Francisco Barreto, Konrad Dabrowski and Abdulaziz Ahli topped the times in their respective car, motorcycle and quad categories on the 11.12km Prologue that officially got the competitive action underway at the Qatar International Baja on Thursday afternoon.
Thirty-seven cars, 45 motorcycles and eight quads graced the official start ceremony for the penultimate rounds of the FIA World and Middle East Baja Cups and round five of the FIM Bajas World Cup at Lusail.
Competitors were flagged off the podium in the presence of QMMF President Abdulrahman al-Mannai, QMMF Executive Director Amro al-Hamad, QMMF board member Abdulrazaq al-Kuwari and the Dutch ambassador Ferdinand Lahnstein.
Italian Baja and recent Baja Portalegre 500 winner Francisco Barreto was the first driver to tackle the Prologue with his navigator Paulo Fiuza in an SVR Toyota Hilux. The Portuguese carded the target time of 7min 06.9sec with a five-second penalty for touching a gate and that was 12.1 seconds quicker than the time set by title rival Saood Variawa, who lost time in the dust running behind Lionel Baud.
Remarkably, the Toyota driver was also 12.1 seconds up on local hero and multiple event winner Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah in his Optimus MD Rallye. The Qatari also incurred a five-second time penalty and suffered a costly flat tyre near the end.
Barreto said: “We are really happy. No mistakes. Maybe the guys behind had a little bit of dust because we started minute-by-minute but it was a good result for us. The race starts tomorrow. We need to be smart and focused. I had Nasser behind me today. It’s a pleasure to race with him. It’s cool to learn and do our best.”
Al-Attiyah added: “We had a puncture for the last five kilometres. We drove like one minute easy to manage and not lose too much time. At the end we lose only 12 seconds. Tomorrow is a long stage. It’s a big stage and we will push.”
Mitchel van den Brink and Bart van Heun began the event in a strong position in the Challenger class and are still eyeing overall honours. The Can-Am Maverick R crew finished the Prologue in sixth place behind the QMMF-backed local drivers, Abdulaziz al-Kuwari (Can-Am) and Nouef al-Sowaidi (Taurus).
Al-Kuwari said: “I am happy to be first in the category. The rain for me was 100 metres from the finish. I think there was a small cloud, only at the finish!”
Van den Brink added: “We needed to make a reverse and make the turn again at one flag on the stage and we lost some time there. Despite that, it is a good result.”
Oman’s Hamed al-Wahaibi was classified in seventh and the father and daughter duo of Martin and Aliyyah Koloc settled into eighth and 10th positions in their respective Red-Lined Revos and sandwiched Qatar’s Khalifa Saleh al-Attiyah in ninth.
The South Racing Can-Am Team’s Fernando Alvarez teamed up with French navigator Xavier Panseri to hold 11th and head the SSV contingent. Qatar’s Abdulla al-Rabban was the fastest of the three drivers in the Stock category in his Toyota Prado.
Alvarez said: “For me, the perfect position is 11 and I am happy about that. We had a good feeling. It was a bit tricky sometimes but our car, with the suspension here in Qatar, is a really good one.”
Qatari Mohammed al-Marri was over a minute slower and will start towards the rear of the field on Friday. X-Raid’s Baud sustained a flat tyre near the start and will also suffer from a lowly starting position.
Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah’s nephew Ghanim al-Attiyah is tackling the event for the first time in a Can-Am Maverick R alongside his Ukrainian navigator Dmytro Tsyro. The young Qatari finished the Prologue in 21st overall and third in the SSVs, as a heavy rain shower fell in the area towards the end of competitive proceedings.
Last year’s motorcycle winner Konrad Dabrowski was the first rider into the stage on his Duust Rally Team KTM 450. The Pole laid down the gauntlet with a run of 7min 15.1sec and that put him just 1.3 seconds quicker than FIM championship leader Alex McInnes.
The three-time event winner had to wait until the backmarkers had finished the Prologue to confirm his fastest time. Former enduro champion and 2023 FIM Rally-Raid World Cup Rally 2 winner Romain Dumontier was running near the rear of the field and came home in third place, albeit over half a minute behind the flying Pole, and Robert Wallace earned the fourth quickest time on his KTM 450 EXC.
Dabrowski said: “It went really well but it was tight. Just over a second to Alex. I’ve won it three times already, so only good memories from here. It’s part of my preparation for the Dakar Rally.”
Slovenian veteran Simon Marcic rounded off the top five on his Kove, with fellow countryman and defending Dakar Rally 2 champion Toni Mulec settling into seventh behind Michael Anderson and ahead of Ethan Lane, who incurred a five-second penalty. Current FIM champion Mohammed al-Balooshi and Qatar-based Makis Rees-Stavros completed the top 10. All 45 riders finished the Prologue.
Abdulaziz al-Ahli is the defending quad champion in Qatar and he made a solid start to the defence of his Baja title with the quickest time on his Yamaha Raptor. The Emirati finished the Prologue 7.3 seconds faster than fellow countryman Khalifa al-Bastaki after his rival incurred a five-second penalty. But al-Bastaki was further penalised for losing his time card.
Hani al-Noumesi led the Saudi quintet in second, ahead of current FIM series leader Ahmed al-Jaber, Abdulaziz al-Atawi, Abdulrahman Alabdullatif and Badr al-Hamdan. Italy’s Matteo Lardori was eighth on the lone Suzuki and then suffered Stella issues and dirt in his carburettor after a rain shower on the road section back to Lusail.
On Friday, competitors tackle one of the longest and most demanding selective sections ever to grace a round of the FIA and FIM Baja Cups.
A punishing 336.45km – on a par with a stage in the W2RC or the iconic Dakar Rally - will take entrants through the northern, western and central deserts of Qatar, with the first bike getting underway at 6.55am. The leading car will roar into action at 9am
Qatar International Baja – Prologue result:
Cars – top 20 only
1. Francisco Barreto (POR)/Paulo Fiuza (POR) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 7min 06.9sec*
2. Saood Variawa (RSA)/Charan Moore (RSA) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 7min 19.0sec*
3. Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (QAT)/Max Delfino (FRA) Optimus MD Rallye 7min 19.0sec+
4. Abdulaziz al-Kuwari (QAT)/Oriol Mena (ESP) Can-Am Maverick R 7min 21.9sec*
5. Nouef al-Suwaidi (QAT)/Aisvydas Paliukenas (LTU) Taurus T3 Max 7min 26.1sec+
6. Mitchel van den Brink (NED)/Bart van Heun (NED) Can-Am Maverick R 7min 26.9sec*
7. Hamed al-Wahaibi (OMA)/Francois Cazalet (FRA) Can-Am Maverick R 7min 30.5sec*
8. Martin Koloc (CZE)/Hugo Magalhaes (POR) Red-Lined Revo V8 7min 34.6sec
9. Khalifa Saleh al-Attiyah (QAT)/Stephane Duple (FRA) Taurus T3 Max 7min 34.8sec+
10. Aliiyah Koloc (UAE)/Marcin Pasek (POL) Red-Lined Revo GTR 7min 35.2sec
11. Fernando Alvarez (ARG)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Can-Am Maverick R 7min 42.4sec*
12. Khalid al-Jafla (UAE)/Andrei Rudnitskiy (LTU) Toyota Hilux Evo 7min 46.6sec*
13. Ahmed al-Kuwari (QAT)/Augusto Sanz (ARG) Taurus T3 Max 7min 51.8sec+
14. David Mabbs (UAE)/David McBride (UAE) Can-Am Maverick X3 7min 55.4sec+
15. Rashid al-Muhannadi (QAT)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Taurus T3 Max 7min 58.3sec
16. Mohammed al-Attiyah (QAT)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 8min 03.6sec
17. Hamad al-Harbi (KSA)/Faisal al-Suwayh (KSA) Can-Am Maverick R 8min 06.3sec+
18. Ahmed al-Shami (UAE)/Leonard Cremer (RSA) Chevrolet Corvette 8min 08.7sec+
19. Ahmed al-Muhannadi (QAT)/Ali Hassan Obaid (UAE) MCE-5 T3M 8min 09.6sec*
20. Fahad al-Fahad (KSA)/Yasir al-Khuraif (KSA) Optimus MD Rallye 8min 12.1sec
*denotes registered for FIA World Baja Cup
+denotes registered for FIA Middle East Baja Cup
Motorcycles – top 15 only
1. Konrad Dabrowski (POL) KTM 450 Rally Replica 7min 15.1sec
2. Alex McInnes (GBR) KTM 450 RFR 7min 16.4sec
3. Romain Dumontier (FRA) KTM 450 Rally Factory 7min 45.4sec
4. Robert Wallace (GBR) KTM 450 EXC 7min 52.2sec
5. Simon Marcic (SLO) Kove 450 Rally EX 7min 53.3sec
6. Michael Anderson (POR) KTM 450 RFR 8min 19.7sec
7. Toni Mulec (SLO) KTM 450 Rally Replica 8min 20.5sec
8. Ethan Lane (GBR) KTM 450 Rally 8min 20.6sec
9. Mohammed al-Balooshi (UAE) KTM 450 RR 8min 20.9sec
10. Makis Rees-Stavros (GBR) KTM EXC F450 8min 36.1sec
11. Luc Dumore (NED) Husqvarna FR 450 8min 41.6sec
12. Joanna Modrzeswka (POL) Triumph TF45E 8min 45.4sec
13. Andrew Houlihan (AUS) KTM 450 RFR 8min 46.1sec
14. Marcin Talaga (POL) Gas Gas RX 450 F Replica 8min 47.4sec
15. Abdullah Abu Aisheh (JOR) Yamaha WR 450F 8min 51.5sec
Quads
1. Abdulaziz Ahli (UAE) Yamaha Raptor 700 8min 28.1sec
2. Hani al-Noumesi (KSA) Yamaha 700 9min 01.7sec
3. Ahmed al-Jaber (KSA) Yamaha Raptor 9min 47.9sec
4. Abdulaziz al-Atawi (KSA) Yamaha Raptor 700 11min 30.7sec
5. Khalifa al-Bastaki (UAE) Yamaha YFZ 450R 13min 35.4sec
6. Abdulrahman Alabdullatif (KSA) CF Moto CForce 1000 14min 51.1sec
7. Badr al-Hamdan (KSA) CF Moto CForce 1000 17min 40.2sec
8. Matteo Lardori (ITA) Suzuki LT2 400 21min 07.5sec
