ALKHOBAR, 26 September 2007 — The stage is set for the two-day Mobily Saudi Star Autocross 2nd round, which begins here today. The 1st round held in Jeddah was won by Mansour Al Qahtani.
The 2nd round was originally scheduled in Riyadh, but a last-minute technical hitch forced the organizers to move the event to the Eastern Province,” Abdullah Bakhashab, organizer of the event, told the media yesterday. The event is fully backed by General Presidency of Youth Welfare represented by the Saudi Committee for Motorsport in the Kingdom.
A group of engineers has designed the track with a slew of curves and hairpin turns. The circuit length exceeds 1,300 meters and is punctuated with turnings and obstacles. A special digital timing system will be used.
Tonight, participants will compete in two laps in their own cars. Tomorrow night, they will compete in two more laps — again in their own vehicles before competing in the final two laps while driving Toyota Camry for the Kingdom autocross championship. Mobily, a telecommunications company, is the main sponsor of the event, which has also been supported by Toyota and Mobil 1, and Okaz newspaper as the media sponsor.
Thirty-three amateur drivers are taking part in the event, which is essentially aimed at assessing and developing driving talents and skills. The event is expected to help discover a new generation of future rally drivers, said Abdullah Bakhashab, organizer of the event. The drivers will be divided into seven groups and each group members will compete among themselves. The drivers, with their cars, will be categorized into 7 classes depending on the capacity and the power of engine, car size and year of manufacture.
The classes are Super stock (SS) for ultra high performance sport cars, A Stock (AS) for high performance sport cars, PA - sport cars and GT’s, C Stock (CS) for small size compact cars, D Stock (DS) for intermediate size sedans, F Stock (FS) for sedans and coupes and (BS) for medium size coupes.
Each driver will be allowed to give two trials. The best time (the lowest time inclusive pylon penalties, if any) in a particular run will be considered for ranking in each class. “A judge and 12 marshals around the track will monitor the track. If any driver hits the barrier, the driver will lose one point.” Stressing the importance of organizing autocross championship in Saudi Arabia, Bakhashab said: “Autocross is popular in the Arab world and that several Arab countries organized such events all through the year. We have prepared several studies concerning motor sport development and found that a high percentage of youngsters wish to see sports event and activities organized locally in the Kingdom,” Bakhashab said. “Our aim is to help Saudi youth attest their driving talents and skills in the right places and specialized areas away from endangering people and their own lives by racing their cars on streets and highways,” he added.
