JEDDAH, 14 January 2007 — The final round of Mobily Desert Race will be held at Bahra in Jeddah on Thursday.
The final follows the staging of the first round in Alkhobar and second round in Riyadh in recent months.
The final will take the participating drivers across sand dunes and desert tracks as they seek to become internationally qualified race and rally drivers and vie for the Kingdom’s desert challenge champion, Saudi ace racing driver Abdullah Bakhashab told reporters yesterday.
“Tatees, as the rally is called in Arabic, is quite popular among local youth,” he said, adding that the rally was an official event. “We hope to find new racing talents among local youth.”
The two-day event is being supported by General Presidency of Youth Welfare and with the support of Mobily as the main sponsor and Toyota as the official car. Bison energy drink, Mobil 1 and Okaz are among the other supporters. Bakhashab urged the participants to strictly follow the rules of the race and guard against accidents and injuries.
Racers will compete in six different categories and will include both automobile drivers and motorcycle riders.
Bakhashab, a motor sport developer across the Kingdom, complimented motor sport amateurs for their participation and companies for their support. “Motor sport ranks second in terms of popularity across the Kingdom.
Our duty is to help them practice this sport safely according to the International Automobile Federation rules,” he said.
The region’s strong contenders participated in the first round of the race held at Half Moon Bay in Alkhobar. Aref Yahya topped 4X4 car competition with 1.39.863 minutes, followed by Ramzi Al-Shammasi in second position with 1.43 .681 minutes and Uday Al-Hawag with 1.44.890 minutes in third position.
In the motorcycle category, Mamdouh Al-Shamari took first position with 1.27.646 minutes, followed by Abd Al-Latif Al-Jandal in second position with 1.27.842 minutes and Mostafa Bokhari with 1.30.593 minutes in third position.
The second round was held at Al-Zaeriah in Riyadh for two days. One of the skillful drivers was Saleh Al-Saleh. Mosaed Al-Awad who managed to top the first day succeeded to be second with 01:15:710. Khaled Al-Sadoon ranked third with 01:19:095.
The motorcycle competition reached its peak when Saleh Al-Abdali topped the race clocking 01:06:8831. “I’m fond of driving motorcycles. I’ve been riding motorcycles for the past eight years,” he said. Abdullah Abo Bateen was in second position with 01:10:862. “We drive for many hours when we come here at weekends,” he said. Bader Al-Otaibi, who clocked 01:12:348, was in 3rd position.
Qualifiers from the central and eastern regions will participate in the final challenge round in Jeddah to determine the Kingdom’s desert race champion. They expect this round to be very hard. Aref Yahia, champion of the first round, said: “I hope to win the title of Kingdom desert race championship. It will depend on my skills and self confidence.” Saleh Al-Saleh, winner of the second round in Riyadh, said: “It’ll be a keen contest.”
