Fernando Alonso and Marc Coma have finished third this Saturday at the Ula-Neom Rally in Saudi Arabia, achieving their first-ever rally-raid podium together. 

Yazeed Al Rajhi, also from Toyota, has taken the victory ahead of Yasir Bin Seaidan and his Mini at round three of the Toyota Desert Rally Championship.

“It was a good four-day preparation for the Dakar and discovering new terrain and new things here. To be third in the final two stages and to be third in the overall is the first podium of my life in a rally. It is good that it happened now and gives us confidence for next Dakar 2020.” – Alonso said in a press release from the Ula-Neom Rally Organisation-.

The Spanish pair has thus completed their second race together after their first experience in Morocco. This time around they have done so onboard their new Hilux 4×4 of the Toyota GAZOO Racing team.

Despite this being a relatively minor race and none of the rally greatest has taken part in it, it can be considered a small success for the Spaniards, and a very well-timed boost for their morale.

It should be remembered that this discipline is completely different from Formula 1, where Alonso was world champion in 2005 and 2006. On top of that, there is also the issue of his limited experience next to Coma in a raid context, with whom he has only completed about 2,000 kilometres overall.

Fernando and Marc were also third in the final 175-kilometre stage, which runs mostly on sand. On that day, they lost five minutes and 31 seconds to stage winner, the Saudi Yazeed Al-Rajhi who was driving a Toyota Hilux identical to their own at the Ula-Neom Rally.

In sum, the Spanish teammates finished the race at a good pace and came out of it with great sensations. In the middle of the last day, they even came to be less than a minute away from Yasir Bin Seaidan.

Seaidan had started the day as leader of the standings and was the favourite for the final victory. The Spaniards, however, lost a great deal of precious time after making a navigation mistake, finishing sixteen minutes and twenty seconds behind the winner.

Final Battle: Al-Rajhi vs Bin Seaidan

Al-Rajhi was dominating Ula-Neom Rally at the lead. He was three minutes and 23 seconds ahead of Bin Seaidan (Mini). Both featured in a spectacular and thrilling battle, a fantastic way to say goodbye to a race with a very local flavour and an adventurous soul. 

Al-Rajhi had taken the risky decision of only carrying two spare tyres with him and after suffering two punctures, he felt his success was under threat. The situation got to a point in which Alonso had to lend him one of his spare tyres and even so he finished the race with a puncture. 

Soon after crossing the chequered flag, by the way, he had to be rescued again by his Spanish friends after getting stuck in a dune. If that incident had taken place just a few meters before, the victory would have belonged to Yasir Bin Seaidan. 

All in all, a good performance from Alonso and Coma after completing 765 kilometres over four days since the start of the rally on the 6th of November. 

This is the last official race for them before the moment of truth, which will be exactly from the 5th to the 17th of January on the dunes of this very same country for the 2020 edition of the Dakar Rally. 

On that occasion, they will come face to face with the greatest names of the discipline such as Carlos Sainz, Stephane Peterhalsen or Naser Al-Attiyah, the defending champion. 

Before them, the extreme test of taking part in the most famous and toughest rally in the world. Changing the tarmac of the circuits for the desert dunes is a herculean challenge, but that is what motorsports’ heroes like to do.

Images of Ula-Neom Rally: Toyota.