This weekend’s Saudi Baja 2022-Hail will be a round of the prestigious FIM Bajas World Cup for the first time.
Organised by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) with the Ministry of Sport and in partnership with Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) Motors, the event is the seventh and penultimate round of the FIM’s flagship Baja series.
The governing body for disciplines ranging from MotoGP to motocross, supermoto, trial and enduro also runs the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship and the FIM Bajas World Cup.
While this year’s FIM Cross-Country series included the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia plus rounds in Abu Dhabi, Morocco and Spain, the 2022 FIM Bajas World Cup is contested over eight shorter three-day Bajas.
The season began in Jordan before moving to Qatar, Portugal, Spain, Hungary and Portugal again, and now returns to the Middle East for this weekend’s seventh round in Hail and the finale in Dubai at the start of December. Two proposed late-summer events in Chile were cancelled.
How the Cup is decided
The 2022 Cup therefore comprises seven events with a coefficient of one and a Dubai finale carrying a scoring coefficient of two.
The Dubai final is open to everyone, but to be ranked in the FIM Bajas World Cup classification, competitors must have finished and scored points on one of the earlier events. The final classification is based on each competitor’s best two results plus their Dubai points, across the motorcycle, quad and SSV categories and the Junior, Women’s and Veteran classes.
Motorcycles up to 450cc (single or twin cylinder, two- or four-stroke) are eligible, along with quads and SSVs. Riders of bikes over 450cc can compete but, under the 2022 regulations, cannot score Cup points.
This weekend’s Saudi Baja is therefore the last chance for motorcycle and quad riders to score points and qualify for the Dubai final.
Hail’s heritage
Hail hosted Saudi Arabia’s first ever international motor sport event in 2007, when the Hail International Rally joined the FIA calendar as a candidate event after running as a smaller club event in 2006.
Hail has been a fixture on the FIA calendar ever since, and motorcycles and quads were first allowed to compete in 2013, when Emirati riders Khalid Al-Falaisi (Honda) and Atif Al-Zarouni (Honda) won the national motorcycle and quad categories.
On Wednesday, riders and drivers complete administrative and scrutineering checks in Hail before the official pre-event press conference from 19.00hrs.