JEDDAH, 9 March 2004 — Toyota Rally Team Saudi Arabia is taking part in the Toyota Cup Challenge within the Middle East Rally Championship for the third time in a row this season.
“The team will participate in all the five rounds of the challenge. The first round starts with Bahrain International Rally on Thursday (March 11) and will continue up to March 13. “The overall length of the rally is 550 km, of which 250 km stretch covers various terrains,” a spokesman for the Toyota Cup Middle East said yesterday.
In the previous two seasons, Toyota Rally Team Saudi Arabia managed to achieve great successes and Majid Al-Ghamdi, the team’s star, was crowned champion for the second time in a row. During the last season, Al-Ghamdi defeated Rashid Al-Hajri of Qatar, the strongest contender, and ranked first with Al-Hajri second and Sultan Hamdi third. Amr Shas, who ranked fourth, was excluded from the team for his modest performance in the past two seasons.
“Fierce competition is expected this season. “This is because of the experience of the team members in the past two seasons,” Al-Ghamdi said. They competed in the Middle East Rally Championship with such great rally drivers as Saudi Rally Champion Abdullah Bakhashab. Also the team got adapted to the Toyota RAV4 vehicle, which was specially equipped to conquer the harsh terrains of the rally. “I’m confident of winning the title for the third time in a row this season,” Al-Ghamdi said.
Following is the schedule of TRTSA for 2004: Bahrain International Rally March 11-13, Oman International Rally April 21-23, Jordan International Rally May 13-15, Syria International Rally Sept. 1-3 and Dubai International Rally Dec. 1-3.
Sponsors of Toyota Rally Team Saudi Arabia include Abdul Latif Jameel, the Kingdom’s exclusive agent for Toyota, and Power Horse
