Rajhi on his way to winning the Saudi Arabia Hail Desert Challenge for the third time Friday. Thierry Magnaldi finishes second and Al-Shammeri third HAIL — Saudi driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and his Portuguese co-driver Filipe Palmeiro clinched an emphatic victory in the 2012 Saudi Arabia Hail Desert Challenge after the final 148.71-km special stage in the An-Nafud Desert Friday. Leading by an amended 15min 52.5sec when original results were re-examined at the overnight halt, Al-Rajhi managed to fulfill his goal of winning Saudi Arabia's premier off-road event for the third time in front of thousands of spectators who took to the desert route to witness the event draw to a close on a Friday for the first time. The win by a margin of 24min 50.8sec also handed Sven Quandt's German X-raid team a second victory of the season with the Mini All4 Racing, following Stéphane Peterhansel's success on the Dakar Rally in January. “I am delighted to win this rally for the third time,” said Al-Rajhi, before jetting off to Portugal to take part in the SWRC category at the fourth round of the WRC. “I have now won five rallies out of five attempts at events in Saudi Arabia (three Hail and two Sharqia rallies). I enjoyed the stage today. We had a puncture at the very start yesterday, but everything was perfect today.” Frenchman Thierry Magnaldi and Spanish co-driver Lucas Cruz Senra finished second overall in a Toyota Team Saudi Arabia-run Toyota FJ Cruiser Proto. They were never able to match the Mini for outright speed, but it was an excellent showing by the Saudi debutants nonetheless. Saudi Arabia's Mtair and Abdullah Al-Shammeri finished third in their Toyota, Safah and Mishaal Al-Saeedi crossed the finish line fourth overall and Abdullah Saeed Bin Hamden and Ali Hassan rounded off the top five. The UAE's Yayha Al-Helai slipped to an unofficial eighth position. Qatar's Sheikh Hamed Bin Eid Al-Thani's retirement Thursday was caused by clutch problems with his Nissan. The rally was organized by the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF) under the presidency of Prince Sultan Bin Bandar Al-Faisal and the patronage of Prince Saud Bin Abdul Mohsen Bin Abdul Aziz, Emir of Hail, President of the Supreme Commission for Hail Development and the Head of the Supreme Commission of the Hail Rally. Al-Rajhi has won the rally in three different cars in the space of four years. The Saudi also announced that he will take part in the Sealine Cross-Country Rally in Qatar next month.
