JEDDAH: Saleh Al-Saleh, who was recently selected to take part in the upcoming Hail Rally, said here on Monday night that he was confident of winning the event.

“I personally feel I have great potential to make it big in rallies and am confident of doing well in the Hail Rally,” Saleh told a press conference.

Saleh was among 100 selected from the Western, Central and Eastern regions when they concluded their classes at Toyota Rally School’s training session at Durat Al-Arous in north Jeddah last week.

Acknowledging Saleh’s prowess as a potential rally driver, Abdullah Bakhashab, Saudi rally champion and motorsport developer, whose establishment is organizing the Hail Rally, said: “Saleh’s selection confirms his ability as a hopeful contender of the Hail Rally title. Myself and Abdul Latif Jameel-Toyota, whose car he will be driving at the rally, wish him well.” British trainer Bill Gwynne and his assistant Nicholas Bolt trained the 100 selected drivers from among 12,000 applicants during the school’s four-day session, providing them both theoretical and practical courses. Gwynne, who runs a rally school in his home country, had trained Abdullah Bakhashab in 1990.

“Saleh has been thoroughly trained in all aspects of the rally by experts including Bill Gwynne and he will surely come up to our expectations,” Bakhashab added. He recalled rally drivers like Majed Al-Ghamdi, Sultan Hamdi and Amro Shas who were introduced by Toyota Rally School in the past. “Our effort will be to find as many new talents as possible and make them qualify for rally driving,” said Bakhashab who directly supervises the school, which is sponsored by ALJ with Mobil 1 as its cosponsor. Saleh was among the three finalists chosen at the training session. The other two were Abdul Aziz Al-Yaesh and Saed Al-Mouri. Saleh managed to emerge as the school’s best driver and will thus drive the Toyota Rally Team Saudi Arabia car at the Hail Rally set from Jan. 26-28.

“It has been my dream to become a rally driver. My effort will be to prove that winning the Toyota Rally School selection is well-deserved,” Saleh said.