The Governor of Hail region, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saad bin Abdulaziz, and Chairman of the Hail Region Development Authority (HRDA), has crowned Saudi driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi with the title of the 2024 Hail Toyota International Rally in its 19th edition.
Organized by the Ministry of Sport in cooperation with HRDA and the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF), the rally represents the first round of the 2024 World Rally Cup "Baja" category.
It is also considered the first round of the 2024 Middle East Rally Championship, and part of the Saudi Toyota 2024 Championship.
The ceremony took place at Al-Maghwah Entertainment Park in Hail on Saturday, in the presence of the President of SAMF, Prince Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdullah bin Faisal, the Deputy Governor of Hail region and HRDA Vice Chairman, Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Meqrin bin Abdulaziz, and Princess Haifa bint Abdulmohsen bin Abdulaziz.
Prince Abdulaziz, who is also the Chairman of the Organizing Committee, crowned the champions of the 2024 Hail Toyota International Rally. Al-Rajhi, accompanied by his German co-driver Timo Gottschalk, managed to clinch the title for the seventh time in its history, aboard a Toyota Hilux. They covered the distance of the special stage, which was 164 km long, in one hour, 42 minutes, and 55 seconds.
The Portuguese, Joao Ferreira, came in the second place in the overall standings, with a narrow margin of 38 seconds to Al-Rajhi. Lithuanian Rokas Baciuska came in third place behind them, with a time difference of one minute and 9 seconds.
Rally driver Saleh Al-Saif managed to win the 2024 Hail Toyota International Rally in the "Challenger" category, surpassing Portugal’s Joao Dias and the Argentine, Diego Martinez, who placed second and third respectively.
At the end of the ceremony, Prince Abdulaziz praised the support of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and the Crown Prince for sports.
