Jordan Baja – February 17th-19th, 2022
FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas, round 2
For immediate release
Saturday, February 19th, 2022
SOUTH RACING CAN-AM TEAM’S AL-THEFIRI
AND KOOLEN SEAL T4 1-2 AT THE JORDAN BAJA
• South Racing Can-Am’s Alvarez snatches FIA T3 series lead with third in Jordan
AQABA (JORDAN): The South Racing Can-Am Team enjoyed further success at the Jordan Baja, with Meshari Al-Thefiri and Kees Koolen finishing first and second in the FIA T4 category and Fernando Alvarez rounding off the podium places in the T3 section for lightweight prototype machines.
South Racing entered 10 Can-Ams on the second round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas and the first event in the Middle East series in southern Jordan. All 10 vehicles reached the finish, with South Racing machines finishing third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh in T3 and first, second, fourth, fifth and seventh in T4. South Racing also built the Can-Am used by Saudi Arabia’s Saleh Al-Saif to claim outright victory and the T3 category win.
Al-Thefiri teamed up with Frenchman François Cazalet on this occasion and managed to overhaul Koolen and Wouter Rosegaar through the rain-soaked deserts of Wadi Araba on the final morning. Not only did Al-Thefiri win the T4 section, but he also finished on the podium in third place in the overall classification.
The Kuwaiti said: “We are happy to claim the win. It was a fantastic stage. We pushed to the maximum. It was wonderful. We would like to participate in Jordan in the Dakar Rally.”
Koolen finished fourth overall. The Dutchman added: “For me, it was the first time in Jordan. It’s a very nice place. The tracks are perfect. It’s real rally-raid.”
The Brazilian duo of Cristiano de Sousa Batista and Vladimir Grunenberg were competing in Jordan for the first time and they brought their T4 Can-Am to the finish in fourth in T4 and 11th overall. The Lithuanian pairing of Valeiša Egidijus and Var?a Mindaugas were fifth in T4 and Spain’s Eduard Pons and Oriol Mena were seventh.
Pons suffered a collision with a Saudi rival heading in the wrong direction after 38km of the opening stage in Wadi Rum and the crew spent four hours repairing the Can-Am, despite the impact injuring both his and his co-driver’s legs. They were fortunate to be able to continue in their Baporo Motorsport car.
Alvarez teamed up with Frenchman Xavier Panseri to round off the T3 podium in his Conarpesa-backed Can-Am. He was competing in Jordan for the first time and sustained two punctures on the first stage in Wadi Rum and several delays finding the correct route. With rival Aliyyah Koloc not registered for the FIA series, Alvarez picks up points for second in the T3 rankings.
The Russian drivers, Pavel Silnov and Armen Puzian, were entered under the Nakusi Racing Team banner but their cars were run by the South Racing Can-Am Team. Silnov and Kirill Shubin finished seventh overall and fourth in T3, while Puzian and Evgenii Zagorodniuk were 10th and sixth in T3.
Saudi Arabia’s Dania Akeel teamed up with Frenchman Laurent Lichtleuchter again and overcame two punctures on the first stage to finish ninth overall and fifth in T3.
The Portuguese pairing of Filipe Nascimento and João Fernandez Serodio were 13th overall and seventh in T3. The Portuguese said: “We were in Jordan for the first time. We had an issue with the hydraulic jack and a puncture in Wadi Rum. We lost a lot of time and then a turbo problem cost us more time in the afternoon. But we are happy to make it to the finish.”
South Racing Can-Am Team’s Scott Abraham said: “Another great Jordan Baja for the team. Once again, Can-Am was the biggest manufacturer at the event, showcasing its class and market-leading X3. It was a great result in both categories with South Racing-built vehicles taking both the T3 and T4 categories.
“It’s been a busy few weeks with back-to-back races in Russia and Jordan and now the team heads back to the workshop for a short week before heading out to the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge to go and defend our leads in both the T3 and T4 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship where the team will be fielding a 16-car team.”
Competitors tackled two selective sections through Wadi Rum on day one. One of the most spectacular desert regions on earth played host to the opening special of 232.71km that was connected to a shorter second selective of 81.97km by a transfer section and refuelling area.
Al-Saif was the fastest of all the Can-Am runners through the first section and the eighth quickest run in the shorter second part enabled the Saudi to carve out an overnight outright lead and the advantage in T3. Puzian and Alvarez delivered solid performances to hold sixth and eighth in the overall rankings and third and fourth in T3, despite two early punctures for Alvarez. Akeel was fifth, despite using both her spare tyres on the first part of the stage.
Koolen and Al-Thefiri were closely matched in the T4 tussle at the top and the Dutchman reached Aqaba with a slender 12.5-second lead. They also held second and third in the general classification. De Sousa Batista rounded off the top 10 in the main results and was fourth in T4.
Al-Thefiri said: “Last year was my first year in Baja and finished third overall in T4 to take experience. This year is different. We fight to win. My time was good on the first stage but we lost the way on the second and lost many minutes.”
Sunday’s stage was centred around Wadi Araba – a stunning region that stretches from the Gulf of Aqaba to the southern shores of the Dead Sea – for the first time. Teams tackled a single stage of 150.89km.
Rain, chilly temperatures and reduced visibility were a far cry from the weather teams had experienced the previous day in Wadi Rum. Al-Thefiri attacked hard and managed to move ahead of Koolen to seal the T4 win with both drivers finishing third and fourth in the overall rankings. All 10 Can-Ams made it to the finish after two challenging days.
The South Racing Can-Am Team receives valuable support for the race programme from Method Wheels, Tensor Tires, Motul, Bell, Jjuan Brake Systems, Lazer and OMP.
2022 Jordan Baja – FIA T3 final standings:
1. Saleh Al-Saif (SAU)/Egor Okhotnikov (RUS) Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS 6hr 34min 40.1sec
2. Aliyyah Koloc (ARE)/Sebastien Delaunay (FRA) Can-Am Maverick DV21 6hr 54min 21.4sec
3. Fernando Alvarez (ESP)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 7hr 00min 24.4sec
4. Pavel Silnov (RUS)/Kirill Shubin (RUS) Can-Am Maverick X3 7hr 02min 34.8sec
5. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Laurent Lichtleuchter (FRA) South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 7hr 17min 00.5sec
6. Armen Puzian (RUS)/Evgenii Zagorodniuk (RUS) Can-Am Maverick X3 7hr 20min 21.0sec
7. Filipe Nascimento (PRT)/João Fernandez Serodio (PRT) Can-Am Maverick X3 8hr 06min 56.0sec
8. Hamad Al-Harbi (SAU)/Waleed Al-Shegawi (SAU) Can-Am Maverick X3 9hr 04min 28.3sec
9. Yasmeen Koloc (ARE)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA) Can-Am Maverick DV21 66hr 07min 30.0sec
2022 Jordan Baja – FIA T4 final standings:
1. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KWT)/François Cazalet (FRA) South Racing Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 6hr 47min 25.2sec
2. Kees Koolen (NLD)/Wouter Rosegaar (NLD) South Racing Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 6hr 52min 13.9sec
3. Saeed Al-Mouri (SAU)/Sergio Lafuente (URY) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 7hr 11min 25.1sec
4. Cristiano Batista (BRA)/Vladimir Grunenberg (BRA) South Racing Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 7hr 20min 45.4sec
5. Valeiša Egidijus (LTU)/Var?a Mindaugas (LTU) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 9hr 08min 53.9sec
6. Yousef Al-Dhaif (SAU)/Omar Al-Lahim (SAU) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 11hr 11min 39.2sec
7. Eduard Pons (ESP)/Oriol Mena Valdearcos (ESP) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 47hr 02min 55.0sec
Ends
For further information: contact Scott Abraham, South Racing, Email: Scott.Abraham@southracing.com, Tel: + 49 172 6662880.
www.southracing.com
Facebook group: South Racing Can-Am