Nissan Middle East has confirmed its title sponsorship of the Hail International Rally, Saudi Arabia's premier motorsport event, for the second successive year. The FIA-sanctioned event will run under the auspices of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation for an 11th time on March 9-14. "The rally in Hail is one of the most popular in the Middle East and continues to gain in popularity," said Nissan Middle East's managing director Samir Cherfan. "It is well-organized, offers superb terrain and spectacular scenery through the Kingdom's northern deserts and is an excellent test of the capabilities of Nissan's range of four-wheel drive vehicles." The Japanese manufacturer has won the event on two previous occasions, but regularly has a large number of Nissan Patrols and Nissan Pick-ups running inside the top 10. Saudi Arabian star Yazeed Al-Rajhi won outright in an Overdrive Nissan Navara in 2009 and local driver Ibrahim Al-Muhanna was victorious in his Patrol two years ago." A party of senior rally officials, headed by event director Ahmed Mutabaghani, have completed another pass through the desert tracks that will challenge a top class entry of motorcycles and cars in less than two weeks' time. Mutabaghani is delighted with the route and minor tweaks to the timetable and the format. "We have made a few little adjustments and some fine tuning of the timetable," said clerk of the course Elie Semaan. "We have moved the location of the super special stage to a place called Mashar, about three kilometers from Maghwat. The stage will be 7.6km in length and is very scenic. It runs between the mountains and will be far more challenging for competitors, with hairpins and deceptive corners." The Saudi Arabian Motor Federation also confirmed that 35 entrants had been received by the end of last week, although registration remains open until the end of this week and more entries are expected. "Final preparations are progressing well and we have now identified all the police and safety points along the route," added Semaan. "The teams of marshals and local and international officials have been confirmed and everything is nicely on schedule." Administration and documentation will take place at the Maghwat Conference Centre in the outskirts of Ha'il on March 8 and scrutineering will follow on March 9. Teams will then tackle a super special stage and four days of competition through the An Nafud desert. The rally is being staged under the patronage of Prince Saud Bin Abdul Mohsen Bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Hail, President of the Supreme Commission for Hail Development and the Head of the Supreme Commission of the Hail Rally. The SAMF runs under the chairmanship of Prince Sultan Bin Bandar Al-Faisal and the event is being organized in conjunction with the High Authority for the Development of Hail. — SG
