Yasir Seaidan has a great chance to stretch his early lead in the 2021 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas at this weekend’s Jordan Baja.
The Saudi heads into Friday morning’s opening section through the stunning Wadi Rum desert in southern Jordan 14 points ahead of defending champion Vladimir Vasilyev and 15 clear of compatriot Yazeed Al-Rajhi.
With Vasilyev not travelling to Aqaba and Al-Rajhi out for several weeks after cracking a vertebra at the recent Sharqiyah International Baja, Seaidan and co-driver Alexey Kuzmich could build a useful lead in their X-raid Mini John Cooper Works Rally after three straight Middle East rounds of the nine-round series.
I’m leading the Baja World Championship after I won the Sharqiyah Baja and the goal is to win here in Jordan as well to make a big gap in the points to give myself a better chance to win the 2021 Baja World Championship. I appreciate the organisers for the hard work and efforts to make this rally happen in this situation of lockdown because of corona virus.
Yasir Seaidan
The Toyota challenge
With Orlando Terranova unable to leave Argentina because of restrictions, Seaidan’s main rivals should be Overdrive Racing’s Erik van Loon and Ronan Chabot in two V8 Toyota Hiluxes. Both arrived in Aqaba late on Wednesday afternoon.
Van Loon wants to bounce back from his recent Saudi outing, where he appeared to finish fourth with French co-driver Sébastien Delaunay before a 30-minute penalty dropped him to seventh. Overdrive Racing has appealed.
This is one of the most beautiful Bajas on the calendar, especially Wadi Rum. It looks like Mars. But we are not coming to Jordan for that. Sébastien and I would like to show what we can do. We got a start number 201, so we will start second. We have competition from Seaidan, Chabot and some fast drivers from the Middle East. I can’t wait to get started.
Erik van Loon
Quads
Three Saudi Yamaha riders will fight for the quad class, which runs behind the bikes and ahead of the FIA cars. Haitham Al-Tuwayjri won the class at the Dubai International Baja, a key factor in the 31-year-old Raptor rider’s decision to compete in Jordan and then in round three of the FIM Bajas World Cup in Qatar in April.
I am so happy to be competing in Baja Jordan for the first time. It will be my second participation in an international race and the first visit to this country. But I know the location of the race from movies, Martian and Rogue One – A Star Wars Story. This landscape reminds me of terrain of Saudi Arabia, near Al-Ula, where I participated in 2019 and finished P4 among UTVs.
Haitham Al-Tuwayjri, FIM Bajas World Cup quad leader
I also did two Bajas in the National Championship – Qassim and Riyadh – in a Can-Am X3 and finished in fourth position. I have a lot of experience on the quad and finished ninth in the Hail Cross-Country and won leg four. My goal is to take first place in the FIM Bajas World Cup in quad class.
Haitham Al-Tuwayjri
Al-Tuwayjri faces recent Sharqiyah International Baja winner Hani Al-Noumesi and compatriot Faisal Al-Suwayh. Experienced Sultan Al-Masoud and multiple Hail International Rally quad champion Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi did not start.
Cars, bikes and quads left the ceremonial start at Aqaba’s Old Port on Thursday afternoon after several leading competitors attended the pre-event press conference by the Red Sea. The event is supported by telecommunications sponsor Zain.
Friday
Competitors face two slightly revised sections of 210.72km and 112.99km through Wadi Rum, with the first bike due on the opener at 08.40hrs and the first FIA car at 09.40hrs.