JEDDAH RALLY TOYOTA 2023      

Saudi Toyota Rally Championship, round 4 – December 14th-16th, 2023

For immediate release  

Monday, December 11th, 2023

AL-RAJHI AND AL-HAKEEM HEAD IMPRESSIVE ENTRY FOR JEDDAH RALLY TOYOTA 2023

JEDDAH (SAUDI ARABIA): Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Ehab Al-Hakeem top their respective car and motorcycle categories on another impressive entry list announced by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) for this weekend’s Jeddah Rally Toyota 2023.

The final round of the Saudi Toyota Rally Championship reaches its conclusion on December 14th-16th. Twenty-nine cars, 13 motorcycles, six quads and three trucks grace the entry list.

The car section is further broken down into nine T1s, two in T1P, eight production class T2 cars, four lightweight prototype T3s, six T4 lightweight production vehicles with three T5 trucks running at the rear of the field.

While Al-Rajhi bids to retain his Saudi Toyota Championship title, his Overdrive Racing team-mate Lionel Baud has entered the event for the first time to carry out some crucial testing with the latest specification Toyota Hilux before next month’s Dakar Rally.

The Saudi and the Frenchman top a car field that includes a plethora of Saudi drivers chasing local championship glory in a fleet of Nissans and Toyotas. Names include Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh, Khaled Al-Feraihi, Al-Mashna Al-Ramali, Owaid Al-Shammeri and Abdullah Al-Haydan.

Khaled Al-Hamzani and Jafar Al-Qahtani head an eight-strong field of T2 Nissans, while Saleh Al-Saif, Dania Akeel, Hamad Al-Harbi and Argentina’s Nicolas Caviglasso will decide the outcome of the T3 category. Al-Saif has switched from a Can-Am Maverick X3 to running a G-Rally Team OT3 under his Dark Horse team banner on this occasion.

Five Saudis and one Dubai-based driver will compete for T4 honours in six Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RRs. Maha Al-Hameli won the category in Jeddah last season and tops a field that includes Orwan Ammar, Moaz Hariri, Abdullah Al-Shegawi, Yasir Seaidan and UAE-based Mathilda Lauwens.

Ibrahim Al-Muhana (Mercedes Unimog) faces strong competition in the T5 class this time. Hino Team Sugawara is using the event as a pre-Dakar shakedown and Teruhito Sugawara lines up with Hirokazu Somemiya to drive his Hino 600. Tariq Al-Rammah is also present with co-pilot Muhanad Al-Khashigi in a powerful Volvo.

Competition in the motorcycle race for the leading Saudi quartet of Ehab Al-Hakeem, Mishal Al-Ghuneim, Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera and Badr Al-Hamdan comes from the UAE-based Al-Balooshi brothers, Mohammed and Sultan, on a pair of KTMs.

Other entrants include Kuwait’s Abdullah Al-Shatti, Dubai’s Marwan Al-Rahmani and Qatar’s Osama Saleh Al-Rajhi.

FIM Bajas World Cup regulars, Haitham Al-Tuwaijri and Hani Al-Noumesi, top a six-strong line up of Yamaha quads. They face competition from Abdulaziz Al-Atawi, Abdulrahman Alabdullatif, Mansoor Justaniah and Qatar-based Belgian rider Emiel Stuckens.

The ceremonial start will take place at King Abdullah Economic City on Thursday before competitors tackle a Prologue stage at the coastal village of Thuwal, 30km south of KAEC.

The event is being organised by the SAMF, in conjunction with the Ministry of Sport and official partner Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) Motors. It is running under the supervision of SAMF President H.R.H. Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal.

Jeddah Rally Toyota 2023– leading entries:

Cars

  1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) Toyota Hilux
  2. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA)                                       Toyota Hilux
  3. Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh (SAU)/Omar Al-Lahim (SAU) Nissan
  4. Khalid Al-Feraihi (SAU)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Nissan
  5. Al-Mashna Al-Ramali (SAU)/Bader Al-Ajmi (SAU) Nissan
  6. Owaid Al-Shammeri (SAU)/Ayidh Al-Harbi (SAU) Nissan
  7. Metab Saud Al-Qnon (SAU)/Murdhi Al-Shammeri (SAU) Nissan
  8. Abdullah Al-Haydan (SAU)/Sultan Al-Haydan (SAU) Nissan
  9. Mubarak Al-Alzbidy (SAU)/Ali Hassan Obaid (ARE) Toyota
  10. Fahad Al-Marmas (SAU)/Yazeed Al-Shammeri (SAU) Nissan

Bikes

  1. Ehab Al-Hakeem (SAU) Yamaha
  2. Mishal Al-Ghuneim (SAU) Beta 430
  3. Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera (SAU) KTM
  4. Bader Al-Hamdan (SAU) Yamaha
  5. Mohammed Al-Balooshi (ARE) KTM
  6. Sultan Al-Balooshi (ARE) KTM
  7. Abdullah Al-Shatti (KWT) KTM
  8. Marwan Al-Rahmani (ARE) KTM
  9. Abdullah Al-Hilal (SAU) Honda
  10. Luca Passone (SAU) Yamaha

Quads

  1. Haitham Al-Tuwaijri (SAU) Yamaha
  2. Hani Al-Noumesi (SAU) Yamaha
  3. Abdulaziz Al-Atawi (SAU) Yamaha
  4. Abdulrahman Alabdullatif (SAU) Yamaha
  5. Emiel Stuckens (QAT) Yamaha
  6. Mansoor Justaniah (SAU) Yamaha

Ends

SPORTITY APP – Code JEDDAH23AUTO and JEDDAH23MOTO

For further information: Saudi Toyota Championship (samf.gov.sa)

 

 

Published On: 11 December 2023