Rallying-Evans on brink of world title after Saudi Arabian round cancelled

FIA World Rally Championship - Rally Sweden - Second Round - Torsby, Sweden - February 16, 2020. Elfyn Evans of Britain poses. Micke Fransson/TT News Agency/via REUTERS

Sept 17 (Reuters) - Elfyn Evans's chances ⁠of becoming Britain's third world rally champion were boosted on Thursday after the final round of the ⁠season in Saudi Arabia was dropped due to safety concerns, with the title set to be ‌decided in Sardinia next month.

The governing FIA said the decision to drop the Jeddah-based round from the championship calendar was due to the situation in the Middle East.

Toyota's Evans will now go into the last round in Italy with a 17-point advantage over Finnish teammate Sami Pajari and ​is on the brink of following the late Colin McRae (1995) and Richard ⁠Burns (2001) on the list of British champions.

Sweden's Oliver ⁠Solberg, also for Toyota, is third overall and 21 points behind Evans, who could finally shrug off his nearly ⁠man ‌tag after being runner-up five times in the last six seasons. The cancellation leaves a maximum 35 points on the table, rather than 70.

Toyota have already clinched the manufacturers' title for the sixth year in a ⁠row.

Saudi Arabia was due to end the season on November 11-14, after ​the Alghero-based Italian round on gravel ‌roads on October 1-4.

The Jeddah-based Rally Saudi Arabia will still be held but as part of the ⁠Middle East championship.

The FIA ​said in a statement that "ongoing uncertainty in the region and its effect on logistical arrangements, requires the WRC element of Rally Saudi Arabia not to proceed in 2026."

"Saudi Arabia remained ready to host the event safely and successfully," it added.

Iran-backed Houthis have launched ⁠drones and missiles repeatedly from neighbouring Yemen into Saudi Arabia over ​the past week causing alarms over cities in the south and west.

"We have worked closely with our partners in Saudi Arabia, our Member Club the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, WRC Promoter and our championship stakeholders in recent months to explore ⁠every possible route that would allow Rally Saudi Arabia to take place as planned," said FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

"However, ongoing regional developments mean that the WRC element of Rally Saudi Arabia will not proceed this year. These are never easy decisions, particularly after the significant work undertaken by everyone involved in preparing for the event."

The rally decision comes as ​Formula One faces a similar decision over its season-ending races in Qatar and ⁠Abu Dhabi in late November and December, with Italy's Imola circuit being lined up as a replacement should they also ​be cancelled.

Saudi Arabia is also due to host the season-opening round of the ‌all-electric Formula E championship in December, with that series already ​stating that Mexico City in January will be the first round otherwise. The Kingdom is also due to host the Dakar Rally in January.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Toby Chopra and Toby Davis)

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国际汽联世界拉力锦标赛 - 瑞典拉力赛 - 第二轮 - 瑞典托斯比 - 2020年2月16日。英国车手埃尔芬·埃文斯摆姿势拍照。图片来源：Micke Fransson/TT新闻社/路透社

9 月 17 日（路透社）——由于安全问题，沙特阿拉伯的赛季最后一轮比赛被取消，埃尔芬·埃文斯成为英国第三位世界拉力锦标赛冠军的机会在周四大大增加，冠军头衔将于下个月在撒丁岛决出。

国际汽联表示，取消在吉达举行的比赛是出于对中东局势的担忧。

丰田车队的埃文斯将带着17分的优势进入意大利的最后一轮比赛，领先他的芬兰队友萨米·帕贾里，他即将成为继已故的科林·麦克雷（1995年）和理查德·伯恩斯（2001年）之后，英国历史上又一位世界冠军。

瑞典车手奥利弗·索尔伯格（同样效力于丰田车队）目前总排名第三，落后埃文斯21分。埃文斯在过去六个赛季五次屈居亚军后，终于有望摆脱“与冠军失之交臂”的标签。由于比赛取消，剩余积分上限为35分，而非通常的70分。

丰田已经连续第六年获得厂商冠军。

沙特阿拉伯站原定于 11 月 11 日至 14 日结束本赛季，此前意大利阿尔盖罗站的比赛将于 10 月 1 日至 4 日在砂石路面上举行。

总部位于吉达的沙特阿拉伯拉力赛仍将举行，但将作为中东锦标赛的一部分。

国际汽联在一份声明中表示，“由于该地区持续存在的不确定性及其对后勤安排的影响，沙特阿拉伯拉力赛的世界拉力锦标赛部分将不会在 2026 年举行。”

声明还补充说：“沙特阿拉伯已做好准备，安全、成功地举办此次活动。”

过去一周，伊朗支持的胡塞武装多次从邻国也门向沙特阿拉伯发射无人机和导弹，引发沙特阿拉伯南部和西部城市的恐慌。

国际汽联主席穆罕默德·本·苏莱姆表示：“近几个月来，我们与我们在沙特阿拉伯的合作伙伴、我们的成员俱乐部沙特汽车和摩托车联合会、WRC推广商以及我们的锦标赛利益相关者密切合作，探索了所有可能的途径，以使沙特阿拉伯拉力赛能够按计划举行。”

“然而，由于地区局势持续发展，今年的沙特阿拉伯拉力赛将不会举办世界拉力锦标赛（WRC）项目。做出这样的决定绝非易事，尤其是在所有参与筹备工作的人都付出了大量心血之后。”

此次拉力赛的决定出台之际，一级方程式赛车也面临着类似的抉择，即原定于11月底和12月在卡塔尔和阿布扎比举行的赛季收官战是否取消。如果这两场比赛也被取消，意大利的伊莫拉赛道将作为替代场地。

沙特阿拉伯还将于12月举办全电动方程式锦标赛（Formula E）的揭幕战，该赛事官方已宣布，若不举办揭幕战，则将于1月在墨西哥城举行首轮比赛。此外，沙特阿拉伯还将于1月举办达喀尔拉力赛。

（艾伦·鲍德温报道；托比·乔普拉和托比·戴维斯编辑）

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