Muscat – Salem al Touqi and his navigator Issa al Wardi won the Rally Oman Baja sprint title after a fierce competition on the tracks and roads of the Wilayat of Nakhal through the Nakhal and Alsareer stages.
Ghaith al Qasmi and his navigator Ahmed Salem finished second while Mazin al Shibani, and his co- driver Warith al Kharousi, managed to secure the final place on the podium.
Musab Soomar, with his navigator Sultan al Batashi, came fourth while Abbas al Lawati finished fifth.
The closing ceremony of the rally was under the patronage of Sheikh Said bin Mohammad al Rashidi, the Wali of Nakhal Deputy, who crowned the winners and distributed prizes.
The rally was organised by the Oman Automobile Association, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Youth, and supported by Toyota. The rally featured various categories, including regular rally cars, as well as off-road four-wheel vehicles and motorcycles such as Cam-Ams and Polaris.
Al Touqi managed to finish the rally with a time of 45 minutes and 3 seconds, while Al Qasmi recorded a time of 49 minutes and 20 seconds. Al Shibani finished in 52 minutes and 7 seconds, Musab Soomar clocked 54 minutes and 10 seconds, while Al Lawati took 54 minutes and 51 seconds.
After early leader Haitham Soomar exited the rally due to a car engine malfunction, the Al Touqi took the lead in the second stage in Al Sareer and tied with racer Al Shibani in the third stage with equal timing.
Al Touqi regained the lead in the fourth stage and, although he dropped to third in the fifth stage behind Al Shibani and Al Qasmi, he ultimately finished first on aggregate time.
Both Soomar and Bashar al Qasmi were unable to finish the race due to technical issues with their cars. Shahab al Rahbi, Moataz al Kindi, Walid al Hashmi and Sina Hasari also exited the race.
The Oman Automobile Association shows great interest in rallying sports and continuously seeks to create excitement and challenges among the racers by organising races in various regions to allow motorsport enthusiasts to closely follow these races in their areas and promote the sport of car racing in different governorates and regions of the Sultanate.
