Saleh Al-Saif, Mohammed Al-Balooshi and Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi beat changeable weather in Wadi Araba to win the car, motorcycle and quad categories at the Jordan Baja on Saturday.
Rain threatened round two of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas and the opening round of the FIM Bajas World Cup. Al-Saif nevertheless became the first driver of a T3 lightweight prototype to win a round of the FIA Baja series, and Al-Balooshi took his third motorcycle win in a row in Jordan.
Al-Saif makes history
Al-Saif and Russian co-driver Egor Okhotnikov started the day more than six minutes ahead in their Can-Am Maverick X3, but a determined Miroslav Zapletal cut the gap to 2min 56.2sec by the finish. The Czech moved up to second, and Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thefiri edged ahead of South Racing Can-Am team-mate Kees Koolen to finish third and win the FIA T4 category.
We finished the Jordan Rally with an outstanding result. For the first time in a Baja race a T3 vehicle finishes first overall. It took a lot of work and preparation that started last year.
Saleh Al-Saif
We are very happy to claim the win. Today was a fantastic stage. We pushed to the maximum. Today was wonderful. It was a bit like Dubai, maybe like Hail. We would like to participate in Jordan in the Dakar Rally.
Meshari Al-Thefiri
For me, it was the first time in Jordan. It’s a very nice place. I didn’t expect it to be so nice. The tracks are perfect. It’s real rally-raid. Today was a lot more technical but we are pleased with the event and our finish.
Kees Koolen
Seventeen-year-old Aliyyah Koloc impressed again to complete the top five in her Buggyra ZM Racing Can-Am, ahead of Spain’s Fernando Alvarez, Pavel Silnov and Saeed Al-Mouri. Dania Akeel and Armen Puzian completed the top 10 in ninth and tenth.
Yazeed Al-Rajhi bounced back from his day-one drive shaft problem to dominate day two. Restarting ahead of his rivals, he completed the stage in 2hr 01min 30.4sec to climb to 12th overall.
It was very good today. Everything went very well. It was difficult navigation but Michael (Orr) did a great job. We are happy. We had a good rhythm. Hopefully we can be better next time, but we learned a lot today.
Yazeed Al-Rajhi
Al-Balooshi edges Abu Aishah
Bad weather greeted the riders in Wadi Araba as Abdullah Abu Aishah and Al-Balooshi fought for the bike win on the second 150.89km selective section. A one-minute penalty for the Jordanian had cut the overnight gap to just 40.6 seconds. Abdulhalem Al-Mogheera did not start the final stage.
The leaders rode as a group but went off course several times in the difficult conditions. Al-Balooshi was only fourth fastest on the day, but finishing ahead of Abu Aishah was enough for the KTM rider to take victory by just 1min 16.7sec, his third straight win in Jordan.
I just had to reduce the gap today by riding with Abdullah to secure the win. That is what I did and I am very grateful. I stuck to the plan. Whenever you plan, and the plan comes together, it’s great. I was a bit nervous. I got lost so many times. Every time one new rider will tag along. Three wins in a row but the guys are training more and they know what it takes. I still haven’t recovered 100% from Dakar, but I am really happy.
Mohammed Al-Balooshi
I am happy with my result. Today was very tricky. We finished in the end and that is perfect.
Abdullah Abu Aishah
Kuwait’s Abdullah Al-Shatti lost time to Qatar-based Australian Martin Chalmers during the day but held on to third overall, with Chalmers fourth.
I had a bit of an accident after 90km and lost all my electronics. I managed to get the tracks of the other guys and keep up a bit, but when they got lost I got lost. It was an awesome ride. Back from a broken ankle and this is the first international event I have ever finished.
Martin Chalmers
Quads and National Baja
Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi started the last day 2hr 04min 23sec ahead in the quads and cruised to a dominant win. Rival Haitham Al-Tuwaijri did not finish the first leg and did not restart on Saturday.
Thank god we finished first. The weather was spectacular. It was similar to Dakar stages. It was heavily raining, which made it difficult to see well. We ran into many difficulties, the steering broke, but we finished first.
Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi
Al-Mashna and Hani Al-Shammeri were the unofficial winners of the Jordan National Baja in their Nissan Patrol, 10min 37.5sec ahead of Motab Al-Shammeri and Bader Al-Ajmi.
The event was supported by Mountain Dew, Budget, the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), the Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC), Hala and Bliss FM.
Final positions – cars
- 1. Saleh Al-Saif (SAU)/Egor Okhotnikov (RUS) Can-Am Maverick X3 6hr 34min 40.1sec
- 2. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sykora (SVK) Ford F-150 Evo 6hr 37min 36.3sec
- 3. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KWT)/François Cazalet (FRA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 6hr 47min 25.2sec
- 4. Kees Koolen (NLD)/Wouter Rosegaar (NLD) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 6hr 52min 13.9sec
- 5. Aliyyah Koloc (ARE)/Sebastien Delaunay (FRA) Can-Am Maverick DV21 6hr 54min 21.4sec
- 6. Fernando Alvarez (ESP)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Can-Am Maverick X3 7hr 00min 24.4sec
- 7. Pavel Silnov (RUS)/Kirill Shubin (RUS) Can-Am Maverick X3 7hr 02min 34.8sec
- 8. Saeed Al-Mouri (SAU)/Sergio Lafuente (URY) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 7hr 11min 25.1sec
- 9. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Laurent Lichtleuchter (FRA) Can-Am Maverick X3 7hr 17min 00.5sec
- 10. Armen Puzian (RUS)/Evgenii Zagorodniuk (RUS) Can-Am Maverick X3 7hr 20min 21.0sec
Final positions – motorcycles and quads
- 1. Mohammed Al-Balooshi (ARE) KTM 450 Rally 8hr 42min 37.1sec
- 2. Abdullah Abu Aishah (JOR) KTM Rally Factory 8hr 43min 53.8sec
- 3. Abdullah Al-Shatti (KWT) KTM 450 Rally 8hr 49min 20.2sec
- 4. Martin Chalmers (AUS) Yamaha WR 450F 8hr 52min 18.9sec
- Quads: 1. Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 10hr 16min 35.5sec; 2. Hani Al-Noumesi (SAU) Yamaha 25hr 10min 11.0sec; 3. Saif Al-Zyoud (JOR) Yamaha 450 YF 37hr 31min 00.0sec