The spectacular deserts of Saudi Arabia and the Hail Rally (December 7-11) are the setting for the final and decisive round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies. While some of the Cups have already been decided, the fight for the outright titles will take centre stage when the crews start the four-day Middle East curtain-closer.

Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel currently head the standings and will be all-out to add another title to an ever-growing list of awards sealed around the world. Al-Attiyah, who has already won the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies four times, heads the provisional entry list in his Toyota Hilux. He and co-driver Baumel - who has won the title three times - hold a 28 point advantage and, with 31 points available on this event, the Qatari/French pairing only need to finish and bag a couple of maximum leg points to clinch the title.

Lucio Alvarez and Armand Monleon go head-to-head with the multiple title winners as they eye one of the biggest prizes of their careers. The Argentinean/Spanish duo will be in similar Overdrive machinery and need to focus on a top haul of points in Saudi Arabia before seeing how the competition with Al-Attiyah plays out.

Yazeed Al Rajhi, the winner of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas*, will be flying the flag for Saudi Arabia in another Hilux Overdrive. With Britain’s Michael Orr alongside him, the national hero will be looking for a maiden win in the series this season ahead of the Dakar Rally, which is once again hosted on his home territory and launches next year’s inaugural FIA World Rally-Raid Championship.

Denis Krotov, co-driven by Konstantin Zhiltsov, is fourth in the standings in a MINI John Cooper Works Buggy, four points adrift of Al-Rajhi, and he starts just ahead of fellow Russian, Vladimir Vasilyev. The BMW X5 driver, and Oleg Uperenko, sandwich another Buggy in the hands of Jakub Przygonski and Timo Gottschalk with Miroslav Zapletal and Marek Sykora returning in a Ford F150 Evo. X-Raid will be represented by Argentina’s Sebastian Halper and Spaniard Laia Sanz in MINI John Cooper Works Buggy and Rally machinery respectively. Halpern has enjoyed solid results this season and Sanz will make one further preparatory outing in the MINI ahead of her debut Dakar Rally on four wheels. She has former motorcycle racer and experienced navigator Maurizio Gerini alongside her.

In T2, four Saudi Arabian drivers will be vying for honours in Nissan Patrols, while the T3 and T4 categories will once again be hotly contested. Cristina Gutierrez, who has already won the T3 Drivers’ title*, will not be competing on the Hail Rally but eight contenders, headed by Pavel Lebedev, will be looking to round out the season with a top result. Dania Akeel, who has won the category in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas*, also joins the field on her home round ahead of her inaugural outing on the Dakar.  In T4, six Can-Am Maverick crews are scheduled to take the start, with Molly Taylor – a former Australian Rally Champion – also looking to gain more experience as another Dakar debutant.

* All titles are subject to the official confirmation of the results by the FIA.

RALLY DATA

LEADING ENTRIES

HAIL RALLY – TIMETABLE & MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES

FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies – Classifications:
https://www.fia.com/events/world-cup-cross-country-rallies/season-2021/classifications-2