2024 Qatar International Baja – October 30th-November 2nd, 2024
FIA World Baja Cup, round 6

FIA Middle East Baja Cup, round 2

FIM Bajas World Cup, round 5


For immediate release
Thursday, October 31st, 2024

PROLOGUE STAGE SUCCESS FOR AL-ATTIYAH AND MORENO IN QATAR

  • Megre and Ahli fastest in motorcycle and quad categories

LUSAIL (Qatar): Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Spanish co-driver Pablo Moreno unleashed the potential of their lightweight Taurus T3 Max to top the times in the car category on the 10.01km Prologue that determined the start order for Friday morning’s opening special stage of the Qatar International Baja.

Thirty-six cars, 59 motorcycle and five quads were flagged away from the ceremonial start at the iconic amphitheatre in Katara Cultural Village by QMMF President Abdulrahman Al-Mannai and Executive Director Amro Al-Hamad in the presence of several VIP guests on Thursday evening. In addition, two drivers are competing at the rear of the field in an Open class.

The start ceremony for competitors from an impressive 33 countries followed an afternoon Prologue to the west of Lusail where joint FIM championship leader David Megre and Emirati Abdulaziz Al-Ahli were quickest in their respective motorcycle and quad categories.

The Prologue result counts towards the overall classification in FIM Bajas World Cup events and Megre managed to finish 7.5 seconds clear of Great Britain’s Robert Wallace on his KTM.

Even though the Prologue doesn’t count towards the general classification in the cars, Al-Attiyah proved that vehicles entered in the Challenger category are a serious threat this weekend. He won the stage by 12.2 seconds from his brother Khalifa, despite picking up a 15-second penalty for missing gates on the stage.

The FIA World Baja Cup’s Challenger category leader Eduardo Pons has joined forces with Nasser Racing and is competing in Qatar for the first time. The Spaniard guided his Taurus to fourth place behind the Al-Attiyah brothers and the recently-crowned FIA Middle East rally champion Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari.

Czech Miroslav Zapletal and João Ferreira rounded off the top six after Portugal’s João Dias was also penalised for missing route gates.

Denis Krotov drove the new petrol-engined version of the X-Raid Mini JCW Rally for the first time and finished eighth, one place behind Dania Akeel, but he will be in a position to follow the tracks of his rivals on Friday. Ahmed Al-Kuwari and Abdullah Al-Haydan rounded off the top 10.

Ferreira has recently been crowned as the 2024 FIA European Baja Cup champion and drives a Santag Racing Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR in in the SSV section in Doha. The Portuguese said: “I’ve never been here. It is my first time but my co-driver told me it’s very difficult navigation, a lot of tracks and a hard task for him. But it’s part of the game and we need to think on the championship. That’s our main concern.”

Fernando Alvarez is the current leader of the FIA World Baja Cup. The Argentina-based Spaniard finished 19th. He said: “I am happy to be in the Middle East. The desert is better for me. I drive much better and have more confidence in the dunes or open road and Xavier (Panseri) is a really good co-pilot. We have three races now to see who is the best. For me, the only thing is to drive and just to hear Xavier’s instructions. I’m happy about that. It’s his job now. We also need to watch for punctures. There’s a lot of stones.”

Their Italian Yamaha title rival Amerigo Ventura was classified in 14th. He added: “This is also my first time in Qatar and also for Erika (Mingozzi), my co-driver. Many people say the race is very tricky so we look forward to starting the special stage to understand everything.”

FIM Bajas World Cup leader Mohammed Al-Balooshi led the bumper bike entry into Prologue action and the Emirati recorded the 12th quickest time behind Megre, Wallace, Makis Rees-Stavros, Alex McInnes, title rival Pedro Bianchi Prata, Mishal Al-Ghuneim,  James Hillier, Michael Anderson, Andrew Houlihan, Simon Marcic, and Rafic Eid.

Al-Balooshi said: “I learnt a lot from Nasser here in Qatar. I remember him saying that you need to gain as much experience as possible in as many events as you can. I have been doing that and it has improved my level. Saying that, this event is never easy. As I knew to my cost a few years ago, you can be going along well and then a simple mistake and you end up waking up in the hospital.”

Haitham Al-Tuwaijri had been beaten by Abdulaziz Al-Shayban in the quad category in Saudi Arabia last week. The Yamaha rider is playing the tactical game in Qatar and finished fourth of the quad runners in the unofficial standings behind Abdulaziz Ahli, Abdulaziz Al-Atawi and Hani Al-Noumesi.

Friday’s action centres around two stages of 123.91km and 122.50km through the stony and challenging Qatar deserts where as much emphasis is placed on accurate navigation and road book reading skills as the outright speed of the driver.

2024 Qatar International Baja – Prologue result:

Cars (top 20 only – provisional)

  1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Pablo Moreno (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 6min 49.9sec
  2. Khalifa Al-Attiya (QAT)/Enio Bozzano (BRA) Taurus T3 Max 7min 02.1sec+
  3. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Taurus T3 Max 7min 06.3sec+
  4. Eduardo Pons (ESP)/Jaume Betriu (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 7min 11.5sec*
  5. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sykora (SVK) Ford F-150 Evo 7min 12.0sec*
  6. João Ferreira (PRT)/Filipe Palmeiro (PRT) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 7min 12.2sec*
  7. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 7min 14.0sec+
  8. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (ANA) Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0i 7min 17.0sec*
  9. Ahmed Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Manuel Lucchese (QAT) Yamaha YXZ 1000R Short Shift 7min 25.0sec+
  10. Abdullah Al-Haydan (SAU)/Bader Al-Ajmi (KWT) Can-Am Maverick X3 7min 28.2sec+
  11. Akira Miura (JPN)/Jean-Michel Polato (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 7min 28.8sec*
  12. Nouef Al-Suwaidi (QAT)/Aisvydas Paliukenas (LTU) Taurus T3 Max 7min 32.1sec+
  13. Diego Martinez (ARG)/Sergio Lafuente (URY) Can-Am Maverick X3 7min 36.2sec*
  14. Amerigo Ventura (ITA)/Erika Mingozzi (ITA) Yamaha YXZ 1000R Short Shift 7min 40.4sec*
  15. Mohammed Al-Atteya (QAT)/Aleksei Kuzmich (ARE) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 7min 43.4sec
  16. Anja Van Loon (NLD)/Floor Maten (NLD) Can-Am Maverick X3 7min 43.9sec*
  17. João Dias (PRT)/Gonçalo Reis (PRT) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 7min 46.1sec*
  18. Nasser Al-Ajmi (SAU)/Arunas Gelazninkas (LTU) Nissan Patrol 7min 47.7sec+
  19. Fernando Alvarez (ARG)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 7min 51.9sec*
  20. Ibrahim Al-Muhanna (SAU)/Faisal Al-Suwayh (SAU) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 7min 54.0sec*

*denotes registered for the FIA World Baja Cup

+ denotes registered for the FIA Middle East Baja Cup

Bikes (after SS1 – unofficial top 15 only)

  1. David Megre (PRT) KTM EXC                         7min 33.4sec
  2. Robert Wallace (GBR) KTM 450 EXC-F 7min 40.9sec
  3. Makis Rees-Stavros (GBR) KTM EXC F450 7min 53.4sec
  4. Alex McInnes (GBR) Husqvarna FE450 8min 01.8sec
  5. Pedro Bianchi Prata (PRT) Honda CRF 450 RX 8min 06.3sec
  6. Mishal Al-Ghuneim (SAU) Husqvarna 450 Rally Replica 8min 08.8sec
  7. James Hillier (GBR) Husqvarna FR450 8min 16.0sec
  8. Michael Anderson (PRT) KTM 450 EXC 8min 20.0sec
  9. Andrew Houlihan (AUS) Husqvarna FE450 Enduro 8min 23.6sec
  10. Simon Marcic (SVN) Husqvarna Rally 8min 25.6sec
  11. Rafic Eid (LBN) GasGas 450F Replica 8min 26.6sec
  12. Mohammed Al-Balooshi (ARE) KTM 450 Rally 8min 28.3sec
  13. Joanna Modrzewska (POL) Husqvarna FE450 8min 31.0sec
  14. Slawomir Sypień (POL) Husqvarna FR 450 Rally 8min 38.8sec
  15. Gregory Gilson (FRA) Honda 125 XLS 8min 40.3sec, etc

Quads (after SS1 – unofficial)

  1. Abdulaziz Ahli (ARE) Yamaha Raptor 700 7min 44.5sec
  2. Abdulaziz Al-Atawi (SAU) Yamaha YZ                         8min 42.2sec
  3. Hani Al-Noumesi (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700 8min 59.0sec
  4. Haitham Al-Tuwaijri (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700 9min 26.7sec
  5. Abdulaziz Al-Shayban (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700 9min 57.8sec

Ends

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Published On: 31 October 2024