Badawi Trail to the Last Oasis 2026, Syd Stelvio Day 1 - Jeddah to Abha – 695km

The usual bright sun greeted the residents of Jeddah this morning, as the White Eared Bulbul’s filled the air with their morning song. Thankfully, that was the only noise to fill the sky, as over the past few weeks there has been the threat of something more menacing. The dawn chorus was soon broken though by the sound of 20 classic rally cars firing up, as pistons and crankshafts were bought to life and departed to take the start of a rally that could have gone the way of other planned motorsports in this region. But for the determination of the competitors, the organization and the people of Saudi Arabia, it may well have done. This is perhaps not a time for self-congratulation though on a job well done in getting The Badawi Trail underway against the backdrop of conflict, more an opportunity to feel thankful that we are able to take part in such an event.

But take part we will, despite a somewhat diminished field and a slightly reworked route. Instead of rallying across the entire region, the event will now be contained in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and whilst not quite as extensive, the upside is we have the privilege of further exploring the delights of what has often been a forbidden Kingdom. The first of these privileges was to begin the rally at the Jeddah Corniche Grand Prix Circuit, with the cars being waved off on the start line, though one by one of course! The idea was to complete a lap at a moderate pace, though I’m sure nobody really expected anybody to stick to that, and whilst we may not have troubled Lewis Hamilton’s lap record, we have all enjoyed a run in the wheel tracks of the greats.

Out of the narrow confines of the circuit and on with the adventure properly, though our first taste of this would be within the perhaps greater confines of the early morning city traffic. For anyone who hasn’t experienced driving in this part of the world before it may have felt a bit nuts, as cars jostled for position on the streets, though I can promise you it was all fairly well behaved. Part of the process of driving in a new place is picking up the idiosyncrasies of their particular road networks, traffic control for example, and the different ways slip roads and intersections are designed, and all whilst getting to grips with navigating via trip and tulips. This inevitably caught plenty of people out, such as David and Matthew Leblanc in the Volvo 1800, and Ned and Kat Bacon in the bright orange Porsche 911. Full style points to Ned and Kat though, who calmly worked out the mistake and then went full send to take the most direct route to get back on track.

It wasn’t long before the horizon was filled with the Red Sea, as the cars took the coast road past the packed beach resort at Al Saif Beach. I doubt many people would have been looking inland, but anyone who was, would have no doubt gawped at the passing parade of intriguing vehicles, a change from the white utility machines that are commonplace on the roads. The sea was looking stunning, in various shades of Aqua and Ultramarine, and with the heat of the day the prospect of a dip was appealing, especially with the lack of aircon in these cars. Peter and Debbie Fitzcharles know a thing or two about overheating themselves but were suffering no such problems with their new steed, a bright orange Fangio. Though they did get a little lost on the road at various points, including a wrong slot on the days only competitive section – perhaps that’s just a byproduct of driving an orange car.