ALKHOBAR: Yazeed Al-Rajhi and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel clinched a dramatic victory in Saudi Arabia’s new FIA candidate Sharqia Rally yesterday afternoon. The pair eventually finished 21.2 seconds clear of Jordan’s Amjad Farrah and Lebanese co-driver Ahmed Ghaziri after 13 special stages and two days of competition in the Half Moon Bay area of the Alkhobar region in Eastern Province.
The final day developed into an epic battle between Farrah and Al-Rajhi, once Portugal’s Armindo Araújo had been forced to withdraw his Mitsubishi before the restart. Farrah held a 13-second lead with two stages remaining, but the Saudi - a winner of the Kuwait candidate event earlier this year - completed his second international win by putting in two sensational stage times over the closing pair of sandy tests. Qatar’s Khalifa Al-Attiyah and Rashid Al-Sulaiti clinched the final podium place.
“I knew that I had to push hard to win, but I wanted to win my home rally,” insisted a delighted Al-Rajhi. “It was a great fight with Amjad this afternoon. I left nothing to chance over the last three stages and it worked. To win here is like a dream for me.”
Sixteen of the original 22 cars resumed yesterday morning, with England’s David Scialom restarting under SupeRally, although Scialom was only planning to tackle leg two’s stages as a test for his car before the final round of the regional series in Dubai after sand had clogged his radiator on Wednesday.
Event officials had monitored the passage of cars carefully over the opening day’s stages using the championship’s useful tracking system and Jaber Al-Marri was awarded a 10-minute time penalty for straying too far off the route. This was reduced to five minutes and the Qatari slipped from eighth to 13th at the restart.
Portugal’s Araújo should have headed into the first of six sandy tests at A’Dannan with a handsome 1m 45s lead. But the Portuguese driver was unable to restart after event officials discovered that his car may have been interfered with during the overnight halt. “There was a possibility that the driveability of the car may have been compromised by a human error,” said Mishaal Al-Sudairy, President of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF). “The Saudi Arabian Motor Federation will carry out a full investigation into this unfortunate incident.”
Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thafiri set the quickest time in the opening stage, as Farrah extended his lead over Al-Rajhi to 35 seconds with the second fastest time. But the Saudi hit back with a vengeance in SS9 and reduced the lead by 21 seconds. He was fastest again in the Dhallum stage and the pair returned to the King Fahd Coastal City separated by a mere eight seconds. “It’s quite a battle out there this morning,” admitted Farrah.
“It’s a case of keeping the concentration and driving hard.”
Khalifa Al-Attiyah held a solid third place, with Essa Al-Dossari in fourth and Jordan’s Ammar Hijazi and Saudi Arabia’s Saeed Al-Mouri fighting for fifth overall. A mere two seconds was the gap after SS10, as Majed Al-Ghamdi lost four minutes in SS9 unblocking a clogged air filter and several cars sported bodywork damage from the heavy sand.
Al-Mouri drove 32 km on the road section into service with a front-right puncture. The tire was down to the wire by the time he reached the control.
Ahmed Al-Sabban, another Saudi driver, suffered in the treacherous sand and was running with the fear of clutch problems in his Toyota. The fluid overheated on the last stage of the loop and, by the time it had cooled down, he was over his time limit.
Farrah extended his lead to 13 seconds through SS11, but Al-Rajhi pushed hard through the closing kilometers to set two stunning times and clinch victory on his home event. Al-Attiyah maintained third place, Saudi Arabia’s Essa Al-Dossari was fourth and Jordan’s Ammar Hijazi confirmed fifth overall when 23-year-old Saudi rally debutant Al-Mouri lost time with gearbox and suspension problems on the final stage and slipped to ninth behind Jordan’s Faris Hijazi, Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thafiri and Saudi Arabia’s Majed Al-Ghamdi.
Jordan’s Ibrahim Muhawish succumbed to turbo problems after the 11th stage, but Bahrain’s Abdulrahman Ghuloom managed to finish 12th.
“I would like to thank all our officials and competitors for making this successful event possible,” added Mishaal Al-Sudairy.
The Sharqia Rally was held under the patronage of Prince Mohamed bin Fahd, governor of the Eastern Province and the Chairman of the Higher Committee for the new Saudi Rally.
