There was scandal on the final morning of the inaugural Sharqia Rally in Saudi Arabia when the car of the leader Armindo Araujo.was sabotaged in overnight parc ferme. He had been 1m45s in front of driver Jordanian driver Amjad Farrah, and arrived to start the second day when he found the bonnet of his Mitsubishi had been opened. Sand was found to have been put into the engine. Farrah inherited the lead but two stages from the finish Yazeed Al Hajri passed him to win the event. This event had been listed as a candidate for inclusion in future round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship. Saudi officials stated "there was a possibility that the driveability of the car may have been compromised by human error. The SAMF (Saudi federation) will carry out a full investigation into this unfortunate incident".

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photo 1: Araujo - Mitsubishi Lancer
photo 2: Al Hajri - Subaru Impreza