Rally News
T5 — Giants of Steel: Three Days of Battle at Al-Arar
After three days of fierce competition between the giants of steel on the demanding roads of the Al-Arar Rally, harsh conditions, penalties, and navigational mistakes took their toll on almost everyone.
But when the dust finally settled, only one man stood at the top: Captain Abdulsalam Okra.
Behind the wheel of his mighty 12,000cc Kamaz, Okra delivered an incredibly consistent performance to claim the overall T5 title, completing all three stages without receiving a single penalty — a remarkable achievement in a rally where mistakes proved extremely costly.
The Podium
1st — Nazar Rally Team
Abdulsalam Okra, navigator Mutasim Okra, and mechanic Abdulmoez Okra
8:23:19.12
A virtually flawless performance from start to finish.
2nd — Al-Samadi Rally Team
Ali Al-Samadi, experienced navigator Abdullah Al-Gamoudi, and mechanic Abdulsalam Bin Omran
9:32:56.03 (+1:09:36)
They fought hard until the very end, but the gap proved too large to close, with the truck’s outright speed possibly limiting their ability to challenge for victory.
3rd — Abubaker Abu Shahmah & Sami Abu Shahmah
21:53:02.05 (+13:29:42)
A dramatic final stage brought their hopes of fighting for a higher position to an end.
For Abubaker Abu Shahmah and his navigator Sami Abu Shahmah, the decisive blow came in the final stage, when they were handed a severe two-hour-and-15-minute penalty. It effectively ended any remaining hopes they had of challenging for a stronger position on the podium.
Meanwhile, Yousef Hbreisha, alongside navigator Abdulfattah Al-Tarhouni aboard the Mercedes Unimog, found himself fighting a battle for survival rather than victory.
Hours of accumulated penalties transformed the three-day rally into an exhausting test of endurance — less a race against the clock and more a fight simply to keep going.
In the end, the T5 category proved once again that horsepower alone does not win a cross-country rally. Reliability, navigation, discipline, and avoiding costly penalties were just as important.
And across all three stages, Abdulsalam Okra and Nazar Rally Team mastered that formula better than anyone else.
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