JEDDAH: The Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF) has completed the provisional route, and registrations are open for the new Saudi Rally, which will run as an official candidate event for the 2009 FIA Middle East Rally Championship on Nov. 10-13.
“This is the first FIA international special stage car rally to run in the Kingdom,” Neil Perkins, Saudi Rally international press officer, said in a press release to Arab News yesterday, adding that event regulations are to be finalized by the weekend.”
Event officials have chosen the King Fahd sport coastal city in the Half Moon Bay area of Alkhobar as the headquarters for the event, which takes place just three days after the finish of Troodos Rally, the penultimate round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship, in Cyprus.
The event is being organized with the support of Prince Mohamed bin Fahd, governor of the Eastern Province and chairman of the Higher Committee for the new Saudi Rally, with the full cooperation and support of the sport’s governing body, the FIA, and the regional rallying coordinator and vice-president of the FIA, Derek Ledger, he added.
“We welcome both international and regional participation in the event,” said SAMF President Mishaal Al-Sudairy. “The Eastern province governor has facilitated and will provide assistance to ensure the success of the event. We are honored that he has offered to support this exciting new motor sport venture,” he added.
SAMF General Secretary Amar Kadi visited the location recently and met with officials at the site that will accommodate the Kingdom’s first international special stage rally. The competitive action will take place on nearby gravel and sandy special stages.
“Bahrain’s Elie Semaan and Oman’s Hamoud Al-Jabri have been working tirelessly with the Riyadh-based SAMF to devise an exciting route and format for the new event, which its officials hope will take its place in the regional calendar for the first time in April 2009,” Perkins stated. Both Semaan and Al-Jabri have worked on numerous rounds of the FIA rally series for many years, and Semaan is a former clerk of the course of both the Bahrain and Qatar rallies, he added.
Competitors attending from GCC countries will be entitled to seven days at a five-star hotel, with the driver and co-driver sharing accommodation. Flight assistance will be offered in terms of $1,000, and $500 will be paid toward shipping assistance.
Non-GCC teams will be offered seven nights in the hotel on similar terms, $2,000 toward flight assistance and $1,000 toward shipping costs, in addition to support with visa formalities. Technical scrutinizing for the rally will take place on Nov. 11, and the two days of competitive action set for Nov. 12 and 13.
