LUSAIL, QATAR – Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel won the car category in their Toyota GR DKR Hilux, while Poland’s Konrad Dabrowski kept out of late trouble to defend his motorcycle title at the end of a punishing Qatar International Baja on Saturday.
Al-Attiyah controlled the demanding final stage, winning it by 10min 18sec from China’s Guoyu Zhang to finish 16min 21.6sec ahead of Overdrive Racing team-mates Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov. Zhang and Spain’s Oriol Mena completed the podium in their BAIC ORC BJ40.
It was a good Baja. The first day I had a small margin and the second day I pushed a lot. I thank Jean-Marc (Fortin) from Overdrive Racing for bringing me a new car and thanks to Qatar Airways for flying this car over very swiftly so that I was able to compete here. I am very glad to win here again on my home race. I always want to compete in every international event in Qatar and it’s great to bounce back with a win after my big crash in Abu Dhabi.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah
After 35km, I had to stop and change the tyres. After that we lost a little power and didn’t have a big speed. One turbo was not working. But the race was good and I enjoyed the stages.
Denis Krotov
The final day covered 224.96km in four sections of 33.73km, 28.51km, 43.23km and 113.20km. Overdrive’s Juan Cruz Yacopini and Daniel Oliveras climbed to fourth in the third of four Toyotas.
T3 and T4
Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thefiri, second in T3 overnight behind his usual co-driver Nasser Al-Kuwari, set the fastest time to win the class and finish fifth overall on his debut in a new MCE-5 T3M, with Oriol Vidal navigating.
We managed to finish. It’s so difficult with the road book to know if you are out of the route. It is not easy. The car was very good. We caught Nasser (Al-Kuwari) about 20km from the start, so I managed my pace then and I knew what my advantage was. I am very happy that this is the first win for the MCE-5. Hard luck to Nasser.
Meshari Al-Thefiri
Nasser Al-Kuwari and François Cazalet lost time with brake problems and punctures, letting his brother Abdulaziz – a former Qatar International Rally winner, on his debut in this discipline – take second in T3 and sixth overall in his QMMF Rally Team Can-Am. Nasser was seventh and third in T3.
From the first 20km, we had one flat tyre and we changed it. Then we catch Meshari and we had another flat tyre. We changed it. We catch him again and try to pass him and then we had a third one. Then we had no chance to win and we just tried to get the car to the finish. We also had brake issues. But I am happy with my performance.
Nasser Al-Kuwari
Very happy to finish second. I would love to have won T3 but it is not easy after the delay with the puncture on the first day. Unlucky for Nasser to come with the third puncture. I took it safely. I wanted to do all the mileage. I want to transfer to this kind of rallies. I prefer this type of rallies. You don’t have to drive every week.
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari
France’s Jeremie Warnia and Loic Minaudier overhauled Brazil’s Cristiano de Sousa Batista and Portugal’s Fausto Mota to win T4 by just 30.3 seconds in their Polaris RZR, eighth overall. Saudi Arabia’s Khalid Al-Feraihi and Sébastien Delaunay scored FIA Middle East Baja Cup points in 11th, behind Ronan Chabot’s Overdrive Toyota. Krzysztof Hołowczyc and Ahmed Al-Shegawi retired on Friday.
Dabrowski retains bike title
Dabrowski won every stage on his KTM, taking the last by 6min 49sec to win by 31min 04.8sec from Britain’s Robert Wallace, and was also first FIM Junior.
Qatar is very lucky for us. A second win here in a row. I like to come here because it is great experience and I can improve my navigation and my riding. I was sick today on the stage after spending a night in the air conditioning. It was so difficult just to ride the bike on the second part of the stage. I am very tired but happy to win this race. I was super tired when I finished but it’s a great feeling to win.
Konrad Dabrowski
After Martin Chalmers dropped out on the final morning, Dutch rider Mirjam Pol climbed from eighth to third and top woman, edging Australia’s Andrew Houlihan, the Veterans’ winner, by 66.4 seconds.
When you start eighth overall and you finish third it is a big surprise. I had all the route waypoints and when I arrived I only saw two lines and that’s when I realised I had achieved a very good result.
Mirjam Pol
Emirati Mohammed Al-Ramani was fifth ahead of Canada’s Jonathan Finn, and championship leader Mohammed Al-Balooshi eighth. Riders who stopped to help at accidents had time credited, including Oran O’Kelly (53 minutes); Alex McInnes finished 10th and Simon Marcic 14th. Sultan Al-Balooshi did not restart. Arnoud Dom was unofficial quad winner after Haitham Al-Tuwaijri and Abdulaziz Al-Ahli failed to finish, with Mansoor Al-Suwaidi second.