2024 Jordan Baja

FIA World Baja Cup, round 7

FIA Middle East Baja Cup, round 3

FIM Bajas World Cup, round 7

November 14th-16th, 2024

For immediate release
Saturday, November 16th, 2024

AL-JAFLA AND RUDNITSKI STUN THEIR RIVALS TO WIN THE JORDAN BAJA

  • 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. He was second quickest overall on the last stage.

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. Farah Zakaria and Nadine Damiani were the unofficial winners of the exciting new Wadi Al-Qamar Navigation Rally in a Ford.

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 (provisional @16.05hrs):

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

Ends

For further media information: Jordan Baja Media Service, E-mail: info@jordanbaja.com.
www.jordanbaja.com

Facebook Group – Jordan Motorsport (الأردنية لرياضة السيارات)

Twitter: @motorsportjo

 

Published On: 16 November 2024