JEDDAH, 6 December 2006 — Rally driver, Turki Al-Sudairy, the only Saudi to have competed in Dakar Rally 2005, is preparing to enter the world's most famous rally a second time despite the unavailability of sponsor support.
Despite financial obstacles, the 28 year-old Al Sudairy decided to participate on his own expense after he was unable to get financial support necessary to cover the cost of his participation from any sponsor in Saudi Arabia.
He told Arab News in frustration after he had given up hope of finding local support “Bearing in mind that my participation in 2005 was in the name of Saudi Arabia and unfortunately, no local company has thought of given me all the support to continue my way to world rally.”
The Saudi rally driver had experienced, during his participation in Dakar Rally (2005), difficulties that prevented him from completing the race and he had to withdraw in the seventh stage (the longest stage of the rally, which is 660 km long) after the engine of his car (Mitsubishi T2) broke down.
He explained: "I have failed for two consecutive years to get support, from any governmental or private entity in the Kingdom, to enable me to repeat the experience of participating in Dakar Rally, and to register the name of my country among names of big drivers who entered history along with the other new drivers only for just participating in this rally, which is the world's most difficult and famous rally".
"This year I have decided to participate, on my own expense, in the 29th round of Dakar Rally, which will take place on January 6th, 2007 in Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, this is due to my passion for motor sport and my keen desire to be among world's top drivers to gain more experience", he added.
