars, the likes of Miroslav Zapletal, Yasir Seaidan and Saleh Al-Saif were penalised.
Road-opening duties in the cars went to Ibrahim Al-Muhanna with Akeel and Al-Rajhi opting to start from fifth and 10th positions amongst the 31 runners.
Both Annett Quandt and Maria Gameiro was giving a competitive debut to X-raid’s new Fenic, the evolution of the team’s Yamaha 1000 R Turbo, which sports a new front hood design and modifications to the drivetrain, suspension and front axle geometry. The new machines underwent hundreds of kilometres of testing in Morocco and Dubai before their Saudi debut this weekend.
Yasir Seaidan finished the stage in third to hold a similar position in the overall car standings in his Challenger-leading Taurus T3 Max. Waleed Al-Dhakeel (MC-5) was fourth, with Quandt and her Swedish co-driver Annie Seel coming home in fifth and third in Challenger ahead of Saleh Al-Saif.
Al-Dhakeel said: “I did face some car issues but we didn’t stop and we didn’t lose a lot of time. Tomorrow, I will continue with the same approach of today. I won’t be able to push to the maximum but I will try and preserve the car.”
Eighth-placed Abdullah Al-Shegawi (Can-Am) topped the SSV section, while Mohammed Al-Asiri continued to lead the Stock section for series-production cross-country machines in his Nissan Patrol.
Maha Al-Hameli is running just outside the top 10 in her Can-Am. She said: “It was a good stage but very difficult in terms of navigation. We almost opened the stage but there was a problem before the start with the in-helmet radio and I had no communication with my co-driver. From the start to the end, we communicated with sign language. It wasn’t easy at all. I was under a lot of pressure. I couldn’t tell where the speed zones were and the danger zones and when to go left or right. We had a good position until the car switched off and wouldn’t start for 10 minutes at the refuelling.”
The Japanese trio of Teruhito Sugawara, Hirokazu Somemiya and Yuji Mochizuki guided their Hino 600 to a solid stage finish in the Truck section.
With those overnight penalties ruining an out-of-sorts Al-Balooshi’s chance of taking a clean sweep of motorcycle wins this season, Al-Ghuneim managed to beat the Emirati by 17 seconds to claim the stage win with leader Al-Mogheera coming home in third on the day.
A disappointed Al-Balooshi said: “Not so good. I cannot focus. I am making so many mistakes. I have been doubting myself now. The rain didn’t affect me. It is just that I am not there with my head. I cannot pinpoint.”
McInnes dropped time on the stage but still managed to hold second overall in the motorcycle standings from Philip Horlemann and Ehab Al-Hakeem. Khuraibet rode slowly to the stage finish at the rear of the field after suffering problems with the navigation equipment on her Husqvarna.
McInnes said: “Today was really fun, probably the most fun stage I have done in my life. It was a mix of sand, rocky tracks, sliding gravel roads and the navigation was good. I think my navigation is good enough to win.”
Al-Hakeem added: “It was amazing, especially with this weather. We had rain and it made it challenging.”
Emirati Abdullah Lanjawi is seventh of the two-wheel contingent. He said: “For me, the first time here in Jeddah. It is a cool rally, a mix of gravel and sand. It is amazing to be here. It is one of the best rallies in the region.”
Ahmed Al-Jaber started second on the road and now holds eighth place. He said: “I was opening all the stage. The last part I was with some other guys who also got lost and then I ended up in a group. After my accident in 2022, I have come back to my good level and opened on a rocky and high-speed special. Now I am ready for Dakar Malle-Moto.”
Al-Tuwaijri again topped the times in the quads section on his Yamaha Raptor 700 and extended his lead over Abdulaziz Al-Shayban to 2min 01sec. Abdulaziz Al-Atawi and Hani Al-Noumesi maintained third and fourth.
Al-Noumesi added: “It has been very exciting and also challenging with the changing conditions. It’s hot, we’ve had rain and it’s really fun.”
Jeddah Rally Toyota 2024 is being organised by the (SAMF) in conjunction with the Ministry of Sport, with official partner Jameel Motorsport and strategic partner Saudi Investment Bank. The event is being held under the chairmanship of H.R.H. Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal.
Tomorrow (Saturday), competitors will tackle a desert stage of approximately 103km between Al-Kamil and Khulais to the north of Jeddah.
Jeddah Rally Toyota 2024 – Positions after day 1 (unofficial @ 14.50hrs):
Cars (top 20 only)
1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) Toyota Hilux 2hr 00min 41sec
2. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA) Toyota Hilux 2hr 00min 41sec
3. Yasir Seaidan (SAU)/Michael Metge (FRA) Taurus T3 Max 2hr 05min 00sec
4. Waleed Al-Dhakeel (SAU)/Egor Alexandrovich (ANA) MC-5 2hr 11min 13sec
5. Annett Quandt (DEU)/Annie Seel (SWE) X-Raid Fenic 2hr 14min 51sec
6. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Michal Goleniewski (POL) Ford F-150 2hr 15min 05sec
7. Saleh Al-Saif (SAU)/Albert Veliamovič (LTU) G Rally Team OT3 2hr 16min 58sec
8. Abdullah Al-Shegawi (SAU)/Raid Al-Assaf (SAU) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 2hr 17min 53sec
9. Hamad Al-Harbi (SAU)/Aleksei Kuzmich (ARE) Can-Am Maverick X3 2hr 19min 13sec
10. Maria Gameiro (PRT)/José Marques (PRT) X-Raid Fenic 2hr 21min 48sec
11. Hamza Bakhashab (SAU)/Marcin Pasek (POL) Can-Am Maverick X3 2hr 27min 00sec
12. Mohammed Asiri (SAU)/Sulaiman Al-Oraini (SAU) Nissan Patrol 2hr 27min 46sec
13. Maha Al-Hameli (SAU)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Can-Am Maverick X3 2hr 28min 42sec
14. Khaled Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Majed Al-Shammeri (SAU) Nissan Patrol 2hr 29min 05sec
15. Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh (SAU)/Omar Al-Lahim (SAU) Nissan Patrol 2hr 30min 46sec
16. Ibrahim Al-Muhanna (SAU)/Faisal Al-Suwayh (SAU) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 2hr 30min 48sec
17. Jafar Al-Qahtani (SAU)/Hussam Al-Zahrani (SAU) Nissan Patrol 2hr 37min 43sec
18. Orjwan Ammar (SAU)/Khalid Al-Kendi (ARE) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 2hr 39min 24sec
19. Owaid Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Ayidh Al-Harbi (SAU) Toyota Land Cruiser 2hr 41min 03sec
20. Faisal Al-Sharari (SAU)/Mazen Al-Saeedi (SAU) Nissan Patrol 2hr 47min 04sec, etc
Truck
1.Teruhito Sugawara/Hirokazu Somemiya/Yuji Mochizuki (JPN) Hino 600 2hr 26min 59sec
Bikes
1. Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera (SAU) KTM Rally Bike 3hr 31min 48sec
2. Alex McInnes (ARE) Husqvarna FE 450 3hr 47min 30sec
3. Philip Horlemann (ARE) KTM 450 Rally Replica 3hr 49min 13sec
4. Ehab Al-Hakeem (SAU) Yamaha WR 450F 3hr 49min 33sec
5. Mohammed Al-Balooshi (ARE) KTM Rally Bike 3hr 58min 52sec
6. Martin Chalmers (QAT) GasGas 450 RFR 4hr 12min 36sec
7. Abdullah Lanjawi (ARE) Kove 450 Rally 4hr 26min 07sec
8. Ahmed Al-Jaber (SAU) KTM Rally Bike 4hr 26min 11sec
9. Mohammed Meerza (ARE) Husqvarna FE 501 4hr 32min 33sec
10. Mishal Al-Ghuneim (SAU) Husqvarna 450 Rally Replica 5hr 17min 55sec
11 Salman Humood (BHR) KTM 450 Rally Replica 6hr 08min 24sec
12. Sarah Khuraibet (KWT) Husqvarna FE 450 AWAITED
Quads
1. Haitham Al-Tuwaijri (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700 3hr 44min 46sec
2. Abdulaziz Al-Shayban (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700 3hr 46min 47sec
3. Abdulaziz Al-Atawi (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700 3hr 52min 15sec
4. Hani Al-Noumesi (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700 4h4 12min 43sec
