HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum flagged off the competitors at the ceremonial start of the Dubai International Baja powered by AW Rostamani and Nissan at Dubai Autodrome at tonight.
The event is the second round of the 2019 FIA World Cup for Cross Country Bajas for cars and buggies and the opening round of this year’s FIM Bajas World Cup for bikes and quads.
Taking place under the patronage of H.H Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai, the rally has a starting line-up of 27 cars and buggies and 46 bikes and quads.
The event is supported by the Government of Dubai, Dubai Police, Dubai Municipality, the General Authority of Sports, Dubai Customs, Al Ain Water and Emarat petrol.
Competitors head out from Dubai Autodrome into the Al Qudra desert tomorrow (Friday) morning to tackle the 201.6lkm AW Rostamani Arabian Automobiles special stage to be followed on Saturday morning by the 204.93km Nissan stage before the event returns to the Autodrome at 12.30pm with the ceremonial finish taking place at 5pm.
Captions:
1. HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum flags off top seeded driver the UAE’s Khalid Al Qassimi, partnered by French navigator Xavier Panseri in their Abu Dhabi Racing Peugeot 3008 DKR
2. Sheikh Mansoor flags off Emirati Mohammed Al Balooshi, the top-seeded rider and defending champion