HAIL — The Saudi Arabian Motor Federation (SAMF) has announced that the 14th Hail International Rally will start on Dec. 28 and finish on New Year’s Day, giving the Kingdom the first international FIA-sanctioned motor sporting action of 2019.

Rally officials have laid on 717.20km of competition in a desert route of 1,727.05km through the surrounding An Nafud desert. The timed action will take place on the Al-Baqa’a, Al-Radifah, Umm Al-Qulban and Al-Ghazalah special stages.

Nissan will support Saudi Arabia’s flagship off-road event as the title sponsor for a sixth successive season, while the rally will be staged under the aegis of Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Saud, governor of Hail and president of the Supreme Commission for Hail Development.

Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, chairman of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation, said: “We are very proud to have held this event in Hail since 2006. The rally has developed each year and now we have reached the 14th edition.

“As part of the Saudi Vision 2030 we promise everyone to develop motor sport and the Hail Rally to maintain its position as the most important desert event in Saudi Arabia.”

As in previous years, the rally headquarters and service area will be located at the Al-Maghawat Conference Center on the outskirts of Hail.

Scrutineering and documentation will take place at Al-Maghawat from 09.00hrs on Friday, Dec. 28 and this precedes the official pre-event press conference from 19.30hrs.

The start ceremony is scheduled for 14.00hrs on Saturday, Dec. 29 before teams tackle the opening super special stage from 18.30hrs. Three days of desert action then follow on Dec. 30, 31 (New Year’s Eve) and Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day) before the post-event press conference and prize giving ceremony take place later in the afternoon.

Hail is a city in the north-western region of Saudi Arabia and is famous for the stunning Salma and Aja mountains. The city is located west of the Adayra Valley with the Aja mountain surrounding the north and west of the city. Ha’il was the capital of the Jebel Emirate from the 19th Century to the 1920s.

Rally officials are expecting up to 50 cars and 23 motorcycles to take part in an event where victory in the car, motorcycle, quad and ATV categories fell to the Saudi Arabian quartet of Essa Al-Dossari, Sultan Al-Balooshi, Abdul Majeed Al-Khulaifi and Talal Al-Thukair in January 2018. — SG