Al-Rajhi ends his first preparatory stage for the “Saudi Dakar Rally”

The Saudi hero Yazid Al-Rajhi, accompanied by the German navigator Dirk von Zetswitz, confirmed his readiness for the 2021 Dakar Rally 7 months after the rally stopped due to the spread of the Corona pandemic.

The Saudi motorsport ambassador, Yazid Al-Rajhi, finished the “Andalus Rally”, which lasted for 4 days in 4 stages for the vehicle category in the city of Via Martin, southern Spain, in third place with 09:40:40 hours, due to the penalty that prevented him from crowning first place. .

Al-Rajhi, a Toyota Hilux driver, started with the colors of the Belgian “Overdrive Racing Team”, accompanied by Von Tsetsvets, the Andalus Rally, a strong start, which was breathtaking, and the Saudi team came first at the end of the first stage, after a long absence of races, beating Spain’s Carlos. Sainz, who was 1 minute 47 seconds behind. But Al-Rajhi fell back to second place in the second stage, before recovering well-deserved first place in the third stage, after which Yazid was subjected to a 10-minute penalty due to a slight error from the navigator, after which he retreated from first to fifth, and finished the last stage in fourth place.

Al-Rajhi said, “I express my happiness to return to the races after a long break, and I would also like to thank those who succeeded in organizing the new Andalusia Rally.” He added: “Our primary goal of the rally was to assess our level and prepare ourselves, both physically and mentally, before entering the Dakar Rally 2020 in the homeland of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We were subjected to a penalty that placed us in third place. ”