Saudi Arabian driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel held the outright lead after the opening timed super special stage of the Sharqia Rally, round four of the 2010 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, Tuesday afternoon in Half Moon Bay. Twenty-three teams were flagged away from the start of Saudi Arabia's first-ever round of the regional rally series by Prince Jalawi Bin Abdul Aziz Bin Mosa'ed, Deputy Governor of the Eastern Province, in the presence of Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF) President Mishaal Al-Sudairy. The UAE's Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi and Wael Marjan held second overall in their Ford Fiesta S2000, a mere 0.9 seconds behind the Peugeot 207 S2000 team. Qatar's Jaber Al-Marri and British co-driver Jake Carlin rounded off the top three at the wheel of a Subaru Impreza after an erroneous stage time had been corrected for the short super special stage. The Saudi Arabian Motor Federation lost seven crews because of the volcanic ash crisis affecting air travel in large sections of Europe. Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi withdrew his entry when co-driver Steve Lancaster was stranded in the UK and joint championship leader Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah was unable to make the start. Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi reached the start with Emirati Wael Marjan standing in as co-driver for the stranded Michael Orr. Team manager Ron Cremen and mercenary mechanic Ian Davies worked as his emergency rally mechanics, although the team was concerned about a gearbox problem before the start and had received a replacement unit from the UAE on the eve of the rally. The problem was finding experienced hands to fit it. Neither Lebanon's Michel Saleh nor Jordan's Amjad Farrah were able to start and only three of Ken Skidmore's Autotek Motorsport team managed to reach Saudi Arabia before the airspace shutdown. They were tasked with servicing four Qatar cars. The three-day event is being held under the patronage of Prince Muhammad Bin Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, Governor of the Eastern Province and Chairman of the Higher Committee for the Sharqia Rally, finishes Thursday afternoon. The teams are set to tackle Wednesday three desert special stages and three timed sections. __
