|
|
|
|
 |
From F1 to snooker and more, Saudi Arabia has been gathering major sports events, often blamed for buying their way in without much interest in the underlying sport and it's traditions. In same vein, Rally Saudi Arabia was brought into WRC for 2025 season as the final round.
Due to it's rough and thus random nature putting emphasis on luck, rally was criticized for being unsuitable as final round where drivers' title was to be decided on. Organization ran smoothly and received praise for being able to deliver flawless first run in 2025 and with ten year contract with the WRC Promoter, Saudi Arabia is here to stay for some time, unfortunately.
Far from being smooth desert rally, roads are very rough and rocky, slotting Saudi Arabia firmly as the roughest rally alongside older editions of Acropolis and Safari. In inaugural edition of 2025, all top crews suffered at least one puncture, most having several including many double punctures.
Run at the end of November, temperatures are still very hot and drivers use cooling vests or have cooling system in their seats. Temperatures also affect tyres, delamination becoming major issue besides punctures. Hankook has stated that they intend to look into tyre performance in such demanding conditions.
|
|
|
|
| 2025:
|
Neuville, Thierry
|
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
|
93.08 km/h
|
|
|
 |
This rather extreme panoramic view of Evans on stage gives an impression of stages. Twisty but not too slow, rocky and barren. Nature of the roads made many think that those were purpose built for the rally, so odd the character of the road was on occasion.
 |
 |
|
Rocks, rocks and more rocks. Did I already mention rocks? This is rather extreme backdrop for Neuville, but given how many punctures there were, smaller but sharp rocks littered the stages. More than sand, it is rocks that define the Saudi roads.
|
 |
|
When one thinks of Saudi Arabia, one naturally thinks of deserts and sand. Sand is present on stages too, but not to such extremes as this Dakarish open stage from 2025 edition. Having said that, on occasion stage surface was soft and huge ruts were forming on corners.
|
|
Driver wins
|
|
Neuville, Thierry (1)
|
|
Manufacturer wins
|
|
Hyundai (1)
|
|
