AMMAN - Jordan Motorsport
today (Friday) announced details of the Jordan Baja, the seventh and
penultimate round of both the FIA World Baja Cup and the FIM Bajas World Cup
and round three of the FIA Middle East Cup. The event will be based in Aqaba
and runs from November 14th-16th.
The Hashemite Kingdom’s premier
off-road event returns to the international calendar after a one-year absence
and will again utilise stunning desert terrain in the world-renowned Wadi Rum
in southern Jordan.
Competitors taking part in all three
championships will face 566.46 competitive kilometres over two legs in a route
of 775.31km laid on by rally officials under Chairman of the Organising
Committee Zaid Balqez, Clerk of the Course Khaled Zakaria, his deputy Loai
Marei and their experienced organising team. Omar Zarour will act as Clerk of
the Course for the FIM event.
The Jordan Baja will be based at the
Hyatt Regency Aqaba Ayla Resort and the start and finish will take place at the
nearby Arab Revolt Plaza in the stunning city of Aqaba adjacent to the pristine
waters of the Red Sea.
Scrutineering at the Aqaba Service
Park and administrations checks at Rally HQ will take place on Wednesday,
November 13th. The three-kilometre Prologue stage will then kick
start the timed competition to determine the starting orders for the opening
stage on Thursday (November 14th) afternoon from 14.07hrs (first
FIM). The Prologue precedes the ceremonial start, commencing at 16.45hrs.
Event regulations have now been
posted with entrants set to tackle a demanding stage of 349.14km through Wadi
Rum on Friday (November 15th) - split into two sections of 243.00km
and 106.14km - and a second stage of 214.32km on Saturday (November 16th).
The final timed test precedes the
podium ceremony and prize giving at the Arab Revolt Plaza from 17.00hrs and the
post-event press conference, starting at 18.00hrs.
“We are delighted to be back in the
international FIA and FIM motor sporting calendars this year and are looking
forward to the return of world-class cross-country rallying to Jordan,” said
Zaid Balqez.
“This particular area of southern
Jordan is blessed with some of the most spectacular terrain on the planet and
our competitors will be able to appreciate the beauty of the region. We continue to tweak and make improvements to
our round of the FIA and FIM Bajas World Cups and I am sure that competitors
coming here for the first time with be awestruck with some of the scenery we
use for the Baja. This has been showcased frequently by numerous blockbuster
Hollywood films, including The Martian, Aladdin, Dune and Star Wars.”
Following the unfortunate
cancellation of the 2023 event, Saleh Al-Saif is the defending Jordan Baja
champion, the Saudi having won the FIA event outright and the T3 (now
Challenger) category in 2022 at the helm of his Can-Am Maverick X3 with
co-driver Egor Okhotnikov. Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thefiri teamed up with Frenchman
François Cazalet to
prevail in the T4 (now SSV) section in his Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR.
The
UAE’s Mohammed Al-Balooshi won the motorcycle section for a third time in
succession and Saudi Arabia’s Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi won the quad category for
the first time on his Yamaha Raptor.
Entries are now open and a closing date
has been set for Wednesday, October 30th.