Saudi Arabia to host car rally

Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is set to host its first ever international special stage car rally.

The Eastern Province will host the Saudi Rally, an official candidate event for the 2009 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, on November 10th-14th, 2008.

Event officials in Saudi Arabia are currently sourcing suitable special stages to host such an event.

But the event's rally headquarters will be based at Half Moon Bay in the Al Khaleej village.

There will also be spectator stage and technical scrutineering on Tuesday, November 11th in the village.

It is hoped that the desert special stages will be situated around 20km from rally headquarters and the two days of competitive action will take place on Wednesday, November 12th and Thursday, November 13th.

"We have been encouraged by the success and support for the Hail Saudi Baja, which is now an established round of the FIA International Cup for Bajas," said Mishaal Al Sudairy, chairman of the organising committee.

"The next step was to run a special stage event, with a view to joining the established events in the region in the prestigious FIA Middle East Rally Championship.

Kuwait ran as a candidate rally this February and should become a round of the championship in 2009. Our aim is to follow it into the championship."

The Saudi Rally is being devised from scratch by Bahrain-based Lebanese consultant Elie Semaan and his technical advisor and assistant clerk of the course Hamoud Al Jabry, who are both experienced regional rally organisers.