Yazid Al-Rajhi, the Saudi driver, led the first day of the Jeddah Rally, which took place on Friday, in the fourth and final round of the Saudi Toyota Desert Rally Championship 2022.
Al-Rajhi outperformed his Czech competitor Miroslav Zablital “Ford F-150 Evo” after dominating the course of the first special stage, with a length of 192 km, starting from Khulais and ending with Asfan.
Al-Rajhi tightened his grip on the Saudi Toyota Rally Championship title with one day left until the end of the rally, as he and his German co-driver Dirk von Zestwitz continued to set a high pace in the stage, finishing the stage in about two hours, and 17 minutes ahead of his closest competitor.
In the “T3” category for desert cars, Saleh Al-Saif, the Saudi driver, along with his navigator Igor Okhotnikov, set the third fastest time in a Can-Am Maverick X3 in the colors of the Black Horse team.
The Saudi Khaled Al-Farihi, the driver of the Saudi Border Guard team, with his French navigator Sebastien Delaunay, reached the finish line in fourth place in the Nissan Patrol car, while the Saudi driver Dania Aqil, with her Uruguayan navigator Sergio Lafuente, completed the list of the first five places, noting that Dania is currently in second place in the T3 category.
The Saudi driver, Maha Al-Hamli, with her Swedish navigator, Annie Seal, advanced to the top of the “T4” category for light desert cars of commercial production, in the Cannes car – “M Maverick”, at the expense of her compatriot Saeed Al-Mouri and his Jordanian navigator, Atta Al-Hamoud, after imposing a penalty. By adding 15 minutes to Saeed’s time because he missed a traffic stop.
The Saudi driver Ibrahim Al-Muhanna leads the “T5” category for trucks, and he is assisted by a Mercedes Unimog truck, assisted by his compatriots, navigator Osama Al-Sanad, and mechanic Raed Abu Dheeb.
In the motorcycle category, Emirati cyclist Hamdan Al-Ali won today’s stage on a “Husqvarna” bike. Hamdan finished the stage in 2:53:24 hours, ahead of Saudis Mishaal Al-Ghunaim and Anas Al-Rahani.
The referees committee imposed a time penalty by adding four minutes to the timing of Meshaal and Anas before the start of the stage, due to their failure to pass a passing point in the track, which led to Meshaal dropping from third to tenth place, and Anas falling from sixth to 11th place, but they were able to compensate Some losses on Friday and back to competition.
On the other hand, the Australian cyclist residing in Qatar, Martin Chalmers, suffered from delays, and was unable to finish the stage, noting that he won the special show stage on Thursday, and this matter allowed the Saudi cyclist Ihab Al-Hakim to enter the circle of competition for the first positions.
In the quads category, the Saudi rider Haitham Al-Tuwaijri continued his lead in this category, at the expense of his compatriot and most prominent competitor, Abdul Majeed Al-Khulaifi, noting that the referees committee imposed a penalty of adding one hour to Abdul Majeed’s time for receiving outside assistance in the stage. While the Saudi riders Abdulaziz Al-Atwi and Hani Al-Nomsi suffered from problems that led to the end of the stage in the third and fourth places, but with a large difference from Haitham.
The Saudi Federation of Automobiles and Motorcycles, headed by Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al Abdullah Al-Faisal, is supervising the organization of the fourth (last) round of the Saudi Toyota Desert Rally Championship 2022, in cooperation with the Ministry of Sports, and in partnership with the official partner, Abdul Latif Jameel Motors, and the strategic partner, The Saudi Investment Bank. . 
