AQABA, JORDAN – Argentina’s Diego Martinez, Jordan’s Abdullah Abu Aisheh and Saudi Arabia’s Abdulaziz Al-Shayban set the fastest times in the car, motorcycle and quad categories on the 3km Prologue at South Beach in Aqaba on Thursday afternoon.
Martinez and co-driver Sergio Lafuente clocked 2min 51.7sec in their South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3. FIA Prologue times only decide the choice of start position for Friday’s first desert stage, but they count toward the FIM Bajas World Cup classification. Abu Aisheh (GasGas) beat Kuwait’s Abdullah Al-Shatti (Husqvarna) by 11.1 seconds, and Al-Shayban led the quads from Abdulaziz Al-Atawi and championship leader Hani Al-Noumesi on his Yamaha Raptor 700.
The Prologue preceded the ceremonial start at Aqaba’s Arab Revolt Plaza, where 19 FIA crews and 13 FIM riders were joined by 11 National Rally entrants and 27 crews in the new non-competitive Wadi Al-Qamar Navigation Rally. Illness ruled out Slovak navigator Marek Sykora, with Poland’s Marcin Pasek stepping in alongside Miroslav Zapletal in the Ford F-150 Evo.
Prologue order
Behind Martinez, Challenger rival Eduardo Pons and SSV front-runner João Dias were second and third. Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari was fourth and title contender João Ferreira fifth, while his main rival Fernando Alvarez was 13th.
In the bikes, where start positions are vital, Emirati Mohammed Al-Balooshi stopped for over a minute before the finish and was ninth. That handed Abu Aisheh the win from Al-Shatti, Lebanon’s Rafic Eid and Jordanians Hamza Al-Zawahreh and Tia’at Al-Shishane. Emiratis Sultan Al-Balooshi and Marwan Al-Rahmani did not start, and quad rider Haitham Al-Tuwaijri was ruled out after his accident at the Qatar International Baja.
A new grassroots event
Jordan Motorsport’s first Wadi Al-Qamar Navigation Rally aims to bring newcomers into off-road sport, running on a separate route behind the FIA and FIM events.
This event is more educational for people to learn how to use the road book, how to use the time card and how to use their car in the desert. This will give training to anybody wishing to take part in this Baja in the future. This has kicked off a new era of motor sport in Jordan.
Khalid Zakaria, Jordan Motorsport
The maximum speed is 70km/h and some places you are not allowed to go faster than 30 or 50. There is an average speed segment. It is more about navigation, team building and decision making. Everyone can compete in it from the north to the south, east and west – any small village or town in Jordan.
Khalid Zakaria, Jordan Motorsport
Friday’s Wadi Rum stage is split into sections of 200.60km and 133.53km by a short liaison and a refuelling stop for bikes, SSVs and Challenger vehicles.
Prologue – cars (top 5)
- Diego Martinez / Sergio Lafuente (Can-Am Maverick X3) – 2min 51.7sec
- Eduardo Pons / Jaume Betriu (Taurus T3 Max) – 2min 54.5sec
- João Dias / Gonçalo Reis (Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR) – 2min 55.2sec
- Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari / Nasser Al-Kuwari (Taurus T3 Max) – 2min 57.0sec
- João Ferreira / Filipe Palmeiro (Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR) – 2min 57.0sec
Prologue – bikes (top 5)
- Abdullah Abu Aisheh (GasGas 450) – 3min 00.9sec
- Abdullah Al-Shatti (Husqvarna 450 Rally) – 3min 12.0sec
- Rafic Eid (GasGas RX450-F) – 3min 18.1sec
- Hamza Al-Zawahreh (Yamaha WR-450F) – 3min 18.7sec
- Tia’at Al-Shishane (Yamaha WR-450F) – 3min 28.2sec