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Mohammed Al-Balooshi begins Bajas World Cup title defence with Saudi victory

Yazeed Al-Rajhi‘s hopes of winning the Dakar Rally on his home soil evapourated when he crashed halfway. A month later, while not the World Rally-Raid Championship, he began the FIA World Baja Cup on a strong note when he won the Saudi Baja for the seventh time.

Al-Rajhi set the tone when he won the first stage, but had an off performance in the second stage as he finished fourth, five and a half minutes behind winner João Ferreira. Despite Al-Rajhi’s stumble, Ferreira just narrowly missed out on closing the gap entirely as Al-Rajhi beat him by just thirty-eight seconds.

“It’s always nice to win here,” commented Al-Rajhi. “I never expected that I would become a Baja or a cross-country specialist but my first win here opened my eyes to this kind of racing. I enjoy it a lot.”

Juan Cruz Yacopini lost out to Ferreira in Stage #2 by forty-seven seconds, and was too far back to catch Rokas Baciuška for the final spot on the overall podium. Baciuška, the Stage #1 runner-up, was running his second race in the top-level Ultimate class after the Baja Aragón last summer, improving upon his ninth in that race.

Dania Akeel was sixth in her Ultimate début behind Aliyyah Koloc. Unlike the quartet ahead of them, the two are competing for FIA Middle East Baja Cup points.

Despite not being the Challenger victor, João Dias‘ second-place finish still earned him the win among World Baja Cup racers and he thus leaves Saudi Arabia tied for the outright lead with SSV winner Fernando Álvarez. Amerigo Ventura, third in the 2023 FIA European Cup, suffered a mechanical issue on Friday that knocked him out of the race, though his Quaddy Racing team-mate Ahmed Al-Kuwari won the SSV class in Middle East Baja.

While Nasser Al-Attiyah is not defending his FIA World Baja championship, Mohammed Al-Balooshi‘s hopes of a second consecutive title on the FIM Baja World Cup side are off to a good start as he notched his fourth Saudi Baja win in as many tries. He won Stage #1 ahead of Abdullah Alshatti, and the latter tried to return the favour when he beat him for third the following stage but could not narrow it enough.

“I am very happy to win this rally for the fourth time. I have a perfect record here in Saudi. I have never lost the Saudi Baja,” commented Al-Balooshi after the second stage. “Today was very tricky. It was an easy stage but so simple to make a stupid mistake. Our strategy was to bring the bike to the finish line and secure the win. Thanks to this, I’m leading the FIM Bajas World Cup standings.”

Philip Horlemann was the lone entrant in the FIM’s newly created Trail category for twin-cylinder bikes with over 600cc in engine displacement. Racing the Husqvarna FE 501 enduro bike, his time would have ranked him seventh among all motorcycles.

2024 Saudi Baja results

FIA

Ultimate

FinishNumberDriverCo-DriverTeamVehicleClassTimeMargin
1200Yazeed Al-RajhiTimo GottschalkOverdrive RacingToyota Hilux OverdriveT1+4:28:53Leader
2201João FerreiraFilipe PalmeiroX-raid Mini JCW TeamMini John Cooper Works Rally PlusT1+4:29:31+ 0:38
3203Rokas BaciuškaOriol VidalOverdrive RacingToyota Hilux OverdriveT1+4′:30:02+ 1:09
4202Juan Cruz YacopiniDaniel OliveirasOverdrive RacingToyota Hilux OverdriveT1+4:35:21+ 6:28
5205Aliyyah KolocSébastien DelaunayBuggyra ZM RacingRed-Lined REVO T1+T1+5:00:43+ 31:50
6204Dania AkeelStéphane DupléOverdrive RacingToyota Hilux OverdriveT1+5:08:02+ 39:09
DNS210Nasser Al-AjmiFares Al-ThefiriNasser Al-AjmiNissan PatrolT1.1DNSN/A
Bold – Competing in World Baja Cup
Underscore – Competing in Middle East Baja Cup

Stock

FinishNumberDriverCo-DriverTeamVehicleClassTimeMargin
1502Majed Abdulrahman Al-ThunayyanFahad Sulayym Al-SufyaniTeam Al-Thunayyan RacingNissan PatrolT2.18:32:34Leader

Challenger

FinishNumberDriverCo-DriverTeamVehicleClassTimeMargin
1301Saleh Al-SaifNasser Al-KuwariDark Horse TeamGRally OT3T3.14:47:50Leader
2306João DiasJoão MirandaSantag RacingCan-Am MaverickT3.14:59:31+ 11:41
3302Diego MartinezSergio LafuenteSouth Racing Can-AmCan-Am MaverickT3.15:23:52+ 36:02
4307Pal LonyaiDmytro TsyroX-raid Yamaha Supported TeamYamaha YXZ1000R Turbo PrototypeT3.15:31:37+ 43:47
5303Annett QuandtAnnie SeelX-raid Yamaha Supported TeamYamaha YXZ1000R Turbo PrototypeT3.15:39:44+ 51:54
6300Hamad Nasser Al-HarbiAlexey KuzmichShegawl RacingCan-Am MaverickT3.15:48:18+ 1:00:28
7308Maha Al-HamaliOriol MenaDark Horse TeamCan-Am MaverickT3.16:01:35+ 1:13:45
8304Khalid AljaflaAndrei RudnitskiAljafla RacingCan-Am MaverickT3.16:16:29+ 1:28:39
9309Brad SalazarMarco GuerrónR-X SportCan-Am MaverickT3.16:27:51+ 1:40:01
DNF305Eduard PonsJaume BetriuPast-RacingTaurus T3 MaxT3.1DNFN/A
DNF311Gunter HinkelmannNicolas FallouxGunter HinkelmannTaurus T3 MaxT3.1DNFN/A
DNF310Abdullah Al-HaydanBader Al-AjmiIbex RacingCan-Am MaverickT3.1DNFN/A

SSV

FinishNumberDriverCo-DriverTeamVehicleTimeMargin
1402Fernando ÁlvarezXavier PanseriSouth Racing Can-AmCan-Am Maverick XRS Turbo5:13:31Leader
2408Alexander Toril BoquoiPedro López ChavesEscuderia JMP RacingCan-Am Maverick XRS Turbo5:28:14+ 14:43
3404Ahmed Al-KuwariManuel LuchesseQuaddy RacingYamaha YXZ1000R SS5:39:29+ 25:58
4407Luis HendersonBruno JacomyLuis HendersonPolaris RZR Pro R5:57;32+ 44:01
5411Moaaz Majdy HaririTariq Al-RammahDark Horse TeamCan-Am Maverick XRS Turbo6:25:27+ 1:11:56
6416Atif AlzarouniMohammed Hasan InnabAtif AlzarouniYamaha YXZ1000R SS6:26:12+ 1:12:41
7409Ibrahim AlmuhnaFaisal Ibrahim Al-SuwayhAlmuhna RacersCan-Am Maverick XRS Turbo6:26:14+ 1:12:43
8401Mshari Al-ThefiriMichaël MetgeSports Racing TechnologiesCan-Am Maverick XRS Turbo6:49:54+ 1:36:23
9410Bader Mohammed Al-BarrakMarco PianaBader Mohammed Al-BarrakPolaris RZR Pro R7:41:23+ 2:27:52
10412Tullio VersaceCorrado UghettiTullio VersacePolaris RZR Pro R9:48:30+ 4:34:59
11405Abdulla Ali Al-KhelaifiAbdulaziz Yahya Al-JabriQuaddy RacingYamaha YXZ1000R SS17:14:43+ 12:01:12
12415Mathilda LauwensSyndiely WadeR-X SportCan-Am Maverick XRS Turbo17:33:43+ 12:20:12
DNF400Amerigo VenturaHabeeb Al-ShammariQuaddy RacingYamaha YXZ1000R SSDNFN/A
DNF403Abdullah Ahmed Al-ShegawiAleksandr AlekseevShegawi RacingCan-Am Maverick XRS TurboDNFN/A

FIM

Bike

FinishNumberRiderTeamBikeTimeMargin
11Mohammed Al-BalooshiMX Ride DubaiKTM 450 Rally Replica7:00:22Leader
23Abdullah AlshattiMX Ride DubaiHusqvarna 450 Rally7:02:34+ 2:12
36Abdulhaim Abdullah Masad Al-MogeeraAbdulhaim Abdullah Masad Al-MogeeraKTM 450 Rally Replica7:13:29+ 13:07
422Hamdan Mohamed Al-AliHamdan Mohamed Al-AliHusqvarna FE 4507:17:12+ 16:50
52Pedro Bianchi Prata*Pedro Bianchi PrataHonda CRF 450 Rally7:37:13+ 36:51
613Abdullah Abu AishehAbdullah Abu AishehGasGas 450 Rally7:40:29+ 40:07
715Salman Mohamed Humood FarhanSalman Mohamed Humood FarhanHusqvarna FE 4507:46:50+ 46:28
812Martin ChalmersMartin ChalmersGasGas 450 Rally Replica7:53:01+ 52:39
94Andrew Houlihan*Andrew HoulihanHusqvarna FR 4507:57:36+ 57:14
105Ehab Walid Al-HakeemEhab Walid Al-HakeemYamaha WR450F Rally8:04:18+ 1:03:56
1125Rafic Eid*MX Ride DubaiHusqvarna FE 4508:33:46+ 1:33:24
1210Ahmed al-JaberAhmed al-JaberKTM 450 Rally Replica9:13:14+ 2:12:52
1311Jason Paul JoslinJason Paul JoslinHusqvarna FE 3509:40:05+ 2:39:43
1419Abdullatif Mohammed MojadamAbdullatif Mohammed MojadamHonda CRF 450 Rally19:21:00+ 12:20:38
DNF18Anas Abdullah Al-RihayaniAnas Abdullah Al-RihayaniKTM 450 Rally ReplicaDNFN/A
DNS9Badr Mohammed Al-HamdanBadr Mohammed Al-HamdanYamaha WR450F RallyDNSN/A
DNS24Mohammed Saeed BawazeerMohammed Saeed BawazeerYamaha WR450F RallyDNSN/A
* – Veteran Trophy

Quad

FinishNumberRiderTeamQuadTimeMargin
1100Haitham Al-TuwayjiriHaitham Al-TuwayjiriYamaha Raptor 7007:39:15Leader
2101Hani Al-NoumesiHani Al-NoumesiYamaha Raptor 7008:44:40+ 1:05:25
3105Abdulaziz Al-ShaybanAbdulaziz Al-ShaybanYamaha Raptor 7009:05:40+ 1:26:25
4102Abdulaziz Al-AtawiAbdulaziz Al-AtawiYamaha Raptor 70010:24:18+ 2:45:03
DNS103Abdulrahman Abdullah Al-AbdullatifAbdulrahman Abdullah Al-AbdullatifCan-Am Renegade 800DNSN/A

Trail

FinishNumberRiderTeamBikeTimeMargin
160Philip HorlemannPhilip HorlemannHusqvarna FE 5017:44:42Leader

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