JEDDAH BAJA TOYOTA RALLY 2026

Saudi Toyota Rally Championship

Round 2 – November 11th-14th, 2026

OVERDRIVE RACING’S YAZEED AL-RAJHI EARNS RECORD-BREAKING SEVENTH VICTORY AT THE JEDDAH BAJA

JEDDAH (SAUDI ARABIA) – Saturday, November 14: Overdrive Racing’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi and his German navigator Dennis Zenz delivered a masterclass final stage performance to secure the driver’s record-breaking seventh victory at the Jeddah Baja Toyota Rally on Saturday.

The Toyota Hilux GR driver began the day trailing Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah by 1min 07.8sec. But Al-Rajhi and Zenz overcame the tricky navigation on the short competitive stage better than their rivals to secure a winning margin of 6min 43.8sec.

Al-Rajhi said: “I am very happy that we won this race. Dennis did a great job today. It was not easy navigation but we worked together. My team did a great job, like always, and we enjoyed it a lot. A lot of people lost their way today but we managed it…”

Al-Rajhi came into the weekend with an unmatched record on the Jeddah Baja. He had claimed victories with Alex Winocq and Timo Gottschalk in a Hummer Dbug in 2014 and 2015 and then four successive wins with Overdrive Racing and Toyota between 2022 and 2025. Dirk von Zitzewitz had partnered the Saudi to success in 2022 with Gottschalk earning the last three wins as his navigator.

The three-day second round of Saudi Arabia’s premier all-terrain series was based at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit (JCC) and attracted a starting field of 17 cars, six motorcycles and four quads. It was organised by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) in conjunction with the Ministry of Sport and official partner Jameel Motorsport.

Action got underway with a 13km Prologue. That preceded two sections on Friday, November 13th and a short stage on Saturday, November 14th.

Al-Rajhi stopped the clocks on the Prologue in 8min 26.0sec and that was 22.2 seconds quicker than the time achieved by Qatari rival Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah. It was the perfect start for the Saudi and gave him three valuable championship points to reduce Al-Attiyah’s lead in the Saudi Toyota Rally Championship to just two points.

Al-Rajhi said: “Today was a difficult Prologue. It was not an easy start, 13km of very technical tracks in the mountains. It was slippery but Dennis and I did a great job. I hope to continue like that and see what happens tomorrow.”

The opening stage was split into two timed sections of 74.50km and 87.12km and a slight navigational error near the start proved costly for Al-Rajhi. He lost vital time to the charging Al-Attiyah and slipped to second place at the end of the day, just 1min 07.8sec behind the Qatari.

“Today was not easy,” said Al-Rajhi. “After the start we lost some time. The road was not clear. We lost a few seconds in this area and then gained some time back in the second part. I think the first 5km was difficult navigation and not easy to find the correct road.”

Action concluded on Saturday morning with a short 83.89km finale. Navigation was again tricky but Al-Rajhi and Zenz overcame the issues better than their rivals to secure a memorable win for Overdrive Racing, Yazeed Racing and Jameel Motorsport. It sets up the prospect of a grand duel between Al-Rajhi and Al-Attiyah at the final round.

The 2026 Saudi Toyota Rally Championship concludes with the Qassim Baja on December 1st-4th.

2026 Jeddah Baja Toyota Rally – result (unofficial):

  1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Dennis Zenz (GER) Toyota Hilux GR 2hr 23min 55.7sec
  2. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Max Delfino (FRA) Optimus MD Rallye 2hr 25min 01.5sec
  3. Saleh Al-Saif (KSA)/Albert Veliamovič (LTU) G Rally Team OT3 2hr 41min 31.1sec
  4. Dania Akeel (KSA)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Taurus T3 Max 2hr 46min 33.2sec
  5. Hamad Al-Harbi (KSA)/Faisal Al-Suwayh (KSA) Can-Am Maverick R 3hr 09min 32.3sec
  6. Maha Al-Hamali (KSA)/Alexsei Kuzmich (UAE) Can-Am Maverick R 3hr 09min 55.3sec
  7. Khalaf Joan Al-Shammeri (KSA)/Mashal Saleh Al-Shammeri (KSA) Nissan Patrol 3hr 10min 40.5sec
  8. Ahmed Al-Shammeri (KSA)/Abdulaziz Al-Manea (KSA) Nissan Patrol 3hr 25min 34.2sec
  9. Meshaal Al-Howaish (KSA)/Taye Perry (GER) Can-Am Maverick X3 3hr 29min 56.8sec
  10. Ayyadah Al-Shammeri (KSA)/Abdulrahman Al-Shammeri (KSA) Nissan Patrol 3hr 32min 57.8sec

Ends

For further information:

Jean-Marc Fortin (E-mail: jmf@overdriveracing.be), Overdrive S.A., rue de L’Enterprise 1, 4530 Villers-le-Bouillet, Belgium, Tel: + 32 475 762 391. www.overdriveracing.be, Facebook: Overdrive Racing, Twitter: @OverdriveToyota

 

 

 

Published On: 14 November 2026