KUWAIT CITY, March 13:  In the coming fortnight or so Kuwait will be witnessing one of the fiercest automobile rallies on its turf in recent history as the good, the best and the wildest in the motorsport world across the Middle East and Europe prepare to do battle on the recently developed rally circuit in Julai’a, south of the oil rich country.
Saudi Arabia’s rally champion Yazeed Al Rajhi, an active rally driver across Europe and the Middle East and one of the likely claimants of the ultimate podium position, is busy plotting a strategy with his co-pilot Michael Orr of Great Britain on ways to get on top of the crowded pack of 28 determined agile drivers, most of them champions in their various neighborhoods and beyond, from across the globe in the FIA Middle East Rally Championships organized by Kuwait Quarter Mile Automobile & Motorcycle Club in co-operation with Kuwait Motor Rally Committee slated for March 21-23 in Julaia.

Speaking to Osama Al Mansour of Kuwait Motorsport, the Saudi champion Yazeed Al Rajhi, widely respected as a motorsport superstar in the Middle East neighborhood, said with some past experiences in the Kuwait International Rally dating back 2008, he is not taking anything for granted in the preparations and will take all necessary measures in his practice to ensure nothing surprises him and his navigator. The last time Al Rajhi raced in Kuwait was in 2010.
Al Rajhi, 32, added that “my participation in the Middle East rally championship 2013 didn’t prevent me from contesting in the S2000 Motor sport world championships, which will be called this year “WRC”. My participation in the first round of Swede rally 2013 is considered a strong push for me to exert more effort to hoist high the Saudi flag come March 21-23 in Kuwait”.

It’s also worth noting that the Saudi champion did not contest in the last Middle East Championship rally in Qatar because of his participation in the world championship and many other European and international rallies where he achieved good results. Al Rajhi hopes to ride on his recent experiences in rallies around the world which have afforded him the much needed exposure to be able to handle preparations for the upcoming Kuwait rally with relative ease.
 Al-Rajhi made his WRC debut on the 2008 Rally Argentina in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. He retired from that event and the 2008 Jordan Rally-his other WRC appearance of the year. He returned to the top level in 2010, finishing 13th overall on the Jordan Rally in a Peugeot 207 S2000. He also contested that year’s Rally d’Italia Sardegna, a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, but he retired after losing a wheel. In 2011 he contested seven WRC rounds, but retired from six of them. He also competed in the IRC round in Corsica, finishing 14th.

In 2012 he contested the Super 2000 World Rally Championship (S-WRC) in a Ford Fiesta RRC run by M-Sport and finished eighth overall on the Acropolis Rally, which did not count towards S-WRC points.
A former UNICEF Goodwill ambassador in his native Saudi Arabia, Al-Rajhi mounted his first major foray into the World Rally Championship when he tackled seven rounds of the SWRC in 2012 alongside co-driver Michael Orr in an M-Sport-run Ford Fiesta RRC. After achieving success in stage and cross-country rallies in the Middle East, Al-Rajhi has been a regular on rounds of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and WRC as well as various national championships in recent seasons as he builds his event knowledge and experience. He has joined forces with ex-factory WRC driver Simon Jean-Joseph, who will manage his campaign across the motorsports world.
 

By Iddris Seidu and Osama Al Mansour