Abdul Latif Jameel Group Ltd. – Toyota celebrated its ten years of support for the Kingdom motorsport at the Hall of Sheikh Hussein Jameel recently. While celebrating the achievements in serving the youth it announced one of its ambitious projects - Toyota Racing Program Saudia Arabia. It will include three championships - Toyota Karting Championship, Toyota Autocross Championship and Toyota Baja Rally Championship - in addition to Toyota School for Karting and Rally Driving. Saudi champion Abdullah Bakhashab was the one who first put Kingdom on the motorsports world map. His dream of organizing the sport in his country faced lot of hurdles for want of sponsors. Soon Abdul Latif Jameel Group Ltd. - Toyota helped his dream come true. In 1997 Toyota sponsored Bakhashab in the Middle East Rally Championship. In ‘98 this partnership shot to fame by jumping to the World Rally Championship from the Mideast championship and renamed the team as Toyota Team Saudi Arabia (TTSA). In ‘99, Toyota entered into collaboration with Bakhashab to launch the safety and safe driving campaign in several Saudi cities. In 2000 this program was developed and many attendees were granted permission to accompany Bakhashab as co drivers. Meantime, the Toyota Rally Team Saudi Arabia got the approval of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) to adopt the Toyota Cup Championship within the Middle East. The year 2001 saw the founding of Toyota School for safe driving and organizing the first official race in the homeland (the Race of Champions) through Toyota sponsorship. The year 2002 was the last year of Bakhashab with Toyota as a rally driver. Then he launched the new Toyota Rally Team Saudi Arabia (TRTSA) with 3 Saudi drivers By 2003 and 2004 the team achieved impressive results. The year 2005 witnessed a qualitative leap for Toyota after its decision to move its investment to the national level to lift the Saudi youth. It included championships organized by Abdullah Bakhashab - Star Autocross Race, the Desert Challenge Race and yearly School Olympics in IN 10 SO center. By 2006 and 2007, Toyota moved forward to the international level by sponsoring the International Hail Rally. Toyota Land cruiser was the official car of the rally. This support included the sponsorship of Hail drivers. Toyota stars raced to the podium, driving Toyota Land cruiser. Faisal Bin Abdullah, ALJ Vice President, said, “Initially we applied ALJ group's strategy for youth sector service by supporting motorsport, the most important sports they love. And it yielded wonderful results in this field. We promise to continue our services for our society. We will not stop until this sport becomes the No. 1 in our country.” Bakhashab, said, “Ten successful years have passed with the grace of Almighty Allah. We have been witnessing major advancement in the field of motor sports in this beloved country as a result of our sincere efforts. We managed this achievement only because of the gret support of Toyota by setting appropriate goals and ardent determination for the future of this sport.” __
