Qatar’s Adel Abdulla knows the importance of a top result when he resumes his challenge for honours in the FIA T3 category of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas at this weekend’s fourth round of the series in Spain.
Baja Spain Aragón is based at the northern town of Teruel and is renowned for its high summer temperatures, dusty and abrasive special stages, a challenging route and a strong entry in all the FIA categories.
Abdulla and French co-driver Jean-Michel Polato currently hold tied-third position in the FIA T3 category with Spaniard Santiago Navarro, but both rivals are 19 points adrift of the early season leader Italian Michele Cinotto, who heads Russia’s Fedor Vorobyev by a single point.
Doha-based Abdulla switched to the T3 section this season after several years running Nissans and Toyotas in the T2 category for series production cross-country vehicles. He is again set to challenge for honours in a Can-Am Maverick X3 prepared by the FN Speed Team and running with support from Ooredoo, the Qatar telecommunications company.
The Qatari faces a fierce challenge from all his title rivals, in addition to young Belgian Ghislain de Mevius and the Russian driver Aleksandr Dorosinskiy in an impressive 10-car T3 field.
Abdulla said: “I am in Spain for the Aragón round. I like this race. It is a good race and you really feel the challenge on the stages. We already did this rally before in the same area. It is going to be a tough challenge with the other drivers. They are all fast. It will not be easy for any of us.
“We will do our best to be in a good position. If you look at the difference between me and the drivers in front, it is the fact that I missed the first round in Russia – the Baja Northern Forest. Things go like this. Still the championship is on and we will focus to be in a good situation.”
Scrutineering checks take place in Teruel tomorrow and the timed action gets underway with two selective sections of 170km and 80km on Friday.
The shorter of the two stages begins proceedings on Saturday morning and the 170km timed section is repeated at lunchtime before the return to Teruel for the ceremonial finish podium.

FIA World Cup for
Cross-Country Bajas T3 standings (top 5)
1. Michele Cinotto (ITA) 52pts
2. Fedor Vorobyev (RUS) 51pts
3. Adel Abdulla (QAT) 33pts
3. Santiago Navarro (ESP) 33pts
5. Abdullah al-Zubair (OMN) 26pts