AQABA, JORDAN – Portugal’s João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro (Can-Am) lead the Jordan Baja by just 3.5 seconds from Emirati Khalid Al-Jafla and co-driver Andrei Rudnitski (Taurus T3 Max) after Friday’s first day.
MX Ride Dubai’s Mohammed Al-Balooshi won the motorcycle stage emphatically over two punishing sections of 200.60km and 133.53km through Wadi Rum, split by a refuelling stop. He leads Lebanon’s Rafic Eid by 12min 51.5sec, with Saudi Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera third. In quads, Yamaha rider Abdulaziz Al-Shayban leads Abdulaziz Al-Atawi and championship leader Hani Al-Noumesi.
It was super long and my first stage in Jordan. It was very tricky navigation since the beginning. There were a lot of stones at the start and it was difficult to find the right way. We finished the stage with a puncture because there were some rocks even hiding under the sand. I enjoyed it a lot and Filipe did an amazing job on the navigation.
João Ferreira
Good but very difficult navigation today. We caught the guys around 40km in. I was quite surprised but not really ready to be opening this soon. There are many notes without caps so it was a difficult task (to navigate). But I am really happy to bring the bike home and to finish on top. Tomorrow, I need to bring the bike home and hopefully it all pays off.
Mohammed Al-Balooshi
The car battle
Dania Akeel opened the road in the FIA field after Prologue winner Diego Martinez chose to start seventh, between Santag Racing team-mates Ferreira and João Dias. Akeel led the road through the first section, which was won by Al-Jafla from Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari. Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah retired early with transmission and clutch problems.
Despite a puncture, Ferreira took the overall and SSV lead in the second section, with Challenger front-runner Al-Jafla, Dias, Eduardo Pons, Rashid Al-Muhannadi and Miroslav Zapletal completing the top six after Al-Kuwari hit afternoon problems. Despite a fuel issue, Akeel held seventh ahead of FIA World Baja Cup leader Fernando Alvarez.
It was a lovely day but it was very fast and stony. There was dust and so many cars in front of me. I started in 19th position. At the refuel, after 200km, I was the fifth car in the queue. It was good. I was leading at the refuelling.
Khalid Al-Jafla
It was a complicated stage and we had a puncture at km100. We lost some time there. Then, the second half went well and we pushed a little bit more and we had some nice navigation. We are happy.
Eduardo Pons
Bikes
Al-Balooshi led Eid by 10min 01.9sec at the end of the first section, with Al-Mogheera third. Prologue winner Abdullah Abu Aisheh suffered arm swelling after a fall, and Martin Chalmers also crashed and handed in his time card, as Al-Balooshi stormed clear on the second section near the Saudi border. Britain’s Steven Holt retired, and Jordan’s Tia’at Al-Shishane and Abdullah Al-Batayneh ran well behind in a depleted field.
Local crew Taha Masoud and Emran Taha lead the National Baja in their Can-Am Maverick. HRH Prince Feisal Al-Hussein, Chairman of Jordan Motorsport, visited the rally HQ in Aqaba, meeting the organising committee and expressing full satisfaction with the event’s preparations and its role in promoting Jordan as a world-class sporting destination.
Saturday’s final stage covers 185.30km in Wadi Rum before the ceremonial finish at Aqaba’s Arab Revolt Plaza.
Positions after SS1 – cars (top 8)
- João Ferreira / Filipe Palmeiro (Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR) – 4hr 04min 05.7sec
- Khalid Al-Jafla / Andrei Rudnitski (Taurus T3 Max) – 4hr 04min 09.2sec
- João Dias / Gonçalo Reis (Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR) – 4hr 07min 13.9sec
- Eduardo Pons / Jaume Betriu (Taurus T3 Max) – 4hr 11min 28.9sec
- Rashid Al-Muhannadi / Szymon Gospodarczyk (Taurus T3 Max) – 4hr 14min 51.2sec
- Miroslav Zapletal / Marcin Pasek (Ford F-150 Evo) – 4hr 15min 43.7sec
- Dania Akeel / Sébastien Delaunay (Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR) – 4hr 16min 57.2sec
- Fernando Alvarez / Xavier Panseri (Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR) – 4hr 17min 36.2sec