Yazeed Al-Rajhi extends Saudi Toyota Desert Series lead with Rally Qassim win 14.10.2022: • Mishal Al-Ghuneim and Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi win bike and quad categories • Hamad Al-Harbi wins T3 after Dania Akeel rolls and Saleh Al-Saif stops in stage Yazeed Al-Rajhi and German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz cruised through the fina

 
•    Mishal Al-Ghuneim and Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi win bike and quad categories


•    Hamad Al-Harbi wins T3 after Dania Akeel rolls and Saleh Al-Saif stops in stage
 



Yazeed Al-Rajhi and German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz cruised through the final 123km stage to the south-west of Buraydah to secure victory at Rally Qassim on Friday.
 


On the eve of his wedding, the Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux driver managed to win the rally by 19min 02sec to strengthen his lead in the Saudi Toyota Desert Championship and give his co-driver an additional birthday present.
 


Al-Rajhi said: “A lot of good things are happening at the same time. Happy birthday to Dirk. This race was really difficult for me. I didn’t need any surprises with my wedding tomorrow. I needed to be more cautious. Everything went well and we won the race and lead the championship. The team did a great job. I finished my last day being single with a win and hope to take the win in Andalucia next week when I am married!”
 


Saudi Border Guard team driver Khalid Al-Feraihi and his French co-driver Sébastien Delaunay confirmed second overall with the fourth fastest time. The Saudi said: “I was surprised. It was difficult in scorching hot weather.



Anyway, we managed to reach the finish line and maintain second place and we earned precious points for the championship. My co-driver did a great job. Experienced co-drivers are valuable assets in desert rallies. It is becoming more difficult with hidden waypoints. An expert navigator is essential.”
 


A delighted Delaunay added: “We are very happy. We made two days without mistake and, in the end, it paid off. It was two different days. Yesterday was great for navigators, where a few mistakes and you can lose six minutes. Today, navigation was more easy but we had a lot of dunes and it was a driver’s day. If you get stuck on the dune, you can also lose 10 minutes. Both of us make no mistake for two days, so it was a good result at the end.”
 


Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal and Slovakian navigator Marek Sykora rounded off the podium places in their Ford F-150 Evo. Zapletal said: “Today was a nice but tricky day with a lot of sand. It was a good track and a good race. No issues for us today and everything worked very well.”
 


The results had been radically changed overnight when additional waypoint penalties were added. It didn’t affect the first two places in the car rankings, but Zapletal climbed to third and Saleh Al-Saif and Dania Akeel moved up to fourth and fifth overall, with Abdullah Al-Sanad still leading T2 in sixth.
 


But the battle for T3 honours was turned on its head during the last stage when Akeel rolled her South Racing Can-Am and rival Al-Saif stopped for over an hour with technical issues. That opened the door for Shegawi Racing’s Hamad Al-Harbi and Qatar-based Spanish co-driver Marc Serra to snatch the category win and seventh overall in their Can-Am.
 


Majed Al-Shammeri and Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh rounded off the top five and sixth-placed Abdullah Al-Sanad won the T2 section for series production cross-country vehicles. Fellow Saudi Saeed Al-Mouri and Jordanian co-driver Ata Al-Hmoud finished 15th and won the T4 class in a Can-Am.
 


KTM rider Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera set the unofficial fastest time on the last stage, the Saudi stopping the clocks well clear of Anass Al-Reheyani and Qatar-based Australian Martin Chalmers. Overnight leader Mishal Al-Ghuneim came home in fourth but had done enough to secure a 21-minute victory in the motorcycle category on his KTM.
 


Behind Chalmers, super special stage winner Yasser Al-Khareef came home in third place and Al-Reheyani and Ahmed Al-Jaber rounded off the top five, with the UAE’s Hamdan Al-Ali winning the larger-engine class and finishing 10th. Qatar’s Mohammed Al-Kaabi missed a waypoint and incurred a one-hour time penalty that dropped him out of contention.
 


Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi again topped the quad rankings on his Yamaha to secure victory over Haitham Al-Tuwaijri. His rival missed a pair of waypoints on the final stage and incurred hefty time penalties that pushed him well behind Al-Khulaifi.
 


Rally Qassim was 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 Toyota. The event was held under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Dr. Faisal bin Mishaal bin Saud bin Abdulaziz, Prince of the Al-Qassim region.
 







Rally Qassim 2022 – positions after SS2



Cars


1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Dirk von Zitzewitz (DEU) Toyota Hilux                                      3hr 35min 27sec
2. Khalid Al-Feraihi (SAU)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Nissan                                                           3hr 54min 29sec
3. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sykora (SVK) Ford F-150 Evo                                      3hr 59min 53sec      
4. Majed Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Abdulaziz Al-Ramali (SAU) Nissan                                       4hr 12min 03sec
5. Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh (SAU)/Omar Al-Lahim (SAU) Nissan                                        4hr 44min 06sec
6. Abdullah Al-Sanad (SAU)Abdulatif Al-Sanad (SAU) Nissan (T2)                                      4hr 51min 28sec
7. Hamad Al-Harbi (SAU)/Marc Serra (ESP) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3)                               4hr 52min 35sec
8. Ahmed Al-Shegawi (SAU)/Alexei Kuzmich (FIA) Nissan (T2)                                      4hr 58min 23sec
9. Al-Mashna Al-Ramali (SAU)/Murdi Al-Shammeri (SAU) Nissan                                      5hr 00min 50sec
10. Saleh Al-Saif (SAU)/Egor Okhotnikov (FIA) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3)            5hr 18min 09sec
11. Mutair Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Hani Al-Shammeri (SAU) Nissan                                      5hr 25min 50sec
12. Owaid Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Mutlaq Al-Shammeri (SAU) Toyota                                      5hr 27min 26sec
13. Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri (SAU)/Hector Garcia (PER) Nissan                                      5hr 48min 01sec
14. Haylan Al-Subaie (SAU)/Hussan Al-Zahrani (SAU) Nissan                                       6hr 01min 13sec
15. Saeed Al-Mouri (SAU)/Ata Al-Hmoud (JOR) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T4)      6hr 02min 15sec, etc
     



              
Bikes

1. Mishal Al-Ghuneim (SAU) KTM                                                                                         4hr 59min 11sec
2. Martin Chalmers (QAT) Honda                                                                                         5hr 20min 11sec
3. Yaseer Al-Khaleef (SAU) KTM                                                                                            5hr 46min 49sec
4. Anass Al-Reheyani (SAU) KTM                                                                                          6hr 00min 03sec
5. Ahmed Al-Jaber (SAU) KTM                                                                                               6hr 01min 11sec
6. Fawaz Al-Toaimi (SAU) Yamaha                                                                                        6hr 02min 54sec
7. Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera (SAU) KTM                                                                             6hr 06min 48sec
8. Badr Al-Hamdan (SAU) Honda                                                                                          6hr 18min 15sec
9. Mohammed Al-Suhebani (SAU) Honda                                                                         6hr 18min 22sec
10. Hamdan Al-Ali (UAE) Husqvarna                                                                                    6hr 39min 02sec
11. Ehab Al-Hakeem (SAU) Yamaha                                                                                     6hr 43min 59sec
12. Mohammed Al-Khater (SAU) KTM                                                                                7hr 32min 45sec, etc
 


Quads

1. Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi (SAU) Yamaha                                                                        6hr 01min 04sec
2. Haitham Al-Tuwaijri (SAU) Yamaha                                                                                10hr 13min 52sec
3. Abdulaziz Al-Atawi (SAU) Yamaha                                                                                   14hr 43min 38sec
3. Hani Al-Noumesi (SAU) Yamaha                                                                                       17hr 31min 02sec                       
                                                                            


 
For further information: www.saudi-championship.com


 

- Neil Perkins  photos Rally Qassim