LUSAIL, QATAR – Qatar’s Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah and Brazilian co-driver Enio Bozzano unleashed their lightweight Taurus T3 Max to top the car times on the 10.01km Prologue, which set the start order for Friday’s opening stage of the Qatar International Baja.
Thirty-six cars, 59 motorcycles and five quads – plus two Open-class drivers – were flagged away from the iconic Katara Cultural Village amphitheatre by QMMF President Abdulrahman Al-Mannai and Executive Director Amro Al-Hamad on Thursday evening, with competitors from 33 countries.
In the afternoon Prologue west of Lusail, joint FIM leader David Megre and Emirati Abdulaziz Al-Ahli were fastest in bikes and quads. The result counts toward the FIM classification, and Megre finished 7.5 seconds clear of Britain’s Robert Wallace on his KTM.
Challenger cars show their speed
Although the Prologue doesn’t count toward the car classification, Al-Attiyah showed Challenger cars are a real threat, winning by six seconds from his brother Nasser, who took a 15-second penalty for missing gates. World Cup Challenger leader Eduardo Pons, racing with Nasser Racing in Qatar for the first time, was fourth behind the brothers and new FIA Middle East rally champion Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari. Miroslav Zapletal and João Ferreira completed the top six after João Dias was also penalised.
Denis Krotov, debuting the petrol X-Raid Mini JCW Rally, was eighth behind Dania Akeel but will be able to follow rivals’ tracks on Friday. Anya Van Loon and Ahmed Al-Kuwari completed the top 10.
I’ve never been here. It is my first time but my co-driver told me it’s very difficult navigation, a lot of tracks and a hard task for him. But it’s part of the game and we need to think on the championship. That’s our main concern.
João Ferreira, 2024 FIA European Baja Cup champion
I am happy to be in the Middle East. The desert is better for me. I drive much better and have more confidence in the dunes or open road and Xavier (Panseri) is a really good co-pilot. We have three races now to see who is the best. For me, the only thing is to drive and just to hear Xavier’s instructions. I’m happy about that. It’s his job now. We also need to watch for punctures. There’s a lot of stones.
Fernando Alvarez, FIA World Baja Cup leader
This is also my first time in Qatar and also for Erika (Mingozzi), my co-driver. Many people say the race is very tricky so we look forward to starting the special stage to understand everything.
Amerigo Ventura
Bikes and quads
FIM leader Mohammed Al-Balooshi led the huge bike field into the Prologue and was 12th fastest, behind Megre, Wallace, Makis Rees-Stavros, Alex McInnes, Pedro Bianchi Prata, Mishal Al-Ghuneim, James Hillier, Michael Anderson, Andrew Houlihan, Simon Marcic and Lebanon’s Rafic Eid.
I learnt a lot from Nasser here in Qatar. I remember him saying that you need to gain as much experience as possible in as many events as you can. I have been doing that and it has improved my level. Saying that, this event is never easy. As I knew to my cost a few years ago, you can be going along well and then a simple mistake and you end up waking up in the hospital.
Mohammed Al-Balooshi
Haitham Al-Tuwaijri, beaten by Abdulaziz Al-Shayban in Saudi Arabia last week, played tactically and was fourth in quads behind Al-Ahli, Abdulaziz Al-Atawi and Hani Al-Noumesi. Friday features two stages of 123.91km and 122.50km through stony desert, where navigation matters as much as speed.
Prologue – cars (top 6)
- Khalifa Al-Attiyah / Enio Bozzano (Taurus T3 Max) – 6min 43.9sec
- Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah / Pablo Moreno (Taurus T3 Max) – 6min 49.9sec
- Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari / Nasser Al-Kuwari (Taurus T3 Max) – 7min 06.3sec
- Eduardo Pons / Jaume Betriu (Taurus T3 Max) – 7min 11.5sec
- Miroslav Zapletal / Marek Sykora (Ford F-150 Evo) – 7min 12.0sec
- João Ferreira / Filipe Palmeiro (Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR) – 7min 12.2sec