LUSAIL, QATAR – The Qatar International Baja on November 6–8 is the penultimate round of the FIM Bajas World Cup.
While FIA World Baja Cup crews await the result of this weekend’s Baja Portalegre 500 in Portugal to know the standings before the Lusail-based event, riders in the FIM series are already making final preparations for the title-deciding rounds in Qatar and Dubai.
Season so far
This year’s FIM Bajas World Cup has just seven counting rounds after the Hungarian Baja withdrew in August. The season opened with the Hail Baja in north-central Saudi Arabia in early February, then moved to the narrow, twisty gravel of Portugal’s Baja Escuderia Castelo Branco in wet conditions.
Britain’s Alex McInnes took his maiden win at the opener, and Junior rider Martin Ventura beat Jorge Brandao and Paulo Cardoso in Portugal. MX Ride Dubai’s Mohammed Al-Balooshi then claimed his fifth Jordan Baja win in April in the spectacular Wadi Rum desert, moving the defending champion into title contention.
Back in Spain for two Bajas, Honda’s Tosha Schareina overcame tricky mud to beat Javi Vega at the Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura in early May, before Lorenzo Santolino steered his Sherco to victory over Neels Theric and Vega at the Teruel-based Baja Spain Aragón in the summer heat.
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Entries for the event, organised by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF), closed today, with final lists due on October 29. Dubai-based Al-Balooshi is expected to start with a nine-point lead over his Lebanese team-mate Rafic Eid in the overall 450cc riders’ standings. Vega is third, ahead of Brandao, Cardoso and the tied Santolino, Schareina, Ventura and McInnes. Tragically, Brandao lost his life competing at the recent W2RC event in Morocco.
Rafic Eid leads the Veterans’ category by six points from Al-Balooshi.
In the well-supported Ladies’ category, Alona Ben Natan leads on 58 points, eight clear of Spain’s Sara Garcia Alvarez. Ecuador’s Maria Taranto is third, five points ahead of Kuwait’s Sarah Khuraibet, with Kove Factory Racing’s Lili-may Mansuy and the Duust Rally Team’s Joanna Modrzewska also in the points hunt.
Poland’s Konrad Dabrowski, outright two-wheel winner in Qatar in 2022 and 2023, trails Spain’s Victor Manuel Moya Aguilera by 13 points in the Junior standings. The Duust Rally Team rider is tied for second with Jordan’s Abdullah Al-Batayneh, Ventura and McInnes.
Experienced Saudi rider Hani Al-Noumesi, last year’s quad winner in Qatar, leads the FIM quad standings by 16 points from France’s Antoine Sanchez and Portugal’s Fernando Jorge Sampaio, with Frenchman Jérôme Connart and Saudis Haitham Al-Tuwaijri and Abdulaziz Al-Shayban also in contention.
Schedule
Administration and scrutineering take place at Lusail International Circuit on Tuesday, November 4, with re-scrutineering for FIA vehicles on Wednesday, November 5. Competition runs from Thursday, November 6 to Saturday, November 8 over a 773.83km route including 453.21 competitive kilometres.