Rajhi and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel moved into second position in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) after clinching a comfortable 3m 05.5s victory in the Sharqia Rally in the Kingdom Thursday. Al-Rajhi sealed his third career MERC rally win and his second successive victory after delivering a professional performance on day two's six desert special stages in the Half Moon Bay area of Al-Khobar. “I am very proud to win this event here in my country,” said Al-Rajhi, who was driving a Kronos Peugeot 207 S2000. “The goal was to win and I can now move on to another program on a high note.” Qatar's Misfer Al-Marri and Italian co-driver Nicola Arena sealed second overall in a Subaru Impreza and both now lead their respective Drivers' and Co-Drivers' title races by four points at the half-way point of the season after four rounds. Saudi rookie sensation Abduali Saleh stunned the regulars with a superb drive to seal third overall after surging past Kuwait's Meshari Al-Thafiri on the penultimate stage. The event was Saleh's first international rally and he entered the record books for being the first driver in the series to reach the podium on his first ever event. “Abduali's performance has capped a superb weekend for Saudi Arabia,” enthused a delighted Al-Rajhi. Sixteen cars were permitted to start the final day and tackle three special stages, repeated twice. Included in those missing from the list were Qatar's Mubarak Al-Hajri and Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi; the Emirati's windscreen woes and lack of a spare to replace the damaged one forced him out of the rally on safety grounds. Al-Rajhi set out to defend a 53.9s lead, but it was his main rival Misfer Al-Marri who set the fastest time through the Al-Maakusa stage and reduced the Saudi's lead to 53.6s. Khalid Al-Suwaidi restarted under SupeRally and set the third fastest time and the Saudi duo of Abduali Saleh and Saeed Al-Mouri consolidated fourth and fifth places behind Jaber Al-Marri, who was awarded a two-minute penalty as a result of his passage through two short stages on Wednesday. Al-Marri reduced Al-Rajhi's lead by another 5.6s through A'Dannan, but the Saudi was playing the waiting game and taking no risks on a stage where Qatar's Sheikh Hamed Bin Eid Al-Thani set the third fastest time to continue his recovery from the previous day's transmission problems. Jaber Al-Marri succumbed to mechanical woes before the stage and this promoted young Saleh into a sensational third overall. The contest for the outright win was all but settled in Dhullum; Al-Marri dropped 44.8s to Al-Rajhi and the Saudi returned to the midday service point with an outright lead of 1m 32.8s. Al-Thafiri stormed into third position by passing Saleh in the 10th stage. There is now a five-month gap before the eight-round FIA Middle East Rally Championship resumes with the Rally of Lebanon on Sept. 17
