Oil, sand and speed: Saudi gearheads take on towering dunes

Wearing a helmet and strapped securely into his four-wheel-drive, Abdelilah al-Rabea tore off across the Saudi desert, kicking up clouds of sand as a crowd of hundreds cheered him on.

Every year through the end of April, droves of people flock to Zulfi, more than 200 kilometres northwest of Riyadh, where adrenaline-seeking motorists drive superpowered cars across steep dunes.

Dune bashing, or tatees in Arabic, is an adventure sport that involves driving off-road across challenging desert…