ALKHOBAR, 30 October 2007 — The 1st round of Mobily Desert Race will be held at Half Moon Bay here for two days from Thursday.
This round will take the participating drivers across sand dunes and desert tracks as they seek to become internationally qualified race and rally drivers and vie for the Kingdom’s desert challenge champion, Saudi ace racing driver Abdullah Bakhashab told the media on Sunday. “Tatees, as the rally is called in Arabic, are quite popular among local youth,” he said, adding that the rally was an official event. “We hope to find new racing talents among local youth.”
The two-day event is being supported by the General Presidency of Youth Welfare with Mobily as the main sponsor, Toyota as the official car, and Mobil 1 and Okaz are among the other supporters.
The race is being held under the supervision of the Saudi Motor Sport Committee. Bakhashab urged the participants to strictly follow the rules of the race and guard against accidents and injuries.
Racers will compete in six different categories and will include both automobile drivers and motorcycle riders.
Bakhashab, a motor sport developer across the Kingdom, complimented motor sport amateurs for their participation and companies for their support. “Motor sport ranks second in terms of popularity across the Kingdom.
Our duty is to help them practice this sport safely according to the International Automobile Federation rules,” he said.
Winner of the last Mobily championship Desert race 2006 overall Saleh Al-Saleh, as expected, won the final round of the Mobily Desert Race 2006 final round after taking the overall lead by finishing first in car category.
Saleh produced a very exciting show, kept his first-day lead intact and drove his Cherokee to the podium by clocking 1 min 58.241 sec.
Motlaq Al-Dosari managed second spot and clocked 2min 03.067sec followed by Hawari Wassim, who took third with 2 min 03.839 sec. Saif Al-Marzogi won the Toyota Land Cruiser Cup being the fastest driver in the competition, clocking 02:27:330
Saleh Abdulalli held his grip in the 2006 motorcycle section by claiming first position. He clocked 1 min 23.591 sec. Abdul Latif Al-Gandel ranked second position with 1 min 24.635. Yasser Al-Khalaf held on to third, clocking 1 min: 25.926.
