Cross-Country – FIA World and Middle East Baja Cup action resumes with the Qatar Baja

2024 FIA World Baja Cup (round 6/8) and Middle East Baja Cup (round 2/4) – Qatar International Baja (Oct. 30 – Nov. 2)

A hectic finale to the cross-country rallying season sees three rounds of both the FIA World and Middle East Baja Cups take place in Qatar, Jordan and Dubai in just over a month.

The three-day Qatar International Baja is being organised by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) on October 20th-November 2nd.

The Lusail-based event has attracted a field of 38 vehicles. That number is further broken down into eight cars registered in the Ultimate section, 12 competing in the Challenger group, 13 in SSV and five in the Stock category for series production cross-country machines. 

Of those entrants, 12 are registered for the FIA World Baja Cup and 14 will challenge for points in the FIA Middle East Baja Cup.

Alvarez and Panseri lead the way in the FIA World Baja Cup

Argentina-based Spaniard Fernando Alvarez is chasing outright victory in both the FIA World Baja Cup and the SSV category. Both the South Racing Can-Am driver and his navigator Xavier Panseri hold 19-point leads over the Portuguese duo of João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro in the main championship after five rounds. 

Ferreira looks to have an unassailable lead in the Ultimate category and has replaced his usual X-Raid Mini JCW Rally for a Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR in Qatar in a bid to collect valuable overall championship points. 

Spaniard Miguel Toril holds third in the title battle but will not be present in Qatar and his absence could well play into the hands of Edouard Pons, Khalid Al-Jafla, Amerigo Ventura and Diego Martinez: they are all present and currently hold fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh in the championship.

While Ferreira concentrates on the overall title at the expense of the Ultimate category, the top-seeded X-Raid driver Denis Krotov (Mini), Overdrive Racing’s Akira Miura (Toyota) and Czech veteran Miroslav Zapletal (Ford F150) will be aiming to score points in the Ultimate category with their respective co-drivers Konstantin Zhiltsov, Jean-Michel Polato and Marek Sykora.

Past Racing’s Pons holds a 19-point lead over Al-Jafla in the Challenger category after a useful result at the recent Baja Portalegre 500, where former series leader Martinez could only pick up points for fourth. Only three of the top six drivers in the Challenger Championship are competing for points in Qatar.

Al-Jafla’s co-driver Andrei Rudnitski leads the Challenger Co-drivers’ Championship by six points from Martinez’s partner Sergio Lafuente of Uruguay. Pons’s co-driver Jaume Betriu is fourth. 

Alvarez’s current success in the overall championship has been down to his results in the SSV category and the Spaniard heads to Doha with a 40-point cushion over the absent Miguel Toril in the SSV points’ standings.

Ferreira is also on the look out for SSV points, as is the third-placed Italian Amerigo Ventura in his Quaddy Racing Yamaha YXZ 1000R. Santag Racing’s João Dias is also registered for the FIA World Baja Cup in Qatar, along with Saudi Arabia’s Ibrahim Al-Muhanna.  

The South Racing Can-Am Team currently enjoys a massive 89-point cushion over Overdrive Racing in the Teams’ Championship. Escuderia JMP Racing holds third. Martinez, Dutch girl Anya Van Loon and Alvarez are representing the leading team in the Teams’ Championship.

Qatar’s Ahmed Al-Kuwari in the early driving seat in the FIA Middle East Baja Cup

Fourteen drivers are registered for FIA Middle East Baja Cup points for a competition where Qatar is the second round of four, following the Saudi Baja in February and forthcoming events in Jordan and Dubai. 

Quaddy Racing’s Ahmed Al-Kuwari currently holds a seven-point lead over Saudi rivals Saleh Al-Saif and Majed Al-Thunayyan in the overall championship standings and teams up with Manuel Lucchese to drive a new Yamaha YXZ 1000R in Qatar. Al-Saif will not be present in Doha but Al-Thunayyan leads the Stock category in his Nissan Patrol. Quaddy Racing is on top in the Teams’ Championship.

Lucchese, for his part, has a similar lead over Nasser Al-Kuwari and Fahad Al-Sufyani in the Co-drivers’ Championship and both his rivals are present in Qatar sitting alongside the recently-crowned FIA Middle East rally champion Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Al-Thunayyan, respectively. 

Overdrive Racing’s Dania Akeel is chasing both overall and Ultimate honours in her Toyota Hilux, while the Saudi Can-Am duo of Hamad Al-Harbi and Maha Al-Hameli are concentrating on the Challenger category in the absence of Al-Saif. Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh and Nasser Al-Ajmi are also registered for the Ultimate section in their Nissan Patrols. 

Ahmed Al-Kuwari’s success at the Saudi Baja has also given the Qatari an 11-point cushion in the SSV section over Moaaz Hariri. But the Saudi is also present in Qatar to compete for FIA Middle East Baja Cup points with Al-Kuwari and fellow Qatari Abdullah Al-Khelaifi. 

In a total route of 856.43km through the vast stony deserts of the State of Qatar – where navigation can be particularly difficult on a multitude of parallel Bedouin sandy tracks and trails – two special stages will run for 244.52km and 249.68km for a total competitive distance of 494.20km. 

A Prologue of 9.9km on Thursday (October 31st) will determine the starting order but will not count towards the general classification. 

Stage one on Friday (November 1st) is split into two parts of 122.48km and 122.04km, while the second stage on Saturday (November 2nd) will be split by three transfer zones into four sections of 45.41km, 32.99km, 43.05km and 124.04km. 

Timetable of events: