Saudi driver Yazid Al-Raji achieved a comfortable victory in the first round of the Tabuk-Neum Rally, the second round of the Toyota Saudi Arabian Rally Championship, at the start of his campaign to defend his title as the rally was held in northwest Saudi Arabia and ended today , on Saturday. to extend this with the end of the last special stage, as he won in 34:43 minutes. Yazid did not participate in the first round in Ha’il due to an injury during a ski trip, so this result keeps him close to the title contenders as there are two rounds left this season in Al Qassim and Jeddah, which will take place later this year.
On the other hand, Emirati cyclist Mohammed Al Balushi won the title in the motorcycle category, beating his brother Sultan and Saudi cyclist Meshaal Al Ghunaim by 30:11. The three of them raced together in the last kilometers of yesterday’s stage (Friday), but Mohammed managed to advance in the difficult final stage and choose his path correctly to win the category title.
Meshaal dropped to fourth as he crashed on his Beta 430 RR but managed to continue his rally New Zealand rider Philip Wilson finished second on today’s round and moved up to third overall, his first podium finish. Sultan stayed with Mashaal after the accident, and they walked together in a sporting spirit until the end of the stage. Saudi Arabian cyclist Abdul Halim Al Mughira completed the top five.
Saudi driver Saleh Al-Saif managed to overtake Denmark Akil last morning to finish in second place overall and win the typical light desert car ‘T3’ class title with his Can-Am ‘Maverick X3’. Denmark ended the rally in fourth place overall and second in the T3 category, noting that Saudi driver Khaled Al-Farihi was able to overtake them in the last sections. Level.
While Emirati driver Khaled Al-Jafla finished the rally in fifth place overall and third in the T3 category, and Saudi driver Abdulaziz Al-Yaish, overall leader of the Saudi Arabian Rally Championship Toyota, recorded the second best time on the latter stage and finished the rally in sixth place overall.
Saudi driver Maha Al-Hamli finished the rally eighth overall and first in the T4 Desert LCV category. Maha said after the end of the rally: “The stages were very beautiful. title in the category (T4), it’s a great feeling of victory.”
Hani Al-Numsi rode his bike carefully in the final kilometers to secure his win in the ATV category on the Yamaha Raptor, noting that Haytham Al-Tuwaijri set the fastest time of today’s round and rider Ibn Tabuk Abdulaziz Al-Atwi completed the rally. on the third place. By a big margin over them after he received several demerit points on the first day of the rally.”
The rally was held in cooperation with the Ministry of Sports, as well as in partnership with official partner Abdul Latif Jameel Motors and strategic partner Saudi Investment Bank.
Tabuk Neom Rally 2023 – overall standings after the end of the second special stage:
Driver and car navigator time
01- Yazid Al Raji (Saudi Arabia) / Timo Gottschalk (Germany) – Toyota Hilux 3:18:52 hours
02- Saleh Al-Saif (Saudi Arabia) / Igor Okhotnikov – Can-AM “Maverick X3” 3:53:25 hours
03 – Khaled Al-Farihi (Saudi Arabia) Sebastien Delaunay (France) – April 3:54:47 hours
04- Denmark Akil (Saudi Arabia) / Ty Perry (Germany) Can-Am “Maverick X3” 3:55:42 hours
05- Khaled Al-Jafla (UAE) / Ali Mirza (UAE) – Cannes – Mother “Maverick X3” 3:59:13 hours
06 – Abdulaziz Al-Yaish (Saudi Arabia) / Omar Al-Lahim (Saudi Arabia) – 4:00:20 April
07 – Mutaib Al-Kunun (Saudi Arabia) / Mardi Al-Shammari (Saudi Arabia) – 4:32:12 April
08- Maha Al-Hamli (Saudi Arabia) / Dmitry Tsero (Ukraine) – Can-AM “Maverick XRS Turbo” 4:36:22 hours
09 – Al-Mishna Al-Ramali (Saudi Arabia) / Abdullah Al-Ramali (Saudi Arabia) – 4:49:22 April
10- Jaafar al-Qahtani (Saudi Arabia) / Hossam al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia) – April, 4:52:41.
11 – Khaled al-Hamzani (Saudi Arabia) / Fahad al-Omar (Saudi Arabia) – April, 4:58:45.
12- Faris Al-Mishna (Saudi Arabia) / Sharif Al-Ramali (Saudi Arabia) – April 5:04:32 hours
13 – Awaid Al-Ramali (Saudi Arabia) / Khaled Al-Ramali (Saudi Arabia) – 06:14:57 April.
Motorcycle category:
Cyclist and bike timing
01- Mohammed Al Balushi (UAE) – KTM 450 4:38:06 hours
02- Sultan Al Balushi (UAE) – KTM 450 5:08:17 hours
03 – Philip Wilson (South America) – KTM 500, 05:08:55 hours
04 – Mishaal Al-Gunaim (Saudi Arabia) – Beta “430 RR” 5:13:26 hours
05- Abdul Halim Al Mughirah (Saudi Arabia) – KTM 450 5:20:19 hours
06- Ihab Al-Hakim (Saudi Arabia) – Yamaha WR450F 5:25:46 hours
07- Khalid Al Falasi (UAE) – Husqvarna FE 450 5:34:55 hours
08- Mohammed Al-Kaabi (Qatar) – KTM 450 6:28:51 hours
09- Ibrahim Buckle (UAE) – Husqvarna FE 450 06:52:52 hours
10- Bader Al Hamdan (Saudi Arabia) – Yamaha WR450F 7:06:08 hours
11- Mohammed Al-Manzouri (Saudi Arabia) – KTM 500 7:17:28 hours
12- Abdul Rahman Al-Abdul-Latif (Saudi Arabia) – Honda “CRF 450” 50:38:24 hours
Four-wheeled motorcycle of the category “ATV”:
Cyclist and bike timing
01- Hani Al Nomsi (Saudi Arabia) Yamaha Raptor 700 6:18:19 hours
02- Haytham Al-Tuwaijri (Saudi Arabia) – Yamaha Raptor 700 12:06:42 hours
03- Abdulaziz Al-Atwi (Saudi Arabia) – Yamaha Raptor 700 18:36:42 hours
