Jordan Motorsport has published a strong international entry for next weekend’s Jordan Baja, round four of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas and round two of the FIM Bajas World Cup.
Despite Covid-19 travel challenges, 17 crews from 11 nations are on the FIA entry, joined in Aqaba by 15 motorcyclists and five quad riders contesting the FIM round. A National Rally will also run at the back of the field, where any vehicles failing FIA scrutineering may join the six cars originally entered.
FIA entry
With Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Michael Orr recovering from cracked vertebrae suffered in an accident at the recent Sharqiyah International Baja, FIA Baja series leader and Sharqiyah winner Yasir Seaidan is top seed in his X-raid Mini John Cooper Works Rally.
He is joined in Wadi Rum by former FIA Baja champion Orlando Terranova, partnered in a Mini Buggy by fellow Argentine and Yamaha factory rally rider Franco Caimi.
Erik van Loon, denied fourth in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago by a late 30-minute penalty, returns in the first of two Overdrive Racing Toyota Hiluxes, while Frenchman Ronan Chabot makes his first appearance since the Dakar in the second Belgian-built car.
Saudi drivers fill the middle of the FIA entry, including former Hail Rally winner Saleh Al-Abdelali in his Hummer and Dania Akeel, preparing for her second Baja after finishing eighth and winning FIA T3 in the Eastern Province earlier this month.
The T4 class keeps growing, with four South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3s taking on Saudi Arabia’s Saleh Al-Saif: series leader Claude Fournier of France, Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thefiri, UAE-based Thomas Bell and Qatar’s Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah, brother of Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah.
FIM entry
FIM Bajas World Cup leader Sam Smith is absent, so 2019 winner Mohammed Al-Balooshi heads the bikes. Portugal’s Paulo Oliveira rides a Husqvarna, but most of the field is GCC-based, including Jordanians Abdullah Abu Aisheh, Zaid Jaber and Tal’at Al-Shishane. Two women are entered: India’s Aishwarya Pissay and Kuwait’s Sarah Khuraibet.
Five Saudi Yamaha quad riders complete the FIM field: recent Sharqiyah winner Hani Al-Noumesi, Haitham Al-Tuwayjiri, Sultan Al-Masoud, Faisal Al-Suwayh and multiple Hail Rally winner Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi. Jordanian Haitham Al-Abbadi leads a National field that also includes entries from Palestine and Saudi Arabia.
The Baja runs under strict Covid-19 protocols and starts in Aqaba from 19.39hrs on Thursday, March 18th, followed by sections of 210.72km and 112.9km on Friday, March 19th and 236.06km in the deserts north of Aqaba on Saturday, March 20th.