RALLY JEDDAH 2015, April 29-May 2
For immediate release
Wednesday, April 29th, 2015
RALLY JEDDAH GETS UNDERWAY WITH PROLOGUE ON THURSDAY EVENING IN OBHUR
· Defending champion Yazeed Al-Rajhi tops Jeddah entry list in Hummer Dbug
OBHUR (Saudi Arabia): The second Rally Jeddah gets underway with a three-kilometre Prologue stage at Obhur, on the Red Sea coast north of Jeddah city, from 20.30hrs on 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 on 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 favourite 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 organised 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 Mecca region and a branch of the Saudi Red Crescent in Mecca. Support has also been received from Jeddah police and traffic departments and civil defence administration.
The meat of the desert action takes place on Friday and Saturday and begins with a 123km selective section planned between Obhur and Bahra from 14.35hrs on Friday afternoon.
Leading starters (unofficial):
1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) Hummer Dbug
2. Yayha Al-Helai (ARE)/Khalid Al-Kendi (ARE) Nissan Patrol
3. Ahmed Shegawi (SAU)/Laurent Lichtleuchter (FRA) Nissan Pick-up
4. Rajeh Farhan Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Mubarak Al-Shammeri (SAU) Nissan Patrol
5. Ibrahim Al-Muhanna (SAU)/Ali Obaid (ARE) Nissan Patrol
6. Saeed Al-Mouri (SAU)/Mohammed Orabi (SAU) Isuzu D-Max
7. Sami Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Abdullah Al-Shammeri (SAU) Nissan Patrol
8. Yahya Halawi (SAU)/Fahad Al-Sufyani (SAU) Nissan Patrol
9. Nayyaf Al-Otaibi (SAU)/Mohammed Al-Saiary (SAU) Nissan Patrol
10. Ahmed Al-Sabban (SAU)/Adel Hussein Abdullah (QAT) Ford Raptor
*list before scrutineering
Follow the rally live:
Positions
http://timing.sporttraxx.com/races/jeddah-2015/
Ends
For further information:
English: Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, international media officer, Rally Jeddah 2015, UK mobile: +44 7831 123153, E-mail: ndppublicity@googlemail.com, Twitter: @LordPerkins, www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases).
Arabic: Firas Nimri, Arabic media officer, Mobile: + 962 777 282000, E-mail: nimrifiras@yahoo.com.
www.rallyjeddah.com