Weeks after his home country hosted the Dakar Rally, Khalid Bin Sultan Al Abdullah Al-Faisal will take part in a rally himself by entering the Ha’il Rally / Saudi Baja taking place this weekend. He will race the #200 Toyota Hilux T1+ in the National Legends class with Pablo Moreno as his navigator.

Al-Faisal is the chairman of the Saudi Automobile & Motorcycle Federation, the official FIA and FIM member of Saudi Arabia, a role he has served since 2017. As part of his duties, he oversees major races in the country including FIA- and FIM-sanctioned series when they visit like the W2RC for Dakar and F1 for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The Prince (a member of the ruling royal family) has raced since 2002, initially in autocross before expanding to touring cars. He also competes in rally and cross-country, and was instrumental in getting the World Rally Championship to come to Saudi Arabia for the first time this year.

He is one of six cars entered in the Legends class. Abdullah Bakhashab and Ahmed Al-Sabban are also racing HIluxes in the T1+ subcategory, while Farhan Al-Galid, Said Al-Hajri, and Hamed Al-Wahaibi are racing the Can-Am Maverick X3 in the Challenger class.

Moreno is usually the navigator for Cristina Gutiérrez, the two winning the 2024 Dakar together in Challenger before moving up to Ultimate with the Dacia Sandriders. They finished 41st in class at this year’s Dakar.

The Ha’il Rally, also known as the Saudi Baja, is the first race of the 2025 FIA World and Middle East Baja Cups and the Saudi Toyota Championship. Al-Faisal’s entry is intended to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the event.

Featured image credit: Antonin Vincent / DPPI