AQABA, JORDAN – Competitors, officials and international media have arrived in Aqaba for this weekend’s three-day Jordan Baja, round two of the FIA and Middle East Baja Cups and the FIM Asia Baja Cup, and round three of the FIM Bajas World Cup.
The event has drawn a record entry, including 13 riders, with three in the quad section and five also chasing the FIM Veteran category. The Jordan Baja follows round one in Saudi Arabia at the start of February and Portugal’s Baja Escuderia Castelo Branco in March.
Eid the closest challenger
Mohammed Al-Balooshi is a four-time winner of the event, first held in 2018 as a candidate for the 2019 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas. The defending FIM Bajas World Cup champion took second in Saudi Arabia and added points in Portugal. The MX Ride Dubai racer leads by six points from the absent round-two winner Martim Ventura.
With third-placed Alex McInnes, the Saudi Baja winner, also absent, Lebanon’s Rafic Eid is Al-Balooshi’s closest challenger in Jordan, seven points behind. Emirati Sultan Al-Shanqiti and Australian Thomas Cross, ninth and 10th in the standings, are also here.
Al-Balooshi leads Eid by two points in the Veteran section, with Barry Howe, Al-Shanqiti and France’s Frederic Fontarosa fifth, seventh and ninth. With Ventura and McInnes absent, young Jordanian Abdullah Al-Bataynah can move into Junior title contention, while compatriot Abdullah Abu Aisheh targets an overall podium on his GasGas 450 Rally.
Quads and the FIA field
Saudi Arabia’s Hani Al-Noumesi leads the quad standings on 36 points. With round-two winner Fernando Jorge Sampaio absent, he faces Haitham Al-Tuwaijri (25 points) and last year’s Jordan Baja winner Abdulaziz Al-Shayban (20 points).
In the FIA category, the list dropped from 33 to 32 before pre-start formalities: Argentina’s Diego Martinez broke two ribs in a recent bike accident and misses his second Jordan Baja with the South Racing Can-Am Team and its new Maverick R. Wednesday brings administrative checks and scrutineering at the Aqaba Service Park, with the Prologue and official start on Thursday afternoon.
FIM entry list
- Bikes: 1. Mohammed Al-Balooshi (UAE) – Husqvarna RR450; 2. Rafic Eid (LBN) – GasGas RX Rally Bike; 3. Thomas Cross (UAE) – Kove 450 EX; 4. Hamdan Al-Ali (UAE) – KTM 450 RX; 5. Philip Horlemann (GER) – KTM 450 Rally Replica; 6. Jason Joslin (GBR) – Husqvarna RX 450F; 7. Abdullah Abu Aisheh (JOR) – GasGas 450 Rally; 8. Sultan Al-Balooshi (UAE) – Kove 450 Rally; 9. Barry Howe (GBR) – Husqvarna Factory Bike; 10. Frederic Fontarosa (FRA) – Kove 450 Rally; 11. Thomas Childs (UAE) – KTM 450 Rally; 12. Sultan Al-Shanqiti (UAE) – KTM 450 Rally Replica; 13. Abdullah Al-Bataynah (JOR) – Honda CRF 450R
- Quads: 100. Haitham Al-Tuwaijri (KSA) – Yamaha Raptor; 101. Abdulaziz Al-Shayban (KSA) – Yamaha YFM 700; 102. Hani Al-Noumesi (KSA) – Yamaha YFM 700R