The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) has released an impressive entry list for next weekend’s Qatar International Baja, round two of the FIM Bajas World Cup and the FIA Middle East Cup for Cross-Country Bajas.
Twenty-eight cars, including 10 in FIA T3 and six in T4, are entered for the three-day event (March 24th-26th), alongside 29 motorcycles, six quads and one SSV in the FIM section. A National Baja will also run behind the main FIA event.
Competitors from 20 nations head to the Losail International Circuit, which recently hosted the opening MotoGP race of 2022 and will be the base for technical and administrative checks, rally HQ and the start and finish ceremonies.
WRC stars in T3
Cross-country regulars Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Yasir Seaidan and Miroslav Zapletal head the FIA T1 entry, but there are some surprise names further down the list.
Kris Meeke has contested two Qatar stage rallies and one Dakar in a career mostly spent in the FIA World Rally Championship. The Andorra-based Ulsterman partners Frenchman François Cazalet in one of three Can-Am Mavericks entered by Nasser Racing.
A second Nasser Racing car goes to WRC star Dani Sordo, making his first competitive appearance in the Gulf and his cross-country debut in a T3 Can-Am. The third Maverick is driven by Al-Attiyah’s brother Khalifa with Italian co-driver Max Delfino.
The QMMF Team has entered six Can-Ams for Ahmed Al-Kuwari, Ahmed Al-Muhannadi, a returning Adel Abdulla, Abdullah Al-Kuwari, Khalid Al-Muhannadi and Rashid Al-Muhannadi, and veteran Qatari rally driver Sadoon Al-Kuwari returns in a T4 Can-Am.
FIM Bajas World Cup
Early FIM Bajas World Cup leader Mohammed Al-Balooshi heads the two-wheel entry on a Husqvarna FR450. His main rivals are likely to be Jordan’s Abdullah Abu Aishah, Poland’s leading Junior Konrad Dabrowski, Kuwait’s Abdullah Al-Shatti and Dane Thomas Kongshoj.
Qatar is represented by the Extreme Enduro trio of Mohammed Al-Kaabi, Abdulrahman Al-Sheeb and Sheikh Mohammed Al-Thani and the Rasen Team’s Yaghoob Azadi.
Saudi riders dominate the quads, which also include Belgium’s Emiel Stuckens. Kuwait’s Sarah Khuraibet and Poland’s Joanna Modrzewska contest the FIM Women’s category, and Qatar’s Abdullah Al-Khelaifi and Abdulaziz Al-Jabri crew the only FIM SSV.
Middle East Cup
Seventeen-year-old Emirati driver Aliyyah Koloc leads the FIA Middle East Cup Drivers’ Championship and the T3 section with 40 points, ahead of Hamad Al-Harbi (33) and Muneef Al-Salmani (25), and all three are entered.
Koloc returns with Buggyra ZM Racing alongside twin sister Yasmeen in a second car. San Marino-based Camelia Liparoti contests T4 in her Yamaha YXZ 1000R, but Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thefiri is top seed in the class.
The 2022 Baja runs under the chairmanship of QMMF President Abdulrahman Al-Mannai, Executive Director Amro Al-Hamad and board member Abdulrazaq Al-Kuwari.