HAIL — Saudi Arabian driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and his German navigator Timo Gottschalk stormed into an 11.91-second advantage after the opening 4.6-km super special stage of the 10th Hail Nissan International Rally Thursday.
The Hummer driver was in a class of his own at the front of the field, although the Emirati pairing of Yayha Al-Helai and Khalid Al-Kendi gave a good account of themselves to claim the runner-up spot. The Nissan pick-up duo finished the stage over 15 seconds in front of the third-placed all-Saudi crew of Salman Saud Al-Shammeri and Abdulaziz Mashari.
Forty-six cars, five motorcycles and two quads eventually passed scrutineering checks and made the start of the 10th anniversary event. One of the new Saudi entrants is Ahmed Al-Malki, the son of former driver and Saudi rallying stalwart Mohammed Al-Malki.
There was a slight delay at the start of the stage when Mohammed Farhan hit trouble in his Nissan, but the Emirati Khalid Al-Jafla set the early target time of 4min 20.57sec in his T3 Polaris.
This was eclipsed by the 4min 15.85sec time set by the Toyota of Salman Saud Al-Shammeri. Farouk Ghurab failed to finish the stage, but Al-Helai moved into the virtual lead with a time of 4min 00.52sec, prior to the leading group of drivers tackling the sandy special. Al-Rajhi saved the best until last and a storming time of 3min 48.61sec sealed the stage win.
“Today was all about not making a mistake and entertaining the crowds without damaging the car,” said Al-Rajhi. “Last year we had a serious problem on this stage, so it was nice to get through without a problem.”
Saudi's Ahmed Al-Nasser edged into a narrow lead in the motorcycle category over Abdulsalem-Rami Hamam, while Abdul-Majeed Al-Khulaifi pipped Hamad Al-Hdayan to the early quad advantage.
Nissan announced on the eve of the event that it would become the title sponsor in a three-year agreement with rally officials. The contract was signed between Prince Abdullah Bin Khalid Bin Abdullah Al-Saud, vice president of the Supreme Commission for Hail Development, and Samir Cherfan, managing director of Nissan Middle East.
The Japanese car manufacturer also agreed to support five Saudi drivers taking part in the event and offered other backing to fellow Nissan drivers, in addition to providing 23 support cars and the course opening vehicle to the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation.
On Friday, car crews and riders tackle the first of three demanding selective sections across the Kingdom's An Nafud desert.
After a run out from Ha'il for 109.51km to the start of the action at Baqaa, the car stage will be divided into two sections. The first finishes at Trubah and runs for 130.20km and the second half doubles back to return to Baqaa and runs for 158.56km. Motorcycles will tackle a shorter single selective section of 140.15km, starting and finishing in Baqaa.
