Neil Perkins HAIL — The Saudi Arabian Toyota crew of Mutair and Kamel Al-Shammeri were the surprise leaders of the FIA-sanctioned Hail International Rally, Saudi Arabia's premier off-road motor sport event, after pre-event favorites Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk stopped with terminal engine problems within sight of the finish of the first 486km desert selection section Monday. Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk, the 2014 FIA World Cup leaders, had been the class of the field, although the Al-Shammeri crew ran well in their Toyota throughout the stage and finished well clear of their nearest rivals. Al-Rajhi received outside assistance to reach the stage finish, but there was no way the Hummer's engine could be repaired and the Riyadh driver retired, paving the way for Farhan and Tariq Al-Shammeri to climb to second spot. The Emirati/Saudi crew of Mansoor Belhelai and Khalid Al-Shammeri held third before late technical problems gifted the place to Motab Saud and Issa Masoud in a Toyota. Al-Rajhi had crushed the opposition on the short spectator stage Sunday afternoon and finished the section with a lead of 18 seconds over the Emirati duo of Ali Al-Kitbi (Nissan) and Khalid Al-Jaflah (Chevrolet Buggy). The Hummer driver was in fine form again Monday morning and began to edge away from Mutair and Al-Kitbi as the stage progressed. He passed the motorcycles and quads and was the first competitor to reach both PC2 and PC3. Khalid Al-Jaflah was running in fourth as the leaders began to pull away from fifth-placed Farhan Al-Shammeri and Salman Al-Shammeri in sixth. Al-Rajhi and Mutair continued to draw clear of the field, but Al-Rajhi stopped within sight of the finish and Al-Shammeri was the first driver to cross the finish line with a time of 4hr 02min 40sec to take the outright lead. Mansoor Belhelai was also running well in a virtual third on the stage, but he stopped within sight of the finish. There were further good stage performances by Saudi's Khalid Al-Shammeri and Ridha Lafi. Former MERC competitor Ahmed Al-Sabban entered his Ford Raptor for the second time this season and was classified in 20th of the 36 starters at the beginning of the first desert section. He held 20th overall at PC5 Monday. Former event winner Rajih Al-Shammeri rolled his Nissan Patrol in front a sizeable crowd on the opening super special stage. Event scrutineers checked the car for damage to the safety cage before the restart and the Saudi was able to continue from 36th position after losing 56 minutes on the stage. He maintained a fast pace early on before struggling, while Sami Al-Shammeri started near the rear of the field and picked up places as the stage progressed.
Lebanon's Emil Kneisser, Saudi Saleh El Hout and Tariq Al-Rummah were three of the drivers who failed to finish the stage. Saudi rider Sultan Al-Masood edged into a two-second lead over Hamed Al-Hedyyan in the motorcycle and quad category through the super special stage, but it was largely irrelevant when the real desert action began Monday. The bikes only tackled 20% of the competitive route taken by the cars. Ahmed Al-Nasser led the way on his Honda CRF in a time of 1hr 55min 47sec and that was sufficient to beat Al-Masood by 14min 20sec to give him the outright lead. Majid Al-Jerpiea was a distant third, but Mohammed Al-Darweesh stopped in the stage and many of the rookie riders suffered woeful navigational issues. Missing components for the Nissan meant that Ahmed Al-Shagawi and Yousef Arif Mohammed were not able to take the start and the Saudi-UAE pairing will now concentrate on preparations for the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. On Tuesday, drivers and riders will tackle another demanding selective section of 367km through the An Nafud desert. The event finishes at the Maghwat Conference Centre Thursday afternoon.
