Four-time winner Yazeed al-Rajhi and German navigator Timo Gotschalk cruised to the fastest time on the opening 7.8km super special stage of the Ha’il Nissan International Rally yesterday afternoon.
The Hummer crew were the class of the impressive 46-car field in north-central Saudi Arabia and will start the opening desert section this morning with an outright lead of 29.15 seconds.
Qatar’s Sheikh Hamed bin Eid al-Thani began superbly in his Nissan Patrol and recorded the second quickest time of 5min 13.62sec. Saudi driver Mohammed al-Tuwaijri rounded off the top three.
Bahrain’s Hassan al-Sadadi returned to action with Emirati navigator Nooh Buhmaid in a Predator Buggy and clocked the 21st quickest time.  “It’s great to be back in harness and I thoroughly enjoyed the short stage and we are both looking forward to the desert stages,” said al-Sadadi.
FIA World Cup T2 front-runner Emil Khneisser held 22nd place in his Nissan Middle East-backed patrol. Saudi front-runner Sami al-Shammeri lost over 11 minutes with technical issues. The early advantage in the T3 category fell to Mashna and Dhari al-Shammeri in a time of 5min 47.93sec. The UAE duo of Khalid al-Jaflah and Ahmed Malik were second in 5min 50.08sec and fellow Emiratis, Atif al-Zarouni and Bader al-Barrak, finished third in a Rage.
The rally is being staged under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Saud bin Abdul Mohsen bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Ha’il, President of the Supreme Commission for Ha’il Development and the Head of the Supreme Commission of the Ha’il Rally. The SAMF runs under the chairmanship of His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Bandar al-Faisal and the event is being organised in conjunction with the High Authority for the Development of Ha’il.
The meat of the competitive action begins this morning at 07.35hrs with the first of four selective sections through the An Nafud desert. The opening timed test runs for 123.40km between As Sufon and a finish in Camb Al Dol’o.

Leading positions after SSS  
1. Yazeed al-Rajhi (SAU)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) Hummer 4min 44.47sec
2. Hamed bin Eid al-Thani (QAT)/Fares Allouh (JOR) Nissan 5min 13.52sec
3. Mohammed al-Tuwaijri (SAU)/Muath Abatain (SAU) Toyota 5min 17.35sec
4. Muteb Saud al-Shammeri (SAU)/Ali Mirza (ARE) Nissan 5min 29.18sec
5. Khalif al-Farihi (SAU)/Ali Obaid (ARE) Nissan 5min 34.16sec
6. Ibrahim al-Muhanna (SAU)/Osama al-Sanad (SAU) Nissan    5min 39.31sec
7. Saleh Abdullah al-Abdulali (SAU)/Mohammed al-Naeem (SAU) Nissan 5min 41.49sec
8. Meshaal al-Saeedi (SAU)/Bandar al-Saeedi (SAU) Nissan 5min 44.09sec
9. Yasir Hamad Seidan (SAU)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Toyota 5min 44.28sec
10. Farhan al-Shammeri (SAU)/Majed al-Shammeri (SAU) Nissan 5min 47.14sec