AQABA, JORDAN – Jordan Motorsport’s sixth Jordan Baja gets underway in the Red Sea city of Aqaba on Thursday afternoon.
Competitors from 23 nations, contesting four FIA and FIM international championships, tackle a 5.15km Prologue at South Beach near Aqaba from 13:45, before the ceremonial start at the Arab Revolt Plaza from 18:30.
Officials have made slight changes to the route through the Wadi Rum desert. FIM riders face a 294.03km stage on Friday and a shorter 189.92km test on Saturday before the ceremonial finish on Saturday evening.
Dakar winners lead the way
Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk, this year’s Dakar winners and early leaders of the 2025 FIA World Baja Cup, top the FIA entry in the first of four Overdrive Racing Toyota Hiluxes. Argentina’s Juan Cruz Yacopini and Spanish co-driver Dani Oliveras, second in the standings, drive another. Al-Rajhi last competed here in 2022, while Gottschalk won the event outright with Jakub Przygonski in a Mini All4 Racing in 2019.
We are really looking forward to this event. We have not been here for a while. I have good memories. It is a really nice rally with nice terrain, stages and organisation. We will go to six rounds. We decided that Greece is a little too narrow for our big car so we will not go there this year and we will miss Portugal, which is a pity, because it is not fitting with the W2RC Championship.
Timo Gottschalk
Saudi driver Dania Akeel, the defending FIA Middle East Baja Cup champion, drives a third Toyota and leads Qatar’s Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah by five points in the regional standings.
Challenger and SSV battles
UAE-based Sergei Remennik is third in the FIA World Baja Cup and leads Challenger from last year’s winner Khalid Al-Jafla and Aleksei Shmotev.
I’ve never been to Jordan before, so I don’t know what to expect from the race. I’ve watched videos from previous years and the terrain definitely looks rocky. We will need to take care of the tyres and suspension.
Aleksei Shmotev
In the FIA Middle East Baja Cup, Al-Attiyah leads Challenger from Qatari team-mate Ahmed Al-Kuwari, the absent Saudi Al-Saif and defending MERC champion Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, with QMMF and Nasser Racing Team Taurus T3 Max machines dominating the class.
I did the race in 2024. Wadi Rum is a beautiful desert but also quite tricky when it comes to navigation. Last year, we opened the route and it was really difficult. It reminded me a lot of the stages in Al-Ula. Competition in Challenger is really strong and the battle is heating up. There are a lot of fast drivers and very motivated teams.
Ahmed Al-Kuwari
With Dutchman Erik van Loon racing in Morocco, Abdullah Al-Haydan (Can-Am), Paul Severn (Polaris) and Maha Al-Hamali (Can-Am) can close the gap in the World Cup SSV section, where Emirati Mansour Al-Helai, Oman’s Hamed Al-Wahaibi and Italy’s Amerigo Ventura are also chasing points.
This is my first Jordan Baja. I was in Jordan when I competed in the Middle East Junior WRC but I’ve never been to Wadi Rum desert. I’m looking forward to the whole experience.
Mansour Al-Helai
This is a hard race in terms of navigation but we survived last year’s edition and we are focused to do even better. The other manufacturers in SSV have made a huge step up with the new cars. We’ll go flat out as always.
Amerigo Ventura
Nasser Racing Team’s Hamza Bakhashab, son of 1995 FIA Middle East rally champion Abdullah, defends an early lead in the regional SSV section against Qatari team-mate Mohammed Al-Atteya. With last year’s Stock winner Majed Al-Thunayyan moving up to the World Cup, Qatar’s Abdullah Al-Rabban and Mohammed Al-Meer fight for regional Stock honours.
After the Prologue, crews head to the Arab Revolt Plaza for the pre-event press conference and ceremonial start against the backdrop of the Red Sea. Temperatures are set to drop from the high thirties on Tuesday to a chilly 16–17°C over the weekend. The event also features a Jordan National Baja and the second Wadi Al-Qamar Navigational Rally.
FIA World Baja Cup standings after round 1
- Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA) – 86pts
- Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG) – 70pts
- Sergei Remennik (UAE) – 63pts
- Erik van Loon (NLD) – 58pts
- Miroslav Zapletal (CZE) – 51pts