The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) will host the 2021 Qatar International Baja, round three of the FIM Bajas World Cup, on April 8th-10th.
The announcement follows the 2021 Qatar International Rally, which ran successfully at the end of January under strict Covid-19 protocols in the State of Qatar.
A compact format
The weekend starts with administration checks and scrutineering at the Losail Sports Arena and a timed super special on Thursday, April 8th.
That stage sets the start order for Friday’s (April 9th) opening leg of around 250 competitive kilometres through the north-central Qatar deserts, with one refuelling point around halfway.
A second selective section of similar length runs through the central and southern deserts on Saturday, April 10th, also with a refuelling point, before finishing near Sealine, south of Doha.
Motorcycles up to 450cc (single or twin cylinder, 2T or 4T) are eligible, along with quads and SSVs. Riders of bikes over 450cc can compete but, under the 2021 FIM Bajas World Cup regulations, will not score Cup points.
The 2021 FIM Bajas World Cup
The FIM, the world governing body for motorcycle and quad sport, announced a provisional 10-event calendar in December. Next weekend’s opener in Dubai is followed by Jordan in March and then Qatar.
A Baja in Portugal in May precedes round five in Brazil in June and a return to Europe for Baja Spain at the end of July. Hungary follows in August, then back-to-back Bajas in Chile in September and the series finale in Portugal in October.
This year’s Cup uses a new format of qualifying events plus a final. Each Qualifying Series event has a scoring coefficient of 1 and the Portugal finale a coefficient of 2. The final is open to anyone who has completed and scored points in at least one qualifying round, and the final ranking combines the two best Qualifying Series results with the points from the Final.
This applies across all three eligible categories and in all three classes (Women’s, Junior and Veteran).
Last year’s FIM Bajas series was hit hard by Covid-19, but Germany’s Sebastian Bühler won the outright title from Micael Simão and Maciej Giemza. Giemza won the Junior category, Janaina de Souza was the top Women’s rider and Toni Vingut topped the quad standings.
The new Baja will be held under the chairmanship of QMMF President Abdulrahman Al-Mannai and QMMF Executive Director Amro Al-Hamad. The provisional closing date for entries is March 31st.