2025 Saudi Baja – Hail: Impressions After First Stage
The first day of the 2025 Saudi Baja – Hail included a high-speed stage divided into two selective sections by a neutralization and refueling zone. The total stage distance was 260 km.
Sergei Remennik, No. 309, “Hello, hello! The day consisted mainly of a sand track. There was an open terrain with a lot of fast sections. In the middle of the selective section there was greenery like camel grass. The second part went more along the dunes or dunettes, there was a little bit of everything mixed up. And just in case, we turned on the limiter so as not to get a penalty for speeding, because in many places we reached the maximum.
I would like to note that this is our second rally with Alexei Ignatov in the same crew. Alexei is a great professional; I really like working with him. Today we revealed the capabilities of this car step by step – gradually picked up speed. It was especially telling when guys on the same car overtook us: first Saleh Alsaif, then Khalifa Al-Attiya. And, in fact, there was no problem keeping up with the guys. The only problem so far was reading the terrain with my eyes, here I really lack experience. And if Alexei didn’t have any comments to me about the defensive driving, then there are, of course, a lot of questions about reading the terrain. But you need to drive more and practice to learn to see and read the surfaces.
When they caught up with us, we just looked at how Khalifa and Saleh were driving. So, we were able to increase our pace, which is visible from the waypoints during the day. We are very happy – the car is intact, nothing was bent. The car is fantastic! It’s a pleasure to operate a vehicle like this.
Thank God, there was almost no dust, to be honest, it was convenient to follow the guys who understand the terrain well and can read it – they do some things much more boldly. At the moment, it helps to navigate and see a little ahead: that it has jumped sharply, or where it has started to turn and whether it is possible to cut in there, so it’s easier to stay second. But, of course, it is more indicative when the drivers are in the same cars and you can evaluate from the outside how to drive a Taurus on such terrain.
My goal is to finish, not to surprise anyone. I want to bring the car to the finish – this is the main priority. For me, in any case, it will be a step forward. If you practice right at the rally, then it has never led to anything good.
Tomorrow is another racing day, we hope to do everything to get to the finish. According to the results for today, we seem to be 9th overall and 5th in the T3 (Challenger) category.”
Alexei Shmotev, No. 308, “We finished the selective section without any breakdowns and didn’t get lost even once! I have to say a big thank you to Yaroslav, because this is his first full-fledged rally-raid. And indeed, as they said, the first 62 kilometers were such tricky navigation, but he coped with everything, that is, he has no mistakes at this selective section!
The track reminds me of Astrakhan. Because it’s constantly shaking, bumpy and a little bit of dunes, there are a few not so much high-speed sections, but sandy tracks where you can drive for a hundred in fifth gear. We got used at the first part, and after refueling, we immediately overtook probably three crews at a time! This is good, but it needs to be better. The car is still unusual for me, somewhere I drive well, and somewhere I don’t quite understand how it behaves. But, in general, I really liked it, the car is cool, it can go very fast!”
On Saturday, the crews will have to drive another 160 competitive kilometers.
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