Muscat: Hamad bin Said al Hajri emerged victorious of the first round of the Bidiya Sand Car Challenge for cars in Bidiya in the North Sharqiyah Governorate. The event was under organisation of the Bidiya Endurance Racing Club in cooperation with the Oman Automobile Association (OAA) on the “Tal Al Muzhata” field as part of the OAA races of the new season 2022-23, which is part of the tourist season in the Sharqiyah sands.
The Oman Automobile Association applies the applicable regulations and laws to provide all safety measures for drivers, in six, eight cylinder and open category. The participants are allowed to use any type of tyres with 35 as maximum size, they are not entitled to use gas, super or turbo in all categories, the driver has to wear the full sports uniform, seat belt and helmet with availability of a fire extinguisher with safety chassis from the inside, also required to install a safety guard for open top cars, the contestant allowed to remove the co-driver seat, engine cover and to change the original fuel tank, also can change windows to reinforced plastic to reduce the vehicle’s weight.
Opening round included a launch with 28 participants in the four categories. The organisers gave each car the opportunity to climb the sand hill with two attempts for each car category. The number of attendees were more than six thousand from different states and governorates.
The opening round in the modified eight cylinders category ended with racer Hamad bin Said al Hajri in the first place with a time of four seconds and 217 parts of a second. Hamad al Yahmadi claimed the the first place award in the eight-cylinder category with a timing of four seconds and 481 parts of a second.
In the six agency cylinder category, the driver Ahmed al Shabibi achieved first place in a time of four seconds and 773 parts of a second while in the modified cars category six-cylinders, Samir bin Obaid al Hajri claimed first place with a time of four seconds and 365 parts of a second. In the open challenge category, Hamad bin Said al Hajri bagged the first place with a timing of five seconds and 207 parts of a second.
