Al-Rajhi holds off Peterhansel to extend lead in Riyadh Rally

Riyadh Rally is being organized by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, under the chairmanship of Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal. (Photo/Supplied)
Updated 29 November 2019
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Al-Rajhi holds off Peterhansel to extend lead in Riyadh Rally

  • The Rumah stage victory extends the Saudi driver’s overall advantage to 54 seconds
  • On Saturday, competitors will tackle a shorter section of 160 km through the scenic Saad National Park before a ceremonial finish at Diriyah

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi beat French legend Stéphane Peterhansel by 46 seconds in the challenging second 307 km section through the deserts around Rumah on Friday morning.

The Rumah stage victory extends his overall advantage in the Riyadh Rally to 54 seconds.

Aiming to win the inaugural Saudi Toyota Desert Rally Championship and continue valuable pre-Dakar Rally testing, Al-Rajhi and Northern Irish co-driver Michael Orr clocked a time of 2 hours, 18 minutes, and 40 seconds in a Toyota Hilux.

Like Peterhansel, series rival Yasir Seaidan drove an X-raid prepared MINI JCW Buggy and finished the stage in third, 2 minutes, 41 seconds adrift of the outright leader. Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal slipped to fifth place behind ED Racing’s Essa Al-Dossari and a plethora of Saudi drivers filled the remaining places inside the top 10. Mutair Al-Shammeri was the best of the bunch in sixth, followed by Faris Al-Moshna Al-Shammeri, Sami and Al-Mashna Al-Shammeri and Khalid Al-Remali.

Salman Al-Shammeri moved to the top of the T2 standings for series-production cross-country vehicles with the fastest time, putting the Nissan driver 4 minutes and 41 seconds ahead of Farhan Al-Muharib. Yousef Al-Suwaidi held third overall and Talal Al-Bader moved his Ford up into fourth.

SPEEDREAD

  • Like Peterhansel, series rival Yasir Seaidan drove an X-raid prepared MINI JCW Buggy and finished the stage in 3rd, 2 minutes and 41 seconds adrift of the outright leader.
  • Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal slipped to 5th place behind ED Racing’s Essa Al-Dossari and a plethora of Saudi drivers filled the remaining places inside the top 10.
  • Mutair Al-Shammeri was the best of the bunch in 6th, followed by Faris Al-Moshna Al-Shammeri, Sami and Al-Mashna Al-Shammeri and Khalid Al-Remali.

Saleh Al-Saif extended his advantage in the NUTV section to 1 minute 49 seconds at the wheel of a Can-Am Maverick X3. Yousef Al-Dhaif maintained second position and Khalil Al-Tuwaijri was third. 

Saudi Arabia’s leading rider Mishal Alghuneim hit the front in the motorcycle category with the fastest time of 3 hours 53 seconds. That enabled the KTM rider to forge a 1 minute 20 seconds advantage over Abu Dhabi’s Mohammed Al-Balooshi. His brother Sultan came home in third place after incurring a one-minute penalty and Kuwait’s Abdullah Al-Shatti rounded off the top four.

As both Abdullah Al-Malki and Abdullah Al-Shegawi retired from the quad category, pre-race favorite Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi incurred 57 minutes of time penalties and plummeted down the running order before retiring from the day with another fistful of penalties.

Sultan Al-Masoud clocked the unofficial fastest time before any potential penalties were imposed and returned to Riyadh on his Yamaha ahead of Fahad Al-Madah and Sufyan Al-Omar.

The event is being organized by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, under the chairmanship of Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal and supervision of former International Automobile Federation Middle East champion Abdullah Bakhashab.

The rally runs with the support of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, the General Sport Authority, Abdul Latif Jameel Motors (Toyota), the MBC Group, Al-Arabia outdoors and the Saudi Research and Marketing Group.

On Saturday, competitors will tackle a shorter section of 160 km through the scenic Saad National Park before a ceremonial finish at Diriyah, near Riyadh.


Memphis Grizzlies rally, nip Spurs on late block

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Memphis Grizzlies rally, nip Spurs on late block

  • Luka ​Doncic and ‌LeBron James both scored 30 points as Los Angeles won in New Orleans 111-103 to win their third straight
  • Darius Garland posted 29 points and six assists as Cleveland won in Indianapolis, sending Indiana to their franchise-record 13th consecutive loss

NEW YORK: Cam Spencer scored 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and Santi Aldama blocked a potential game-winning shot by De’Aaron Fox with 5.2 seconds remaining to lift the Memphis Grizzlies to a 106-105 victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night.

Spencer gave the Grizzlies the lead with 37.3 seconds to go on a baseline jumper. A minute earlier, ​he had connected on a 3-pointer to trim San Antonio’s lead to 105-104. Jaren Jackson Jr. matched Spencer with 21 points and had nine rebounds. Jock Landale contributed 19 points and nine boards and Vince Williams Jr., returning from a lengthy injury absence, finished with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Victor Wembanyama came off the bench to lead the Spurs with 30 points. Julian Champagnie added 23 points and eight rebounds and Stephon Castle had 15 points and eight boards before fouling out with 3:13 to go.

The Grizzlies played without starters Ja Morant, Cedric Coward and Zach Edey. Morant missed his second straight game with a right calf contusion and his 18th game overall of the team’s 36 contests because ‌of a variety ‌of injuries. Coward sprained his left ankle in Sunday’s loss at the Lakers.

Lakers 111 Pelicans ⁠103

Luka ​Doncic and ‌LeBron James both scored 30 points as Los Angeles won in New Orleans to win their third straight. Doncic also had 10 assists while James had eight boards and eight assists.

Doncic had 11 first-quarter points and 16 at the half despite missing all six of his 3-point shots. Deandre Ayton paired 18 points with 11 rebounds as the Lakers opened the fourth on a 9-0 run to take control of the game.

Trey Murphy III had a career-high 42 points for New Orleans, who frittered away a position of strength to suffer their eighth successive defeat. Zion Williamson added 15 points and Derik Queen posted 10 points, ⁠13 rebounds and eight assists.

Cavaliers 120 Pacers 116

Darius Garland posted 29 points and six assists as Cleveland won in Indianapolis, sending Indiana to their franchise-record 13th consecutive loss.

Evan ‌Mobley had 20 points and Jarrett Allen finished with 19 points ‍and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who have won four ‍of their last five. Sam Merrill also scored 19. Cleveland won despite resting Donovan Mitchell, the NBA’s fourth-leading scorer at ‍29.8 points per game, and losing Dean Wade after eight minutes when he re-injured his left knee.

Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 22 points, Jay Huff scored 20 and Johnny Furphy had nine points and 11 rebounds. The Pacers’ most recent win was Dec. 8 over the Sacramento Kings. Indiana, which had lost 12 consecutive games four prior times since joining the NBA in 1976, owns the worst ​home record in the league at 5-15.

Timberwolves 122 Heat 94

Anthony Edwards scored 26 points in 29 minutes, and Minnesota cruised to a win over Miami in Minneapolis.

Jaden Daniels added 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting ⁠for Minnesota, which won its third game in a row. Julius Randle (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Rudy Gobert (13 points, 17 rebounds) each registered double-doubles, and Naz Reid scored 14 points off the bench.

Norman Powell. Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware grabbed 11 rebounds apiece. One bright spot for the Heat was the return of Tyler Herro, who played for the first time since Dec. 9. He showed no signs of a right big toe injury as he finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench.

Wizards 120 Magic 112

CJ McCollum scored 27 points and Alex Sarr added 23 to go along with eight rebounds, fueling host Washington past Orlando. Justin Champagnie had 17 points off the bench for Washington, who made 31 of 33 shots from the free- throw line.

Bilal Coulibaly recorded 14 points, eight rebounds and five steals for the Wizards, who have won five of their last seven.

Orlando rookie Jase Richardson scored a career-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor. Desmond Bane scored ‌15 points, Paolo Banchero had 14 and Tristan da Silva added 13 for the Magic, who committed 19 turnovers that led to 29 points by Washington. The Magic whittled a 26-point deficit down to two late in the game, but a 10-2 Wizards run sealed ‌their victory.