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Fourth successive
Jordan win for Al-Balooshi in bikes; Al-Shayban tops the quads
AQABA (JORDAN): Emirati driver
Khalid Al-Jafla and his co-driver Andrei Rudnitski secured a dramatic victory
at the Aqaba-based Jordan Baja after the final 185.30km stage through Wadi Rum
on Saturday.
After trailing the Portuguese Can-Am
duo of João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro by 3.5
seconds at the night halt, the Taurus T3 Max crew were 42 seconds quicker on
the final sprint into the finish to win the event for the first time by 38.5
seconds. Santag Racing’s João Dias and Gonçalo Reis rounded off the podium finishers in their Can-Am Maverick X3.
Al-Jafla said: “We pushed today as
much as we could to try and win the stage. Yesterday, we only lost 3.5 seconds.
It was a shorter distance but it was a very fast track and we lost some time in
the dust for around 20km. But we won the rally and the Challenger class. Now we
go to Dubai. It is my home and my ground.”
Runner-up Ferreira added: “It was a
super-fast stage with tricky navigation, like yesterday. It was a flat-out
stage. It was a clean run for us. I am happy with the performance we put in
over the last two days. In the future, if I have the opportunity I would like
to come here again.”
Dias added: “I feel very good. It
was my first time in Jordan, a most beautiful country. The most beautiful stage
in my life. The team was perfect. P1 (SSV) for Ferreira and P2 for me.”
MX Ride Dubai’s Mohammed Al-Balooshi
was in a class of his own on two wheels and a fourth successive win at the
Jordan Baja since 2019 has given the Emirati a major boost to his FIM Bajas
World Cup ambitions before the final round in Dubai at the end of the month.
His winning margin over Saudi rider Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera was a staggering 31min
09.3sec after Lebanon’s Rafic Eid missed three waypoints on the run into the
finish and slipped to third.
Al-Balooshi said: “Amazing to open the day from kilometre
zero to the finish line, leading and navigating. It was a really fun day. I had
a good rhythm and the road book spot on. There were some moments when I thought
the guys maybe would catch me until I reached the first refuel. I waited three
minutes, looked and no-one came. I just managed after that, calmed down and
brought the bike home. This is my fourth Jordan Baja. I am so happy. I think I
need just six points to secure the title back home. I would dedicate this win
to my mom. She was worried about me even at my age. This win is for her…”
Yamaha rider Abdulaziz Al-Shayban held
off championship leader Hani Al-Noumesi to win the quad category. Fellow Saudi Abdulaziz
Al-Atawi finished third. Al-Shayban and
Al-Noumesi will now face off for the title at the final round.
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari returned to
final day action in the cars with a fistful of time penalties after a cooling
fan issue burst a water pipe and he was forced to turn off the engine on Friday
afternoon when he shed coolant. Road penalties were handed out on Friday
evening and 20-minutes were given to Martinez for overtaking infringements that
pushed the Argentine driver down from ninth to 12th before the
restart. He eventually finished 11th behind 10th-placed
Hamad Al-Harbi.
All 19 FIA entrants started the
final stage and Al-Jafla managed to close in on the stage-opening Ferreira to
beat the Portuguese by 42 seconds to finish 38.5 ahead of his FIA World Baja
Cup rival.
Behind Al-Jafla, Ferreira and Dias,
the stage win lifted veteran Miroslav Zapletal into fourth place in his Ford
F-150 and gave the Czech maximum points in the Ultimate class. Eduardo Pons was
fifth and ceded ground to Al-Jafla in the battle for the Challenger category in
the FIA World Baja Cup.
Qatar’s Rashid Al-Muhannadi finished
sixth and was the leading finisher in the FIA Middle East Baja Cup, Fernando
Alvarez lost his lead to Ferreira in the overall FIA World Baja Cup by coming
home seventh and Dania Akeel set up the prospect of a nail-biting finish to the
FIA Middle East Baja Cup by finishing eighth and one place ahead of title rival
Ahmed Al-Kuwari.
Al-Balooshi opened the final motorcycle
stage and headed off into the distance with Eid and Al-Mogheera running
together behind. Injuries prevented both Abdullah Abu Aisheh and Abdullah
Al-Shatti from starting the final day and Briton Steven Holt withdrew on
Saturday morning.
The stage skirted the Saudi Arabian
border and then turned north to finish in the Valley of the Moon in Wadi Rum.
As Al-Balooshi stormed to the finish to record a fourth victory in the
Hashemite Kingdom, Eid pulled away from Al-Mogheera on the run north but he
missed three waypoints and was penalised.
The Jordanian trio of Abdullah Al-Batayneh,
Hamza Al-Zawahreh and Tia’at Al-Shishane finished fourth, fifth and sixth with
Qatar-based Australian Martin Chalmers rounding off the bike finishers.
The local crew of Taha Masoud and
Emran Taha confirmed victory in the National Baja in their Can-Am Maverick.
The Jordan Baja was supported by Zain Jordan, Jordan Kuwait
Bank, Can-Am, Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), Aqaba Development
Corporation (ADC), Aqaba Cruise Terminal (part of AD Ports Group), Guarantee
Travel Group, Hala and Bliss FM.
2024 Jordan Baja – Positions after SS2 (unofficial @14.40hrs):
Cars
1. Khalid Al-Jafla (ARE)/Andrei Rudnitski (LTU) Taurus
T3 Max 6hr
17min 04.3sec*
2. João Ferreira (PRT)/Filipe Palmeiro (PRT) Can-Am
Maverick XRS Turbo RR 6hr
17min 42.8sec*
3. João Dias (PRT)/Gonçalo Reis (PRT) Can-Am Maverick
XRS Turbo RR 6hr
21min 08.4sec*
4. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marcin Pasek (POL) Ford
F-150 Evo 6hr
23min 29.9sec*
5. Eduardo Pons (ESP)/Jaume Betriu (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 6hr
26min 03.4sec*
6. Rashid Al-Muhannadi (QAT)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL)
Taurus T3 Max 6hr 33min
03.8sec+
7. Fernando Alvarez (ARG)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 6hr 33min 11.0sec*
8. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Can-Am
Maverick XRS Turbo RR 6hr 34min
00.3sec+
9. Ahmed Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Augusto Sanz (ARG) Yamaha YXZ
1000R Short Shift 6hr
47min 38.5sec+
10. Hamad Al-Harbi (SAU)/Aleksei Kuzmich (ARE) Can-Am
Maverick X3 6hr 57min 01.5sec+
11. Diego Martinez (ARG)/Sergio Lafuente (URY) Can-Am
Maverick X3 6hr
58min 58.8sec*
12. Maha Al-Hameli (SAU)/Oriol Mena (ESP) Can-Am
Maverick X3 7hr
00min 51.2sec+
13. Amerigo Ventura (ITA)/Erika Mingozzi (ITA) Yamaha YXZ 1000R 7hr 18min 54.9sec*
14. Ibrahim Al-Muhanna (SAU)/Faisal Al-Suwayh (SAU)
Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 9hr 10min
35.1sec*
15. Majed Al-Thunayyan (SAU)/Fahad Al-Sufyani (SAU)
Nissan Patrol 10hr
23min 27.4sec+
16. Abdullah Al-Rabban (QAT)/Ali Hassan Obaid (ARE)
Nissan Patrol 10hr
24min 43.7sec+
17. Mohammed Al-Meer (QAT)/Alexsey Mun (KAZ) Nissan
Patrol 10hr
29min 25.7sec+
18. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT)
Taurus T3 Max 15hr
20min 50.0sec +
19. Khalifa Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Enio Bozzano (BRA) Taurus T3 Max 19hr 33min
37.0sec+
*denotes registered for the FIA World Baja Cup
+ denotes registered for the FIA Middle East Baja Cup
Bikes
1. Mohammed Al-Balooshi (ARE) KTM 450 Rally 7hr
51min 15.1sec
2. Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera (SAU) KTM Rally Bike 8hr
22min 24.4sec
3. Rafic Eid (LBN) GasGas RX450-F 9hr
03min 25.2sec
4. Abdullah Al-Batayneh (JOR) Honda CRF 450R 12hr
01min 19.0sec
5. Hamza Al-Zawahreh (JOR) Yamaha WR-450F 13hr
06min 34.9sec
6. Tla’at Al-Shishane (JOR) Yamaha WR-450F 22hr
20min 00.8sec
7. Martin Chalmers (AUS) GasGas Rally Replica 41hr
35min 05.6sec
Steven Holt (GBR) Honda CRF 450X RETIRED
Abdullah Abu Aisheh (JOR) GasGas 450 RETIRED
Abdullah Al-Shatti (KWT) Husqvarna 450 Rally RETIRED
Quads:
1. Abdulaziz Al-Shayban
(SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700 8hr
29min 40.4sec
2. Hani Al-Noumesi (SAU) Yamaha
Raptor 700 8hr
31min 11.6sec
3. Abdulaziz Al-Atawi
(SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700 9hr
38min 50.5sec