The first full stage of the Saudi Baja delivered plenty of drama on Friday. On the 242-kilometer special stage through the Great Nafud Desert, the differences between favorites and challengers became clear, while technical problems broke many contenders for victory.
Al-Rajhi extends lead
Yazeed Al-Rajhi made the most of his pole position. The Saudi won the opening stage after the prologue and extended his lead. With a time of 2:52:11, he kept Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah 2:24 minutes behind. The Qatari, competing for the first time in his new MD Sport Optimus Evo 5 with new navigator Max Delfino, proved competitive in the two-wheel-drive buggy.
Dania Akeel completed the podium more than ten minutes back, followed by Francisco Barreto and Akira Miura. For Saood Variawa, Al-Rajhi’s teammate at Toyota, the day went dramatically wrong. The South African was the fastest for a long time but encountered technical problems and lost almost half an hour.
Al-Rajhi can extend his record of eight victories in Hail. Al-Attiyah holds second place in the event’s all-time standings with five wins.
SSV: Alvarez wins, Van Loon loses stage win to bad luck
In the SSV class, Fernando Alvarez dominated. The Argentinian from South Racing Can-Am won the category with 3:08:35 and finished seventh overall. Erik van Loon seemed on course for the stage win for a long time, but technical problems in the final 90 kilometers dropped him to fifth place. “We got everything: fuel pump, power steering, turbo. It’s almost a miracle we only lose eleven minutes,” said Van Loon.
Mansour Al Helei finished second in the SSV class at 6:50 minutes, followed by Tomasz Bialkowski. Anja van Loon finished eleventh in the category despite several problems.
Seaidan dominates Challenger
In the Challenger class, Yasir Seaidan ruled. The Saudi won the category with 3:07:11 and finished fifth overall, ahead of all SSVs and Stock cars. Hamed Al Wahaibi surprised with second place in his modified BRP Can-Am Maverick R at 4:37 minutes, while Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari finished third.
A disappointment for Saleh Al-Sajf, who was only 25 seconds behind Seaidan at the halfway point but failed to reach the finish.
McInnes pulls away in motorcycles
In motorcycles, British Junior rider Alex McInnes totally dominated. The youngster won the stage with a lead of no less than 16:15 minutes over Sultan Al-Balooshi. Reigning champion Mohammed Al-Balooshi followed more than twenty minutes back in third.
McInnes, who won in Hail last year on a Husqvarna, is now heading for his second consecutive victory, this time on a KTM. With a total lead of more than 18 minutes, the young Brit appears on course for an impressive win.
Final day decides
Saturday’s final day offers another 151-kilometer special stage. Al-Rajhi has a comfortable lead in the cars, but in the SSVs Van Loon can still make a bid for a podium finish if the technical problems are resolved. McInnes appears unstoppable in motorcycles.
The finish and prize ceremony take place Saturday evening in Al-Maghwat.
