The Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) conducted their technical scrutineering and administration checks for the 15th Hail Nissan Rally, the opening round of the 2020 Saudi Desert Rally Championship, on Monday. The event gets under way with the traditional ceremonial start in Hail from 16.00 hrs on Tuesday and then runs over four days in the An Nafud desert before the ceremonial finish podium on Saturday evening. The formalities began at 09.00 hrs in the Industrial Zone in Hail city and the inspections were carried out by officials from Hungary, Bahrain and the host nation. Scrutineering enables rally officials to check aspects of safety on the vehicles, in addition to checking the eligibility of components for the various categories and classes. Officials checked the chassis and engine on cars, roll cage and fire safety equipment, race overall and helmets, in addition to the documentation process which included checking relevant paperwork, homologation documents, certificates and eligibility for the T1 Prototype, T2 for series production cross-country vehicles, T3 for UTVs and T4 for trucks categories. This year's event has attracted 59 vehicles in the various classes and 10 motorcycles and quads. The only female scheduled to take part was Naqa'a Al-Shammeri, but she has now withdrawn for personal reasons. There is added focus on the efforts of the SAMF on this occasion, as the event is being observed as a candidate for possible inclusion in the prestigious 2021 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies. The rally is running under the chairmanship of Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal and the supervision of the Hail Regional Development Authority in cooperation with the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) and the General Sports Authority (GSA). It runs under the patronage of Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Saud Al-Saud, governor of Hail, and Prince Faisal Bin Fahed Bin Moqren Al-Saud. The first of four desert selective sections start at 08.00 hrs on Wednesday morning and the weekend's action culminates with the ceremonial podium at the Maghwat Conference Centre from 18.00 hrs on Saturday evening. — SG
