Al-Rajhi posts back-to-back Ha'il Baja victories
Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al-Rajhi and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel after their second successive victory in the Ha'il Baja on Thursday. (AN photo)
Published: Feb 19, 2010 01:11 Updated: Feb 19, 2010 01:11
HAIL: Saudi driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and French navigator Matthieu Baumel claimed a superb second successive victory in the Ha'il Baja, after comfortably setting the fastest time on the 187.7km third selective section through the An-Nafud desert in the north-central region of the Kingdom on Thursday.
The Mitsubishi Lancer crew began the day with a 6m 34s advantage over Abdullah Bakhashab and Joseph Matar and managed to stay ahead of the Toyota FJ Cruiser Proto crew over the third day's challenging desert route to the south and west of Hail to record a winning margin of 32m 54.3s when Bakhashab suffered clutch problems near the end.
The victory gave Al-Rajhi an unofficial four-point lead after round one of the 2010 FIA Cup for Cross-Country Bajas, which resumes with the Northern Forest Rally, near Saint Petersburg in Russia, in less than two weeks' time. Baumel also confirmed his hat-trick of Saudi Ha'il Baja successes, after guiding Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah to victory in 2008 with the BMW X-raid team and Al-Rajhi with an Overdrive Nissan Pick-Up last year.
"The car was fantastic, Matthieu did a great job on the route and I am so happy to have made a winning start to my program in the Baja Cup," said Al-Rajhi. "Winning at home in Saudi Arabia makes it extra special for me."
The UAE's Raed Baker and Nabil Ahmadi set the second fastest time of the day and managed to fend off a strong Saudi challenge over the closing kilometers to confirm the final podium place in their Mitsubishi L200. Mtair and Motaib Al-Shammeri finished fourth overall in their Toyota Land Cruiser and Farhan Al-Galeb and Tariq Ramah rounded off the top five in a Nissan.
Sami and Abdullah Al-Shammeri claimed victory in the T2 showroom category with their Bakhashab Isuzu Team D-Max, the Saudi duo benefiting from delays for UAE's Yayha Al-Helai and the fact that Abdullah Al-Herais failed to restart on Thursday morning.
Twenty-five of the original 27 cars entered in the international event were permitted to restart stage three on Thursday morning, with Majed Al-Ghamdi succumbing to engine problems and Safah Al-Saeedi also falling by the wayside. Emirati Abdullah Al-Herais did not take the restart. Cars that did not complete the full second stage were given a notional time penalty of 10h 15m.
It was business as usual at the head of the field through the opening kilometers over a compacted surface out of Qana, with Al-Rajhi heading Bakhashab. Mtair Al-Shammery began an early charge and managed to pass Baker and Qatar's Sheikh Hamed Bin Eid Al-Thani to take a virtual third position on the 187.7km stage, where sand became more prevalent on fast, winding tracks to the second safety point.
Al-Rajhi was the first to reach the Tawiya checkpoint and was followed by Bakhashab and Al-Shammeri, but Al-Thani was forced to stop around five kilometers after the start with mechanical problems, as Al-Shammeri inherited fourth overall and Al-Herais moved up to fifth. Saudi's Abdullah Al-Dossary and Saleh Al-Saleh were also delayed and managed to continue.
Al-Rajhi maintained his advantage over Bakhashab to the Baaja checkpoint and Sami Al-Shammeri became embroiled in a close tussle with Al-Herais for the advantage in the T2 category. Thereafter, crews had to pass tricky rocky sections and several rough wadis to arrive at a giant dune with a steep uphill climb.
The outright leader continued to pull away from a clutch-troubled Bakhashab as the route turned south toward Mohaffar, while Baker managed to get passed the Al-Shammeri duo to regain third on the stage. The closing kilometers began on fast, graded tracks and gave way to sandier surfaces and several undulating passages through a series of sand dunes before a downhill section brought teams to the finish.
Provisional final positions after SS3 (unofficial): 1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Matthieu Baumel (F) Mitsubishi Lancer 6h 55m 55.3s 2. Abdullah Bakhashab (KSA)/Joseph Matar (RL) Toyota FJ Cruiser Proto 7h 28m 49.6s 3. Raed Baker (UAE)/Nabil Almadi (UAE) Mitsubishi L200 7h 48m 51.0s 4. Mtair Al-Shammeri (KSA)/Moteb Al-Shammeri (KSA) Toyota Land Cruiser 8h 11m 47.9s 5. Farhan Al-Galeb (KSA)/Tariq Ramah (KSA) Nissan Patrol 8h 40m 33.3s 6. Sami Al-Shammeri (KSA)/Abdullah Al-Shammeri (KSA) Isuzu D-Max (T2) 8h 43m 01.3s 7. Yayha Al-Helai (UAE)/Khalid Al-Kendi (UAE) Nissan Patrol (T2) 8h 47m 10.7s 8. Mfadi Al-Shammery (KSA)/Mohammed Al-Shammeri (KSA Toyota Land Cruiser 8h 55m 03.0s 9. Ali Obaid Hasan (UAE)/Ali Dadi (UAE) Nissan Patrol 9h 01m 44.3s 10. Ibrahim Al-Muhana (KSA)/Osama Al-Sanad (KSA) Nissan Patrol 9h 20m 40.4s, etc (T1 unless stated) 2010 FIA

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ELDO JOSE
Feb 19, 2010 21:54
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