SAUDI’S YAZEED AL-RAJHI STORMS INTO BIG LEAD IN HA’IL NISSAN RALLY

- Nissan’s Khalid Al-Fraihi holds second; Al-Thani delayed; Seaidan rolls his Toyota 

- Ahmed Al-Nasser and Abdul-Majed Al-Khulaifi lead motorcycle and quad sections 

Saudi driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and German navigator Timo Gottschalk extended their overall lead in the Ha’il Nissan International Rally from 9min 43sec to a massive 37min 17sec after the second selective section around Baqa’a on Saturday.

 The Hummer driver was in scintillating form and crushed the opposition with a time of 2hr 42min 12sec to finish the day’s timed section 26min 47sec in front of runner-up Rajah-Farhan Al-Shammeri.
Khalid Al-Fraihi, driving the first of a fleet of Nissans in the top 10, finished the special in third and holds second overall. T2 leader Rajah-Fahan Al-Shammeri is third and Saad Salman and Ahmed Al-Gashimi round off the unofficial top five.

  “I am very happy with the stage and was able to extend my lead today,” said Al-Rajhi. “I was able to win the stage for the third day, but it was not easy and there were tricky places where I was cautious to avoid making a mistake.”

 Ahmed Al-Shegawi’s delight at winning the opening leg had been short lived when the Saudi incurred a time penalty for a route infringement and dropped from second overall to 32nd at the start of Saturday’s stage. The decision promoted Al-Fraihi to second overall and Qatar’s Sheikh Hamed bin Eid Al-Thani into the top 10 at the start of the day.

 Crews tackled a much longer selective section on Saturday that looped for 216.40km along a route around Baqa’a. Al-Rajhi was the first on the road in his Hummer and began to storm clear of his rivals. He reached the first of the major checkpoints three minutes ahead of Shegawi, 6min 02sec in front of runaway T3 leader Khaled Al-Jaflah and 9min 24sec ahead of Ahmad Al-Gashami.

 Yasir-Hamad Seaidan had started in 16th place and was running fifth in his Toyota with French navigator Sébastien Delaunay. He climbed to second at the last passage control before rolling out of contention.

 Technical issues sidelined Farhan Al-Shammeri and Sami Al-Shammeri early in the stage and Butti Banjr Al-Qahtani’s car caught fire after a fuel leak. Hamed bin Eid Al-Thani stopped for a long time with mechanical issues before the halfway point after running second fastest behind Al-Rajhi at the first checkpoint.

 Al-Jaflah was running inside the top five and comfortably leading the T3 category until he suffered its own fair share of technical issues and retired. UAE T3 rival Atif Al-Zarouni also retired and this opened the door for Rakan-Yousef Al-Salloum to head the T3 section in his Polaris into the second half of the day’s stage.

 After injuring his back over a heavy jump in Muteb-Saud Al-Shammeri’s Nissan on Friday, Emirati co-driver Ali Mirza was detained in hospital overnight with back injuries, but was given the all clear to leave on Saturday afternoon.

 Riding a Kawasaki, Abdul-Majeed Al-Khulaifi held a lead of just three seconds over Ahmed Al-Nasser after the opening leg in the quad and motorcycle category. The former winner maintained his advantage in the quad section after the second leg and held an unofficial lead of 6min 15sec over Heshayan Al-Heshayan’s Yamaha, but Al-Nasser was quicker and the solitary motorcycle rider headed the overall category by 3min 16sec.

 Saudi rider Sultan Al-Masood crashed his Yamaha heavily and was airlifted to Baka hospital and then on to King Khalid hospital, where he remains stable with bruising. Mohammed Al-Darwish suffered technical issues near the end of the special and retired.

 The rally is being staged under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Saud Bin Abdul Mohsen Bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Ha’il, President of the Supreme Commission for Ha’il Development and the Head of the Supreme Commission of the Ha’il Rally. The SAMF runs under the chairmanship of His Royal Highness Prince Sultan Bin Bandar Al-Faisal and the event is being organised in conjunction with the High Authority for the Development of Ha’il.

 There is no respite for competitors on Sunday. The penultimate third selective section of this year’s Ha’il Nissan International Rally starts at 09.05hrs and runs for 206.4km between a start 61km from the overnight halt at the town of Shot and a finish in Jubbah.

 Ha'il Nissan International Rally – leading positions after Leg 2 (unofficial @ 14.50hrs):

 1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) Hummer 4hr 14min 07sec
 2. Khalid Al-Fraihi (SAU)/Ali Obaid (ARE) Nissan 4hr 51min 24sec
 3. Rajah Farhan Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Mubarak Al-Shammeri (SAU) Nissan 4hr 52min 30sec
 4. Saad Salman (SAU)/Nawaf Al-Anzi (SAU) Toyota 4hr 52min 53sec
 5. Ahmed Al-Gashami (SAU)/Waleed Al-Fiuam (SAU) Nissan 4hr 55min 59sec
 6. Faris Al-Mashna (SAU)/Saud Al-Zayed (SAU) Nissan 4hr 58min 03sec
 7. Meshaal Al-Saeedi (SAU)/Bandar Al-Saeedi (SAU) Nissan 5hr 00min 20sec
 8. Ahmed Abdullah Al-Shehail (SAU)/Rasheed Mslet (SAU) Nissan 5hr 00min 47sec
 9. Emil Khneisser (LEB)/Alexei Kuzmich (RUS) Nissan 5hr 05min 42sec

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SAUDI’S AL-SHEGAWI CLAIMS FASTEST TIME ON OPENING LEG OF HA’IL NISSAN RALLY

- Yazeed Al-Rajhi keeps overall lead; T3 advantage for UAE’s Khalid Al-Jaflah 

- Abdul-Majed Al-Khulaifi leads quad category; problems for Ahmed Al-Nasser 

Saudi driver Ahmed Al-Shegawi and his Emirati navigator Arif Yousef Mohammed were the surprise winners of the opening leg of the Ha’il Nissan International Rally on Friday morning.

 The Nissan pairing clocked a time of 1hr 26min 05sec on the 123.40km selective section to beat super special stage winners, Yazeed Al-Rajhi and German navigator Timo Gottschalk, by 1min 06sec.

 But Al-Shegawi had been slower than his illustrious rivals through Thursday’s short opener and the cumulative time meant that Al-Rajhi maintained a 27-second overall lead in the unofficial results to take into the final three days of Saudi Arabia’s premier motor sporting event.

 The four-time winner complained that he had lost his way for a time and also suffered a minor engine issue on his Hummer, although Yazeed will start directly behind Al-Shegawi on Saturday. “It was not the best of days and we didn’t get the stage win, but I’m well placed to push again tomorrow and maintain the overall lead,” said Al-Rajhi.

 Lying in an unofficial third overall at the overnight halt is the Saudi Nissan driver Khalid Al-Fraihi, while T2 leader Meshaal Al-Saeedi is fourth, also driving a Nissan. The title sponsoring Japanese car manufacturer has no less than eight cars inside the unofficial top 10.

 Friday’s special started 25.71km from Ha’il at As Sufon before finishing at Camb Al Dolo’o, 88.4km from the overnight halt. Although short by Ha’il standards, it was a tricky stage nonetheless and several drivers experienced problems.

 After suffering overheating woes on the road section to today’s stage, Bahrain’s Hassan Al-Sadadi failed to start in his Predator Buggy, which he had built himself with backing from Oman’s Nizar Al-Shanfari.

 There were delays for former winner Ibrahim Al-Muhanna and Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri, who started the special from third place and was running quickest at one point on the stage until he dropped over an hour with mechanical issues.

 Qatar’s Sheikh Hamed bin Eid Al-Thani began the day from second position on the road in his Nissan, but the 1993 FIA Middle East rally champion could not match the pace of some of the local drivers and reached the finish with the 13th quickest time after losing ground over the closing kilometres. The Qatar reached the stage finish 53 seconds in front of Lebanon’s Emil Khneisser in his Nissan Middle East-backed Patrol running in the T2 category. Al-Thani and Khneisser are now 11th and 13th overall.

 Ahmed Al-Sabban is celebrating 25 years in motor sport with the number 25 displayed on his Ford Raptor. The Saudi clocked the 20th quickest time on the day’s stage and holds an unofficial 19th overall.

 The UAE duo of Khalid Al-Jaflah and Ahmed Malik continued to lead the T3 category in their Yamaha and posted a time of 1hr 39min 48sec. They are 12th overall.

 Eight quads and the solitary Honda 450 motorcycle of Ahmed Al-Nasser began the event. Victory on the super special stage to determine the starting order on Thursday afternoon had fallen to Hamad Abdullah Fahad-Hdayyan. He started in front of one of the pre-rally favourites and last year’s quad category winner Abdul-Majeed Al-Khulaifi.

 But Al-Khulaifi was not to be denied on this occasion and the Saudi Kawasaki rider won the special. Abdulsalam Rami Hamam was second on a Yamaha quad, but Al-Nasser suffered problems on his two-wheel Honda.

 The rally is being staged under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Saud Bin Abdul Mohsen Bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Ha’il, President of the Supreme Commission for Ha’il Development and the Head of the Supreme Commission of the Ha’il Rally.

The SAMF runs under the chairmanship of His Royal Highness Prince Sultan Bin Bandar Al-Faisal and the event is being organised in conjunction with the High Authority for the Development of Ha’il.

 The competition becomes much more difficult on Saturday, when drivers and riders tackle the longer 216.40km selective section through the An Nafud desert that loops around the start and finish area in Baqa’a. The action gets underway for the cars at 09.45hrs after a 110.2km road liaison section from the overnight halt at the Maghwat conference centre.

 Ha'il Nissan International Rally – leading positions after Leg 1 (unofficial @ 11.50hrs):

 1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) Hummer 1hr 31min 55sec 
2. Ahmed Al-Shegawi (SAU)/Arif Yousef Al-Mohammed (ARE) Nissan 1hr 32min 22sec
 3. Khalif Al-Fraihi (SAU)/Ali Obaid (ARE) Nissan 1hr 41min 38sec
 4. Meshaal Al-Saeedi (SAU)/Bandar Al-Saeedi (SAU) Nissan T2 1hr 41min 46sec 
5. Faris Al-Mashna (SAU)/Saud Al-Zayed (SA) Nissan 1hr 41min 50sec
 6. Ahmed Al-Gashami (SAU)/Waleed Al-Fiuam (SAU) Nissan 1hr 42min 42sec
 6. Ahmed Abdullah Al-Shehail (SAU)/Rasheed Mslet (SAU) Nissan 1hr 42min 42sec
 6. Saad Salman (SAU)/Nawaf Al-Anzi (SAU) Toyota 1hr 42min 42sec
 9. Reza Lefa Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Abdullah Ataiwaan (SAU) Nissan 1hr 43min 09sec
 10. Rajah Farhan Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Mubarak Al-Shammeri (SAU) Nissan 1hr 43min 31sec
 11. Hamed bin Eid Al-Thani (QAT)/Fares Allouh (JOR) Nissan 1hr 45min 21sec 
12. Khalid Al-Jaflah (ARE)/Ahmad Malik (ARE) Yamaha T3 1hr 45min 38sec

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Elisabete Jacinto ambiciona pódio do Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles

Elisabete Jacinto já está preparada para mais um Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles. Na sua oitava participação neste grande rali de navegação a piloto ambiciona alcançar um lugar de pódio – a portuguesa conta já com cinco nesta prova - e terá ao seu lado a navegadora belga France Clèves para a ajudar a atingir este objetivo.

 Apesar de reconhecer que não será uma tarefa fácil, porque a dupla vai novamente integrar a categoria Expert onde terá como adversárias as concorrentes mais experientes da prova, Elisabete Jacinto considera que será uma competição bem disputada e que tem boas hipóteses de conseguir mais um troféu.

 A piloto portuguesa já conta com um longo currículo nesta competição feminina. Começou por participar em 2003 acompanhada pela navegadora Sofia Carvalhosa. Naquele ano, aos comandos de uma Renault Kangoo, conquistaram o troféu na Categoria SUV e a vontade de regressar foi tão grande que em 2004 a dupla portuguesa voltou a competir com o mesmo veículo e alcançam o segundo lugar.

 Seguiram-se alguns anos de interregno e o regresso de Elisabete Jacinto e Sofia Carvalhosa ao Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles dá-se em 2008 onde, aos comandos do MAN M2000 de competição, averbaram o segundo posto da classificação geral. Em 2012 a dupla lusa participou no rali integrada, pela primeira vez, na equipa oficial da Volkswagen França. Apesar da dureza da prova as portuguesas conseguiram o terceiro posto da categoria 4x4.

 O ano de 2013 foi um ano de mudanças. Elisabete Jacinto participou no rali pelo segundo ano consecutivo com a Volkswagen França, mas desta vez foi acompanhada pela navegadora francesa Valerie Dot com quem realizou dois anos esta grande prova feminina. Em 2013 a dupla ficou no 11º posto da classificação 4x4 e em 2014 conquistaram o segundo lugar da categoria.

 Em 2015 Elisabete Jacinto formou equipa pela primeira vez com a belga France Cléves e alinhou novamente pela equipa da Volkswagen França. Apesar de não terem alcançado um resultado de destaque a experiência foi positiva e este ano regressam com o objetivo de melhorar a sua prestação e conquistar um lugar de pódio na classificação final da 26ª edição do Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles.

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HA’IL NISSAN RALLY STARTS WITH TIMED SUPER SPECIAL ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON

- Four-time winner Yazeed Al-Rajhi starts as favourite in his powerful Hummer

 - Bahrain’s Hassan Al-Sadadi returns to action; useful test for Lebanon’s Khneisser 

The Ha’il Nissan International Rally, Saudi Arabia’s premier motor sporting event, gets underway at the Maghwat conference centre on the outskirts of Ha’il on Thursday afternoon. The ceremonial start will be followed by a brand new 7.8km super special stage, starting at 16.05hrs, at a challenging new location near the city.

 The Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF) has attracted another bumper entry of 47 cars for the five-day motor sporting bonanza, which will then take place over four selective sections in the An Nafud desert to the north and west of Ha’il between Friday and Monday.

 Yazeed Al-Rajhi starts as the clear favourite to win the event in the car category for a record fifth time. The Riyadh driver has wheeled out his powerful Hummer once again and teams up with the experienced German navigator Timo Gottschalk, with whom he climbed as high as third overall with a Toyota in last year’s Dakar Rally. Al-Rajhi won in Ha’il in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2015 and will be hoping to take the Hummer to a third win.

  “This is my home event and one that is special in my heart and one I always look forward to taking part in,” said Al-Rajhi. “The terrain in this region is fantastic for this type of rallying and is as challenging as anywhere in the world. The event is not easy and we will need to be focused to win this time.”

 The event also sees the return to rallying action of the former FIA Middle East Rally Championship regular Hassan Al-Sadadi. The Bahraini driver has been away from the top flight of regional rallying for several years and wheels out a home-built Predator Buggy with Emirati Nooh Buhmaid reading his notes. “It’s great to be back and we are really looking forward to this,” said Al-Sadadi.

 Ha’il will also be a useful test for FIA World Cup T2 regular Emil Khneisser, who finished second in the category in last year’s FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup in his Nissan Patrol backed by Nissan Middle East. The Lebanese again teams up with Russian navigator Aleksei Kuzmich for his T2 challenge, where he faces the likes of fellow Nissan drivers, Rajah Farhan Al-Shammeri, Munif Al-Shamani and Niaf Masha Al-Otaibi.

 Regional series veteran and Ha’il regular Ahmed Al-Sabban opts to drive a Ford Raptor once again. The Saudi, who burst on to the rallying scene back in 1993 as a member of a Gulf Oil-backed team driving a Group N Ford Escort RS Cosworth, teams up with the experienced Qatari quad rider and navigator Adel Abdullah Hussein. He’s had mixed results in recent Ha’il outings and a top five finish is the goal for the Saudi.

 Other international names on the entry list include Qatar’s Sheikh Hamed bin Eid Al-Thani, the 1993 FIA Middle East rally champion and regular FIA World Cup competitor, in his Nissan Patrol, running alongside Jordanian navigator Fares Aloueh. There is also an entry for the all-Kuwaiti crew of Salem and Fares Al-Dhafiri in a Nissan Patrol.

 Three entries grace the T3 category. Former quad category winner Atif Al-Zarouni of the UAE drives a Rage, Saudi’s Rakan Yousef Al-Salloum is entered in a Polaris and there is a third car for the UAE duo of Khalid Al-Jaflah and Ahmed Malik.

 The remainder of the impressive four-wheel field is dominated by Saudi drivers in a large number of Nissans and Toyotas. There are also categories for motorcycles and quads.

 The rally is being staged under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Saud Bin Abdul Mohsen Bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Ha’il, President of the Supreme Commission for Ha’il Development and the Head of the Supreme Commission of the Ha’il Rally. The SAMF runs under the chairmanship of His Royal Highness Prince Sultan Bin Bandar Al-Faisal and the event is being organised in conjunction with the High Authority for the Development of Ha’il.

 The first of the selective sections takes place on Friday and runs for 123.4km from the start at As Sufon to a finish at Camb Al Dol’o. Race officials have laid on a longer loop stage of 216.40km, starting and finishing in Baqa’a on Saturday and that is followed by a timed test of 206.40km between Shot and Jubbah on Sunday and the final selective section of 176.5km starting in Al-Farhaniyah and finishing in Qana on Monday morning.

 The ceremonial finish is scheduled for Monday evening.

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João Lopes: Campeão de TT aposta no Trial 4x4

Piloto de Torres Vedras já foi campeão em Quad e nos UTV 

Com cinco títulos absolutos conquistados no Todo-o-Terreno – três nos Quad e dois nos UTV/Buggy – João Lopes vai, esta temporada de 2016, abraçar uma nova disciplina. Aos comandos de um Polaris RZR 1000 que foi preparado e será assistido pela equipa JL Racing, o piloto de Torres Vedras estreia-se já no próximo fim-de-semana na prova de abertura do Campeonato Nacional de Trial 4x4 que se vai disputar em Valongo.

 A estreia de João Lopes na disciplina de Trial coincide também com a introdução da Classe UTV no muito competitivo e animado campeonato desta disciplina que compreende seis jornadas, uma das quais precisamente em Torres Vedras.

 A dura e difícil posição de navegador será ocupada por Luiz Gordicho Vieira, continuando Bruno Santos na equipa, agora a desempenhar uma função de coordenação logística.

  “As provas de Trial em Torres Vedras foram espetaculares e juntaram milhares de pessoas. Torres Vedras tem algumas equipas e inclusive um construtor de viaturas para Trial. A criação de uma classe para os UTV aliciou-me a apostar num novo desafio, na medida em que acredito no enorme potencial do Polaris RZR 1000 para este tipo de provas. Da nossa parte, minha e do meu navegador, há agora uma grande aprendizagem a fazer, mas estou seguro de que iremos ser muito competitivos”, salienta o piloto da JL Racing João Lopes.

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Jutta Kleinschmidt part of X-raid’s buggy development programme

• Jutta Kleinschmidt / Tina Thörner to race in Abu Dhabi and Qatar

• Kleinschmidt: “I look forward to this challenge”

 The X-raid buggy project continues. Despite the buggy’s unplanned retirement from the Dakar Rally the development of the two-wheel driven vehicle is continued. And X-raid succeeded in signing an experienced pairing for the continuation of the development programme: In the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and Qatar’s Sealine Cross Country Rally, Jutta Kleinschmidt and her Swedish co-driver Tina Thörner will take the buggy to its limits while gathering a lot of important kilometres covered in anger.

 Kleinschmidt, back in 2001 the first female Dakar winner, also has got several years of buggy experience under her belt. She contested several editions of the Dakar with a Schlesser buggy and in 2003 with a Volkswagen Tarek. Furthermore, she isn’t an unknown quantity for X-raid as she raced the BMW X3 CC in several events in 2006 and 2007.

 In late 2014, X-raid started the buggy project, thus entering virgin soil. Up to then, the workshop in Trebur solely had developed and built all-wheel driven cars but due to the current development of the technical regulations, X-raid saw the need to also work on designing and developing a two-wheel drive project.

 Sven Quandt: “The buggy is an important project for us but unfortunately, we haven’t covered the mileage we would have loved to. The fact that we were able to get Jutta for this project is an important step. She has got a lot of experience with two-wheel drive vehicles and she also is experienced when it comes to developing and enhancing racing cars. And as we currently aren’t able to assess what the future technical regulations will look like, we will keep on working on our two-wheel drive concept. At the same time, we self-evidently also continue to work on the MINI ALL4 Racing to make it even faster and more reliable.”

“I really look forward to this new challenge,” said Jutta Kleinschmidt. “Developing a vehicle always represents a special challenge as you have to deal far more with the technology and procedures. The two rallies in Abu Dhabi and Qatar represent a perfect combination: in Abu Dhabi we mainly will have to cope with sand and dunes while the event in Qatar will be dominated by hard track surfaces and rocks.” 

The MINI ALL4 Racing drivers set-up for the AbuDhabi Desert Challenge will be announced next week.

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Sheikh Khalid bin Faisal Al Qassimi to race a MINI ALL4 Racing in Abu Dhabi

• Sheikh Khalid to make his MINI ALL4 Racing debut 

• The goal: to secure a podium

 In the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the second FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup of the 2016 season, Sheikh Khalid bin Faisal Al Qassimi will race a MINI ALL4 Racing. Last year he made his debut appearance in the desert rally and for a long time, he was involved in the battle for the top positions. At the end of the day, however, he was stopped by a technical failure. Sheikh Khalid used the 2015 season for gathering cross-country rallying experience.

 In 2004 and 2014 he won the Middle East Rally Championship, in 2005, 2012 and 2013 he finished the season as vice-champion. Furthermore, he secured several top-10 positions in WRC rallies, in recent years. 

 “My goal in 2015 was to gain experience as I had never raced in such a rally before,” said Sheikh Khalid bin Faisal Al Qassimi. “The event is contested over six days, covering as distance nearly 3,000 kilometres! I actually was involved in the battle for the top-three positions when technical issues unfortunately forced me into early retirement. With these experiences under my belt, my goal is to win the rally this year or secure a podium at least. But it would be great to win on home soil and dedicate the victory to the nation. We did rather well, last year but at the same time I realised that the MINI has got quite an advantage when it comes to climbing sand dunes. Driving the MINI ALL4 Racing will be a new experience and I am looking forward to securing a podium finish with the new car, this year."

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NISSAN MIDDLE EAST CONFIRMS TITLE SUPPORT FOR SAUDI ARABIA’S HAIL INTERNATIONAL RALLY

Saudi rally officials complete checks of route through An Nafud desert 

Nissan Middle East has confirmed its title sponsorship of the Ha’il International Rally, Saudi Arabia’s premier motor sporting event, for the second successive year. The FIA-sanctioned event will run under the auspices of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation for an 11th time on March 9-14.

  “The rally in Ha’il is one of the most popular in the Middle East and continues to gain in popularity,” said Nissan Middle East’s managing director Samir Cherfan. “It is well organised, offers superb terrain and spectacular scenery through the Kingdom’s northern deserts and is an excellent test of the capabilities of Nissan’s range of four-wheel drive vehicles.”

  The Japanese manufacturer has won the event on two previous occasions, but regularly has a large number of Nissan Patrols and Nissan Pick-ups running inside the top 10. Saudi Arabian star Yazeed Al-Rajhi won outright in an Overdrive Nissan Navara in 2009 and local driver Ibrahim Al-Muhanna was victorious in his Patrol two years ago.”

 A party of senior rally officials, headed by event director Ahmed Mutabaghani, have now completed another pass through the desert tracks that will challenge a top class entry of motorcycles and cars in less than two weeks’ time. Mutabaghani is delighted with the route and minor tweaks to the timetable and the format.

  “We have made a few little adjustments and some fine tuning of the timetable,” said clerk of the course Elie Semaan. “We have moved the location of the super special stage to a place called Mashar, about three kilometres from Maghwat. The stage will be 7.6km in length and is very scenic. It runs between the mountains and will be far more challenging for competitors, with hairpins and deceptive corners.”

The Saudi Arabian Motor Federation also confirmed that 35 entrants had been received by the end of last week, although registration remains open until the end of this week and more entries are expected.

  “Final preparations are progressing well and we have now identified all the police and safety points along the route,” added Semaan. “The teams of marshals and local and international officials have been confirmed and everything is nicely on schedule.”

 Administration and documentation will take place at the Maghwat Conference Centre in the outskirts of Ha’il on March 8 and scrutineering will follow on March 9. Teams will then tackle a super special stage and four days of competition through the An Nafud desert.

 The rally is being staged under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Saud Bin Abdul Mohsen Bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Ha’il, President of the Supreme Commission for Ha’il Development and the Head of the Supreme Commission of the Ha’il Rally. The SAMF runs under the chairmanship of His Royal Highness Prince Sultan Bin Bandar Al-Faisal and the event is being organised in conjunction with the High Authority for the Development of Ha’il.

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