When destiny is on your side…
Dakar 2020 |
Stage 3 |
Neom
> Neom
January 7
th
2020
- 07:53
[GMT + 3]
After two stages, Saleh Alsaif belongs to the group of 9 Saudi competitors still in the race on the Dakar rally. Lying in 31st place in the SSV category, he is counting on a tough second part of the route to climb up the standings.
At the bivouac in Neom, the atmosphere is calm and relaxed around the Team Asasi workshop, which houses three Saudi vehicles. On one side, the mechanics are busy at work, whilst on the other the crews are carrying out the debriefing of their day with tea and deliciously mellow dates, sat on a rug rolled out several metres away. Dates are one of the major specialities of the Ha’il region. However, in this city in the centre of the country, perched at an altitude of 1,200 metres, the main centre of interest is all-terrain riding or driving. It was whilst hunting rabbits with friends eight years ago that Saleh Alsaif discovered SSVs. Two years later, this young law professor had purchased his own vehicle and immediately took part in the Ha’il Rally, the oldest and most renowned off-road meeting in the country. The discipline’s specialists soon noticed the newcomer’s driving skills as he won the prologue, before finishing the rally in second place in his category… Not bad for a first try!
For his first international race in 2018, Saleh won the Rally of Jordan and this result led to ideas hatching in his mind: “A magazine interviewed me and I told them that my dream was to take part in the Dakar. I could never have believed that the Dakar would come to my homeland”. With destiny evidently on his side, the national SSV champion was called upon by the Saudi federation to take up one of the several invitations made available by the Dakar organisers. Since the beginning of the rally, everything is going smoothly, but Saleh is looking ahead to the forthcoming stages: “We will soon be passing through my home town and all my family will be there. With my eldest son, who is accompanying me and who will soon be my co-pilot, we cannot wait to meet up with them,” explains this sentimental soul who nonetheless possesses a fiercely competitive spirit. “I know that on the second part of the rally, there will be lots of sand and that is the sort of terrain on which I am most comfortable. My goal is to finish. I’ll be absolutely delighted if I manage to grab a place in the top 10 of the SSV category”.
