Saudi Baja opens new FIA World Baja Cup season and marks the twentieth anniversary of motor sport in Saudi Arabia
Lower than two weeks for the reason that end of the forty seventh Dakar Rally, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will host the Saudi Baja on January Thirtieth-February 1st.
The Ha’il-based three-day Baja is the opening spherical of each the FIA World and Center East Baja Cups and also will mark the twentieth anniversary since motorsport was permitted for the primary time within the Kingdom in 2006. The Ha’il Worldwide Rally ran by the An-Nafud desert and the north-central area of the nation 20 years in the past as a membership standing occasion and marked the foundations for future inclusion within the FIA Worldwide Cup for Cross-Nation Bajas.
Many groups left automobiles and gear within the nation after the Dakar Rally and transported every little thing from the end in Shubaytah to Ha’il within the north. For that purpose, the occasion organised by the Saudi Vehicle and Motorbike Federation (SAMF) has attracted a top quality 38-car entry with 10 machines working within the Final class, 10 in Challenger, 13 in SSV and 5 in Inventory.
Of these, 15 will compete for FIA World Baja Cup factors and 22 can be on the lookout for a powerful begin within the FIA Center East Baja Cup.
Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk head the sector within the first of three Overdrive Racing machines entered within the Final class. Contemporary from successful the Dakar Rally for the primary time, Al-Rajhi can be out to attain factors in direction of the FIA World Baja Cup and his native Nationwide Championship.
The Belgian staff will even run Hiluxes for Argentina’s Juan Cruz Yacopini and final yr’s FIA Center East Baja Cup winner Dania Akeel. Akeel can be registered for FIA Center East Baja Cup factors once more and groups up along with her common co-driver Stéphane Duplé.
H.R.H. Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, the Chairman of the Saudi Vehicle and Motorbike Federation (SAMF), will even participate in an Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux with navigator Pablo Moreno. He’ll run within the Saudi Nationwide Championship part, alongside numerous well-known veterans from the area, however is not going to rating FIA factors.
Fundamental competitors to the 2 Toyotas within the FIA World Cup comes from a solitary X-Raid Mini JCW Rally entry for Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov. The crew will use the petrol-engined spinoff of the Mini.
Czech veteran Miroslav Zapletal traces up with Polish co-driver Michal Goleniewski in his self-built F-150 Evo and can be chasing each FIA World Baja Cup and Saudi Nationwide Championship factors.
A pair of Nissan Patrols within the arms of Kuwait’s Salem Al-Dhafeeri and Nasser Al-Ajmi and related automobiles for Saudi drivers, Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh and Motab Saud Al-Qnon, will problem for FIA Center East Baja Cup factors. Likewise, native driver Ahmed Al-Shami wheels out a Quick & Pace Buggy within the regional collection.
Khalid Al-Jafla heads Challenger discipline
4 crews will battle it out for Challenger factors within the FIA World Baja Cup and an additional six are registered for the FIA Center East Baja Cup.
Emirati Khalid Al-Jafla tops the sector in his Taurus T3 Max, final yr’s Jordan Baja winner once more teaming up with Andrei Rudnitski. He faces competitors from the South Racing Can-Am Group’s flying Dutchman Gergen Heisterkamp in a brand new Maverick R and a pair of Nasser Racing Taurus T3 Max machines within the arms of Aleksei Shmotev and Sergei Remennik.
The QMMF Group Taurus trio of Ahmed Al-Kuwari, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Khalifa Al-Attiyah face a showdown with native driver Saleh Al-Saif (G Rally Group OT3), Portugal’s Francisco Barreto (Nasser Racing Taurus) and Bahraini privateer Hassan Al-Sadadi (R-X Sport Can-Am) for Center East Baja Cup factors.
South Racing Can-Am Group’s Alvarez tops SSV part
The 13-strong SSV class is the most well-liked on this event: six drivers will compete for FIA World Baja Cup factors with an additional six choosing the regional four-round Baja collection.
Argentina-based Fernando Alvarez once more groups up with Frenchman Xavier Panseri to steer the FIA World Cup Baja discipline in a brand new South Racing Can-Am Group Maverick R. The Germany-based staff can also be working Maverick Rs for Dutch veteran Erik van Loon and Alvarez’s fellow countryman Diego Martinez.
Competitors for FIA World Baja Cup factors comes from Abdullah Al-Haydan (R-X Sport Maverick R), Saudi feminine driver Maha Al-Hamali (Can-Am) and British entrant Paul Severn within the sole Polaris RZR Professional R Sport.
Saudi all-rounder Ibrahim Al-Muhanna leads the problem for FIA Center East Baja Cup factors in a piece dominated by Can-Ams. He faces competitors from Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thefiri, Qatar’s Mohammed Al-Atteya and the Saudi trio of Moaz Hariri, Abdullah Al-Shegawi and Hamza Bakhashab. Saudi rookie Orjwan Al-Raoush completes the SSV line-up however shouldn’t be registered for both championship.
Defending regional champion Al-Thunayyan leads Inventory class
Majed Al-Thunayyan and Fahad Al-Sufyani comfortably received final yr’s Inventory class for collection manufacturing cross-country automobiles within the FIA Center East Baja Cup and the Nissan Patrol crew return to motion in 2025. They prime a five-strong discipline of Nissans though, like Qatari Abdullah Al-Rabban and his Emirati navigator Ali Al-Ajmi, they’re registered for the FIA World Baja Cup on this event.
Qatari Mohammed Al-Meer will battle it out with the Saudi duo of Ibrahim Al-Bensahm and Fahad Al-Muaywid for FIA Center East Baja factors within the Inventory class.
This yr’s Baja runs to a compact format with administration and scrutineering checks happening on Wednesday (January 29).
Thursday afternoon’s ceremonial begin (16.00hrs) is then adopted by a 3.4km Prologue to find out the beginning order for the desert selective sections of 260km and 160km over the next two days.
2025 Saudi Baja (entry record):
Final
200. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) Toyota Hilux Overdrive*
201. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive*
202. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Michal Goleniewski (POL) Ford F-150*
203. Denis Krotov (ANA)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (ANA) Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0i*
204. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive+
205. Salem Al-Dhafeeri (KWT)/Fares Al-Thefiri (KWT) Nissan Patrol+
206. Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh (SAU)/Omar Al-Lahim (SAU) Nissan Patrol+
207. Motab Saud Al-Qnon (SAU)/Waleed Al-Shegawi (SAU) Nissan Patrol+
208. Nasser Al-Ajmi (KWT)/Arunas Gelazninkas (LTU) Nissan Patrol+
209. Ahmed Al-Shamy (SAU)/Ali Hassan Obaid (ARE) Quick & Pace+
Challenger
300. Khalid Al-Jafla (ARE)/Andrei Rudnitski (LTU) Taurus T3 Max*
301. Ahmed Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Augusto Sanz (ARG) Taurus T3 Max+
302. Saleh Al-Saif (SAU)/Alexander Toril (ESP) G Rally Group OT3+
303. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Taurus T3 Max+
304. Khalifa Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Dmytro Tsyro (UKR) Taurus T3 Max+
305. Francisco Barreto (POR)/Paulo Fiuza (POR) Taurus T3 Max+
306. Hassan Al-Sadadi (BRN)/Ali Mirza (ARE) Can-Am Maverick X3+
307. Gerben Heisterkamp (NLD)/Wesley Aaaldering (NLD) Can-Am Maverick R*
308. Alexsei Shmotov (ARE)/Yaroslav Fedorov (KGZ) Taurus T3 Max*
309. Sergei Remennik (ARE)/Aleksei Ignatov (KGZ) Taurus T3 Max*
SSV
400. Fernando Alvarez (ARG)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Can-Am Maverick R*
401. Ibrahim Al-Muhanna (SAU)/Faisal Al-Suwayh (SAU) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR+
402. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KWT)/Oriol Vidal (ESP) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR+
403. Erik van Loon (NLD)/Wouter Rosegaar (NLD) Can-Am Maverick R*
404. Diego Martinez (ARG)/Sergio Lafuente (URY) Can-Am Maverick R*
405. Mohammed Al-Atteya (QAT)/Enio Bozzano Junior (BRA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR+
406. Moaz Hariri (SAU)/Kirill Shubin (KGZ) Can-Am Maverick R+
407. Abdullah Al-Haydan (SAU)/Bader Al-Ajmi (SAU) Can-Am Maverick R*
408. Abdullah Al-Shegawi (SAU)/Raed Al-Assaf (SAU) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR+
409. Hamza Bakhashab (SAU)/Marcin Pasek (POL) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR+
410. Maha Al-Hamali (SAU)/Sébastian Delaunay (FRA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR*
411. Paul Severn (GBR)/Max Delfino (FRA) Polaris RZR Professional R Sport*
412. Orjwan Al-Raoush (SAU)/Khalid Al-Kendi (ARE) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR
Inventory
500. Majed Al-Thunayyan (SAU)/Fahad Al-Sufyani (SAU) Nissan Patrol*
501. Abdullah Al-Rabban (QAT)/Ali Al-Ajmi (ARE) Nissan Patrol*
502. Mohammed Al-Meer (QAT)/Alexey Mun (KAZ) Nissan Patrol+
503. Ibrahim Al-Bensahm (SAU)/Mohammed Al-Dawish (SAU) Nissan Patrol+
504. Fahad Al-Muaywid (SAU)/Abdulmajeed Al-Hurra (SAU) Nissan Patrol+
*denotes registered for FIA World Cup
+ denotes registered for FIA Center East Cup
Timetable of occasions
Administration checks, Baja HQ, Ha’il 08.00-18.00hrs
Scrutineering checks, Baja HQ, Ha’il 09.00-20.00hrs
Thursday, January 30
Pre-event press convention, Baja HQ, Ha’il 11.00hrs
Ceremonial begin, Baja HQ, Ha’il 16.00hrs
Prologue (3.4km), TBA 16.30hrs
Friday, January 31
Leg 1 (260km) 07.30hrs onwards
Saturday, February 1
Leg 2 (160km) 07.30hrs onwards
Put up-event press convention, Baja HQ, Ha’il 17.30hrs
Prize giving ceremony, TBA 19.30hrs
