Yazeed al-Rajhi in Hummer scored his fourth victory at the Ha’il Nissan International Rally in the north-central region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia yesterday.
By Our Correspondent/HA’IL, Saudi Arabia
Yazeed al-Rajhi stormed to an emphatic fourth victory in the Ha’il Nissan International Rally, which finished in the north-central region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia yesterday.
The Hummer driver was on a different class from the start with German co-driver Timo Gottschalk and celebrated a fourth win in four different makers of car with a winning margin of nearly 70 minutes.
“It was a fantastic event and I am delighted to have won here with the Hummer,” said al-Rajhi. “That’s four wins here for me now and that gives me great confidence to take to the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge next week.”
Rajah Farhan al-Shammeri managed to fend off the challenge from Moteb Saud al-Shammeri to claim the runner-up spot on the 10th anniversary event hosted by the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF).
Khalaf Joan climbed to third place in a Toyota after Moteb Saud al-Shammeri was slowed by mechanical issues on the final day and lost his place in the top 10. Ahmed al-Gashimi finished fourth in another Nissan.
In the motorcycle and quad category, Ahmed al-Nasser claimed outright victory in his Honda bike. Second-placed Abdul-Majeed al-Khulaifi finished as the leading quad rider in his Kawasaki. Sultan al-Masood was third in his Yamaha quad.
Rajah Farhan al-Shammeri had not missed any waypoints on Saturday’s selective section and he began the final stage in second place, 53min 01sec behind al-Rajhi, the Saudi ensuring that Moteb Saud al-Shammeri was down on third place at the start of the final 192.03km of action from Jubbah to Qana.
Ahmed al-Nasser began the final section with a lead of 2min 03sec over Abdul-Majeed al-Khulaifi in the motorcycle and quad category. The shorter 85.37km final selective section for the bikes and quads ran from Al-Hafer to Qana.
Both of the staggered stages started at similar times and al-Rajhi began to pull clear of his rivals, as Motair al-Shammeri and Ahmed al-Gashimi took up the chase and were the Hummer driver’s closest challengers at the first checkpoint. Ahmed al-Shammeri rolled his Toyota early in the stage, but al-Rajhi steamrollered the opposition and set the stage target time of 2hr 22min 10sec. He eventually won the stage by 16min 49sec.
Technical troubles ruined Moteb Saud al-Shammeri’s chances of claiming a top 10 finish and his demise lifted Khalaf Joan to third place behind Rajah Farhan al-Shammeri. Eight Nissans finished inside the top 10.
Final positions after leg 3 Cars (top 10 only)
1. Yazeed al-Rajhi (SAU)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) (Hummer) 8hr 50min 58sec
2. Rajah Farhan al-Shammeri (SAU)/Mubarak Farhan al-Shammeri (SAU) (Nissan)
10hr 00min 48sec
3. Khalaf Joan (SAU)/Joan al-Shammeri (SAU) (Toyota) 10hr 37min 37sec
4. Ahmed al-Gashimi (SAU) Omar al-Lahim (SAU) (Nissan) 10hr 38min 43sec
5. Motair al-Shammeri (SAU)/Raed al-Assaf SAU) (Nissan) 10hr 45min 10sec
6. Sami al-Shammeri (SAU)/Abdullah
al-Shammeri (SAU) Nissan (10hr 45min 29sec)
7. Emil Khneisser (LBN)/Alexsei Kuzmich (RUS) (Nissan) 10hr 47min 54sec
8. Munif al-Salmani (SAU)/Ali Mirza (ARE)
(Nissan) 10hr 48min 09sec
9. Ahmed al-Shegawi (SAU)/Nooh Buhumaid (ARE) (Nissan) 10hr 50min 41sec
10. Niaf al-Otaibi (SAU)/Mohammed al-Seiri (SAU) (Nissan) 10hr 53min 22sec