JEDDAH, 7 December 2003 — Majid Al-Ghamdi has claimed the Toyota Cup Championship for the second time in a row. The star of the Toyota Rally Team Saudi Arabia, whose codriver was Amr Al-Refai, won the event in the final round of the Middle East Rally Championship in Dubai, a Toyota Cup Middle East spokesman told Arab News yesterday.
The Toyota Rally Team was sponsored by Abdul Latif Jameel Company and supported by Power Horse and Denso.
The fiercest and closest challenger to Al-Ghamdi was Rashid Al-Hajri, son of Qatari Rally champion Saeed Al-Hajri, but he was out of the competition in the early stages of the Dubai final round for technical reasons. Sultan Hamdi, the second driver in the Toyota Rally Team, was also doing well as he was leading the race on the first day.
“I did my best all through the previous rounds of the rally to deserve being crowned Toyota Cup champion in the Dubai final,” Al-Ghamdi said.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah of Qatar was crowned Middle East Rally champion. Driving a new Subaru Impreza WRC, Al-Attiyah had 9.32 minute winning margin from the Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 of the runner-up, UAE’s Abdullah Al-Qassimi.
Held with the support of Sheikh Ahmed ibn Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Department, the 2003 Dubai International Rally was organized by Automobile and Tourism Club of the UAE and cosponsored by the Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel, GTS Recovery, Gulf Commercial Group, and Alpha Data. Thirty-seven drivers from Europe and the Middle East competed in the Dubai final round.
Results of the Dubai Rally of the Middle East Rally Championship 6th Round with points in brackets: FIA Middle East Rally Championship — Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah (46), UAE’s Abdullah Al-Qassimi (30), Cyprus’ Andreas Tsouloftas (26); Group N - Abdullah Al-Qassimi (38), Abdul Aziz Al Qawari (20), UAE’s Khaled Al-Qassimi (26); Toyota Cup - Majid Al-Ghamdi (48), Rashid Al-Hajri (32), Sultan Hamdi (13), Amr Shas (6).
