Jordan Motorsport has begun final preparations for the Jordan Baja, round three of the 2020 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas and a brand-new counting round of the 2020 FIM Bajas World Cup, across Jordan’s stunning Wadi Rum on April 16th-18th.
Draft supplementary regulations (subject to approval) for both the FIA and FIM events were issued on Monday. It is the event’s second successive season in the FIA series and its first for motorcycles and quads in the FIM category.
The route
Jordan Motorsport CEO Zaid Balqez confirmed a 2.85km super special in Aqaba on Thursday, April 16th, before the pre-event press conference and ceremonial start in the city that evening.
The desert action runs over two days. On Friday morning (April 17th) crews tackle the 245km Salhiyah selective section, followed in the afternoon by the shorter 130km Bait Ali section, split by remote servicing at Camp Ali amid some of the most beautiful terrain on the planet.
Saturday (April 18th) centres on world-famous Wadi Rum, where competitors cross Mars-like sandy terrain and weave through majestic rocky outcrops on a 212km timed section before the finish in Aqaba. The area, known worldwide from the many Hollywood blockbusters filmed there, is often called the ‘Baja on Mars’ in motorsport circles.
Both events cover 589.85 competitive kilometres in an 829.26km route prepared by FIA Clerk of the Course George Khoury, his deputy Omar Zarour and the Jordan Motorsport team. Fareez Nabulsi will work alongside Zarour as a senior official on the FIM event.
Entries
FIA entries are open to cars complying with FIA T1, T2, T3 and the new T4 regulations, while non-compliant machines may be allowed into a National category at the rear of the field. Rally headquarters will be at the Mövenpick Hotel in Aqaba for a third year.
Reduced-rate FIA entries close on Sunday, March 15th, with a final deadline of Sunday, March 29th. FIM competitors have until Thursday, March 5th for reduced-rate entries.
The calendars
This year’s FIA Baja series has eight rounds in Russia, Dubai, Jordan, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Poland and Portugal. Round one was held in St. Petersburg earlier this month and won by local driver Vladimir Vasilyev.
The revised FIM Baja calendar has six rounds in Portugal, Dubai, Jordan, Spain, Hungary and Portugal, starting around the town of Serta on March 27th-29th.