Competitors in Saudi Dakar Rally Highlight Next Week’s Event

Saudi Arabia hosted the Dakar Rally in 2020, the first time it was held in the Middle East. (SPA)
Saudi Arabia hosted the Dakar Rally in 2020, the first time it was held in the Middle East. (SPA)
TT

Competitors in Saudi Dakar Rally Highlight Next Week’s Event

Saudi Arabia hosted the Dakar Rally in 2020, the first time it was held in the Middle East. (SPA)
Saudi Arabia hosted the Dakar Rally in 2020, the first time it was held in the Middle East. (SPA)

A number of racers who are set to take part in Saudi Dakar rally 2021 held a press conference in Jeddah on Thursday to highlight the international event.

They expressed happiness to be in the Kingdom for the second edition of the rally.

The 2021 race kick off from Jeddah on January and end on January 15.

The racers lauded the natural topography of the Kingdom that would test their skill and experience.

Saudi Arabia’s Yazid Al-Rajhi, who came in fourth position in the 2020 event, vowed to overcome previous problems, hoping to win the race.

The Dakar started in 1977 as a race from Paris and across the Sahara desert to the Senegalese capital in West Africa and has long been regarded as the world’s toughest motorsport challenge.

It has been staged in South America since 2009 after leaving Africa for security reasons.

Saudi Arabia’s staging of the event in 2020 marked the first time it was held in the Middle East.

Veteran Spanish driver Carlos Sainz was the winner.



Napoli Club, Fans Pay Tribute to Maradona on 4th Anniversary of his Death

(FILES) Gimnasia y Esgrima team coach Argentinian former football star Diego Armando Maradona gestures during an Argentina First Division Superliga football match against Godoy Cruz at Malvinas Argentinas stadium in Mendoza, Argentina, on October 05, 2019. (Photo by Andres Larrovere / AFP)
(FILES) Gimnasia y Esgrima team coach Argentinian former football star Diego Armando Maradona gestures during an Argentina First Division Superliga football match against Godoy Cruz at Malvinas Argentinas stadium in Mendoza, Argentina, on October 05, 2019. (Photo by Andres Larrovere / AFP)
TT

Napoli Club, Fans Pay Tribute to Maradona on 4th Anniversary of his Death

(FILES) Gimnasia y Esgrima team coach Argentinian former football star Diego Armando Maradona gestures during an Argentina First Division Superliga football match against Godoy Cruz at Malvinas Argentinas stadium in Mendoza, Argentina, on October 05, 2019. (Photo by Andres Larrovere / AFP)
(FILES) Gimnasia y Esgrima team coach Argentinian former football star Diego Armando Maradona gestures during an Argentina First Division Superliga football match against Godoy Cruz at Malvinas Argentinas stadium in Mendoza, Argentina, on October 05, 2019. (Photo by Andres Larrovere / AFP)

Napoli fans and club officials paid tribute to Diego Maradona on the fourth anniversary of his death, flocking to murals of the Argentina great around the city on Monday.
Napoli coach Antonio Conte, captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo and president Aurelio De Laurentiis laid flowers at two of the murals, while fans gathered below the huge mural of Maradona in the Quartieri Spagnoli that acts as an unofficial museum to Maradona, The Associated Press reported.
Fans chanted Maradona’s name and lit smoke in the blue color of the shirt Maradona wore both with Napoli and Argentina.
Maradona died at 60 on Nov. 25, 2020 of a heart attack, two weeks after being released from a hospital in Buenos Aires following brain surgery.
He led Napoli to its first two Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990 and the club's stadium was renamed Stadio Diego Armando Maradona upon his death.
Napoli won its third Italian league title in 2023 and again leads Serie A this season.