The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's first ever FIA-sanctioned special stage rally got underway with a four-kilometer timed spectator stage on Half Moon Bay, in the Al-Khobar region of the Eastern Province, Tuesday. Portugal's visiting Armindo Araujo and Miguel Ramalho set the fastest time on the opening test of the 2008 Sharqia Rally and will take a tiny 0.3-second lead into Wednesday's desert stages on this candidate event for possible inclusion in the 2009 FIA Middle East Rally Championship. The event is being held under the patronage of Prince Mohamed Bin Fahd Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Governor of the Eastern Province and the Chairman of the Higher Committee for the new Saudi Rally, and has attracted 22 starters. Jordan's Amjad Farrah and Lebanese co-driver Ahmed Ghaziri held second overall after the timed super special, with Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al-Rajhi and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel setting the third fastest time in their Subaru. Saudi's Majed Al-Ghamdi held fourth overall and Jordan's Ammar Hijazi rounded off the top five. Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al-Rajhi arrived on Monday directly from the Troodos Rally in Cyprus, but he damaged the engine in his Subaru on a shakedown test. He managed to borrow an engine from Jordan's Ammar Hijazi and mechanics worked frantically to refettle the Impreza for Tuesday afternoon's start. On the eve of the event Prince Abdulaziz Bin Fahd Bin Abdullah Al-Saud, Chairman of the Tourism Council Eastern Region, was taken for a ride in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution rally car by Lebanese driver Abdo Feghali and enjoyed the experience immensely before being shown around rally headquarters by SAMF officials. Prince Abdul Aziz was also present at the official start on Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday cars will tackle six special stages within 35 kilometers of the King Fahd Coastal City on Half Moon Bay. The Al-Zabnah, Al-Uqair and Qaryah specials will run on sandy surfaces from 11.18hrs, 11.46hrs and 12.04hrs and will be repeated on Wednesday afternoon from 13.52hrs, 14.20hrs and 14.38hrs. The first two are twisty and technical, but the Qaryah special features several fast straights and is one of the fastest timed tests in the Gulf region. The event will finish on Thursday afternoon after a further six special stages and has already been penciled in for an April date in next year's regional rally series. __
