Al-Rajhi claims victory, Al-Saif takes 2nd in Tabuk-NEOM Rally

TABUK, Saudi Arabia: Yazeed Al-Rajhi teamed up with German co-driver Timo Gottschalk to get the defense of his Saudi Toyota Rally Championship title underway with a comfortable victory at the new Tabuk-NEOM Rally in northern Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

The Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux driver began the second 136 km desert selective section with a lead of 19 minutes, 28 seconds, and was able to extend that to a winning margin of 34 minutes, 43 seconds. After missing the opening round following an injury sustained in a skiing accident, the result enabled the Saudi to close in on his local title rivals before the final two rounds of the series in Al-Qassim and Jeddah later in the year.

Al-Rajhi said: “Everything is going well. It was a nice race — very technical with good navigation. Sure, we are happy we came to this race in this area that we came to on Dakar and it is now in the Saudi Championship. We lead every stage. Now I look ahead to bajas in Italy and Spain.”

Emirati KTM rider Mohammed Al-Balooshi romped away from his brother Sultan and leading Saudi rider Mishal Al-Ghuneim to win the motorcycle category by 30 minutes, 11 seconds, on his KTM 450.

The three had ridden together over the closing kilometers on Friday but Mohammed led from the front through a tricky closing stage and chose his tracks wisely to seal a comfortable win.

With Al-Ghuneim slipping down to an eventual fourth place on his Beta 430RR after overcoming a very heavy crash, Kiwi rider Philip Wilson finished second on the day and climbed into third, securing the final podium place. Sultan Al-Balooshi stayed with Al-Ghuneim after his accident and sportingly rode with the Saudi to the stage finish. Abdulhaleem Al-Mogheera rounded off the top five.