Al Rajhi to miss Argentina

WRC 2 frontrunner Yazeed Al Rajhi will miss next week’s Rally Argentina after being taken ill during preparations for the Jordan Rally.

Al Rajhi had to abandon the recce for the third round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship on Wednesday. He was taken to hospital for scans in Amman and spent the night there as investigations were carried out into fears he had a blocked artery in his heart.

Happily Al Rajhi has been told it is a gallstone issue. After flying home to the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh yesterday, he is due to undergo further scans there tomorrow, after which he hopes to receive the all-clear.

Co-driver Michael Orr was alongside Al Rajhi during the recce in Jordan.

“He just stopped and said he couldn’t carry on. That’s so unlike him because he would normally try to continue in the worst of circumstances,” said Orr.

In his only WRC 2 outing this season, Al Rajhi led the category in Sweden for most of the event. However, a spin and a roll in the penultimate stage relegated him to fourth.

His next scheduled WRC appearance is at June's Rally Italia Sardegna.