OBHUR — The second Rally Jeddah gets underway with a three-kilometer Prologue stage at Obhur, on the Red Sea coast north of Jeddah city, from 2030 Thursday evening and precedes two days of desert action for an impressive field of cars, motorcycles and quads. The FIA-sanctioned event is being supported by Mohamed Yousef Naghy Motors (MYN Motors) – Land Rover and finishes Saturday afternoon. Yazeed Al-Rajhi won the recent Ha'il event in the north-central region of the Kingdom and returns to defend his Jeddah crown in a Hummer. The Riyadh driver is the undisputed favorite to win the western region's premier off-road rally that offers 345km of competition in a route of 649.80km. “I obviously enjoy competing in rallies in Saudi Arabia and know the importance of supporting events of this nature in my country,” said Al-Rajhi. “The terrain is beautiful here. The stages are challenging and the hot weather conditions will add to the difficulty.” Rally headquarters is based at the Al-Nakheel Beach Resort and the event is being organized by a team led by former WRC driver Abdullah Bakhashab with the support of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF). The rally also has the backing of the higher committee of Rally Jeddah, which incorporates the General Presidency of Youth Welfare, Jeddah Municipality, the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiques in the Makkah region and a branch of the Saudi Red Crescent in Makkah. Support has also been received from Jeddah police and traffic departments and civil defense administration. The meat of the desert action takes place Friday and Saturday and begins with a 123-km selective section planned between Obhur and Bahra from 1435 hrs Friday afternoon.
