JEDDAH, 27 December 2002 — When Majid Al-Ghamdi and Amr Shas were seen in their full rally gear posing with Minister of Communications Naser Al-Salloum in front of their rally car at the Toyota stand of the annual Jeddah International Motor Show on the opening day on Sunday, a large turnout of visitors gathered around them.
The minister, after performing the exhibition’s formal inauguration was on a tour of exhibits when the presence of the two-some made him stop there and inquire about their rally career. Top executives of Abdul Latif Jameel Group (ALJ), the Kingdom’s exclusive Toyota agent, formally introduced them and mentioned their rewarding initiation into the world of rallies, and all media photographers were there to snap the rare moment with the minister. The minister congratulated them on their success.
Al-Ghamdi has turned out to be a promising Saudi rally driver. This he proved in his very first appearance when he competed as part of the Toyota Team Saudi Arabia, under the sponsorship of ALJ, with support from Horse Power and Denso. In fact, he has shown through his performance that he is a strong new comer and a contender as well in the world of rallies. Onboard Toyota Rav 4, Al Ghamdi lifted the Toyota Cup Championship conducted as part of the Middle East Championship, in the just-ended season. The Toyota Cup Championship has been established this year under the supervision of FIA. Since its launch, the new championship has enjoyed great success, which augurs well for the development of motor sport in this part of the world. The competition during the four rounds of the first championship was very strong and fierce between the three Saudi rally drivers — Al-Ghamdi, Amr Shas and Sultan Hamdi. They all being new entrants did their best to prove themselves to the pleasant surprise of rally fans.
Al-Ghamdi emerged first in the final ranking, having been first in the Bahrain, Jordan and Dubai rallies. He withdrew in the Syria Rally. He aggregated 30 points. Amr Shas and Sultan Hamdi were adjudged third; they aggregated 18 and 16 points respectively.
Al-Ghamdi especially attracted the attention of spectators due to his professional and aggressive driving style. This was his first attempt to compete in a rally after graduating from the Rally School in Jeddah, run by Saudi and international rally champion Abdullah Bakhashab, in January. He made full use of the opportunity to employ the driving methods and skills he learned there. His colleagues in the team were equally competent and they all gave an exciting and challenging performance.
In the final round of Dubai rally Mohammed Bin Sulayem of the United Arab Emirates won the championship in A category.The championship’s Group N lost its excitement after Misfer Al-Mory lost 50 minutes due to his car breakdown. So Khalid Al-Kasimi won the championship.
Excitement among spectators ran high, as they were keen to see who would emerge the inaugural Toyota Cup champion. The competition was strong between Al-Ghamdi and Hamdi. Only four points distanced one from the other in the competition. Amr Shas was out of the competition with only 12 points. It looked as though he wanted something to happen or Al-Ghamdi to suddenly withdraw so that he could get the first place. Al Ghamdi would not let such a golden opportunity to go waste; he pushed hard and finally got some relief after the withdrawal of Hamdi in the second round due to his car breakdown. Being sure of the result he started to slow down, though he lost a few seconds and yet managed to win with a difference of 11 minutes of the total time and with 1.1 minutes of the timing of the final stage of the rally thus registering a new Saudi record in the world of motor sport.
At the end of the rally, Al-Ghamdi expressed his happiness over his achievement and said: “It’s very hard to express my feelings. My happiness knows no bounds today. I thank God for the success. This is a landmark achievement for me in my initiation in the rally world. I hope to continue with my accomplishments in the future rallies.”
Al-Ghamdi attributed his big success to Abdullah Bakhashab. “The Rally School founder has played a great role in guiding me and my colleagues at the school and now in the rally. He is largely responsible for shaping our skills and instilling courage and confidence in us that helped a great deal in achieving success in the championship.”
Sultan Hamdi said he was forced to withdraw in the final round. He said the experience he gained in his first rally season would help him to enrich his skills and give a better performance in future championships. “I feel happy that I was part of the team. I don’t regret the chance that I missed. This is the main idea of the rallies. The all-important thing is that we’ve been able to pump in new spirit in the championship.” Amr Shas, who managed to get the second position, pointed out the importance of the experience he got in his first season and committed himself to more rigorous practice sessions before participating in future rallies.
Results of Dubai Rally for 2002 season: Mohammed Bin Sulayem, Abdullah Al-Qassimi, Khalid Al Qassimi, Raed Bager, Sadiq Fadhel and Abdulrahman Ghaloum.
Results of Toyota Cup Middle East. Dubai Rally results: Majid Al-Ghamdi and Amr Shas.
