Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari in FIA World Baja Cup action.
Lusail, Qatar: The FIA World and Middle East Baja Cups and the FIM Bajas World Cup are hotting up in advance of the Qatar International Baja on October 28th-31st.
The Lusail-based event is the penultimate round of both the FIA World and Middle East Baja Cups and round five of the FIM Bajas World Cup.
Before FIA World Baja Cup competitors descend upon the State of Qatar to tackle one of the most challenging events in the cross-country calendar, they will visit Portugal to compete in the Baja de Portalegre 500 on October 15th-17th. The Qatar event will be the next round of both the FIA Middle East Baja Cup and the FIM series for motorcycles and quads.
South Africa’s Saood Variawa is the current leader of the Drivers’ Championship and the Ultimate category in the FIA World Baja Cup. The Toyota Gazoo Racing SA driver won the Jordan Baja outright and has scored 232 points from four events so far. Six scores from a possible eight count towards the championship.
In a series with an emphasis on class-based results also counting towards the Drivers’ and Navigators’ Championships, Emirati Mansour Al-Helai leads the SSV section in an R-X Sport Can-Am and trails Variawa by just 20 points, with former regional champion Dania Akeel holding third, just two points further adrift in her Overdrive Racing Toyota. R-X Sport has a comfortable lead in the Teams’ Championship.
The Challenger category is set for a thrilling climax over the final three rounds in Portugal, Qatar and Dubai. South Racing’s Mitchel Van Den Brink has a two-point lead over Oman’s Hamed Al-Wahaibi in the rankings, with Master driver front-runner Al-Wahaibi set to return from injury on the last two events in the Middle East.
South Racing’s Mitchel Van Den Brink has a two-point lead in the Challenger category.
The host nation’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari is third in the rankings, 47 points adrift of Van Den Brink.
While Al-Helai is setting the pace amongst the SSVs, there are plenty of points available for the likes of South Racing’s Fernando Alvarez, leading Norwegian Junior Hedda Hosås, Dutch veteran Erik van Loon and Pole Tomasz Bialkowski to hunt him down.
The Stock category for series-production cross-country machines is also likely to go down to the wire with the event in Qatar and its demanding navigation sure to prove decisive. Saudi Arabia’s Al-Mashna Al-Shammeri currently leads the way from fellow Nissan driver Majed Al-Thunayyan. They are separated by just 16 points.
Portugal’s Fernando Barreiros has won two of the last three rounds and is 52 points behind the leader, while the likes of Abdullah Al-Shegawi and the Qatari duo of Abdullah Al-Rabban and Ahmad Al-Muhannadi already have points on the board.
As far as the FIA Middle East Baja Cup is concerned, Qatari legend Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah leads the way on 172 points after winning the opening two rounds in Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Yasir Seaidan and Qatari youngster Mohammed Al-Marri are his closest challengers, the latter also leading the Juniors.
Seaidan has a useful lead over Dubai-based Briton David Mabbs and Abdullah Al-Fahad in the Challenger category, while Al-Marri leads the SSVs from Hamad Al-Harbi, Maha Al-Hamali and the Qatari duo of Mohammed Al-Atteya and Ahmed Al-Kuwari.
Qatar will be the fifth of seven rounds in the FIM Bajas World Cup. Junior rider Alex McInnes currently holds a two-point lead over Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera in the overall rankings, with multiple defending champion Mohammed Al-Balooshi eight points behind.
Al-Balooshi also leads the Veteran class, while Ahmed Al-Jaber holds a seven-point cushion over Hani Al-Noumesi in the quads and Joanna Modrzewska has a good lead in the Women’s section.
Entries with reduced fees for the Qatar International Baja close on Wednesday (September 30th) with a final cut-off set for Wednesday, October 14th.
