Local star Al-Attiyah starts as favourite to win Qatar International Baja
· Leading
drivers attend pre-event press conference at Lusail
· Lusail
Boulevard to host ceremonial start on Thursday evening
The event is the second round of the 2023 FIA World Cup
for Cross-Country Bajas and Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel head to
pre-event formalities at the Lusail Sports Complex with eight-point advantages
in their respective Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ Championships, courtesy of
outright victory at the Saudi Baja-Ha’il last month.
FIA T3 and T4 cars have graced the top 10 on numerous
cross-country events in the last few seasons: American Seth Quintero finished
third at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in a T3 Can-Am and Poland’s young Eryk
Goczal won the Dubai International Baja last December in a T4 Can-Am. But no T3
or T4 machine has ever won in Qatar. That means Al-Attiyah and his six rivals
in the latest T1+ machines and three drivers of older specification T1 cars
should battle it out for overall victory.
Way back in 2004 when the Qatar Baja was based out of Sealine,
south of Doha, the Qatari secured victory with Frenchman Didier le Gal in a
Chevrolet Pro Truck and he repeated the feat the following season with Alain
Guehennec in a BMW X5.
The event didn’t run again until 2011 when it took place
to a Baja-type format as a candidate for inclusion in the 2012 FIA World Cup
for Cross-Country Rallies. Al-Attiyah won again, this time with Spanish
co-driver Lucas Cruz in a SAM Mercedes 35CC.
As a round of the five-day FIA World Cup, Al-Attiyah won
with Cruz in a Toyota in 2012, with Mathieu Baumel in a Mini All4 Racing in
2014 and 2015 and with Baumel in a Toyota again in 2016. Further wins followed
with Baumel and Toyota in 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2022. There was no car event in
2021, the year the event became a shorter Baja again.
This year, Al-Attiyah will drive a Hilux that has been
flown in especially from Portugal and will then be rebuilt in time to be used
by Lithuanian driver Benediktas Vanagas at Spain’s Baja Extramadura in
mid-April. Vanagas’s Hilux normally runs under the Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltics
banner and the car has been provided to Toyota Gazoo Racing for Al-Attiyah to
use in Qatar. The five-time Dakar winner will then use a new DKR Hilux for the
Sonora Rally in México next month.
Al-Attiyah said: “Obviously we are grateful to Benediktas
and his team for supplying the car. This is my home event and it is so
important to me that I can perform well in front of the local fans and continue
my run of success here in Qatar.”
Al-Attiyah was joined by several of his main rivals and
leading motorcyclists for the official pre-event press conference at the Lusail
Sports Complex on Wednesday evening.
The Qatari’s Argentinean team-mate Juan Cruz Yacopini is
his closest challenger in the title race after round one and drives the second
of four Toyota T1+ Hiluxes and the first of three running under the Overdrive
Racing banner. Denis Krotov switches to the Toyota that was used by South
Africa’s Henk Lategan at the recent Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and Frenchman
Ronan Chabot returns to cross-country action to drive the fourth car.
Krzysztof Holowczyc is a formidable opponent and the
experienced Pole drives the sole Mini JCW Rally Plus in the field. He holds
third in the points’ standings alongside co-driver Lukasz Kurzeja.
The event has also attracted a pair of official Baic ORV
BJ40s that have been built in China and will be driven by Guoyu Zhang and
Yunliang Zi. The cars appeared at the recent Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and are
registered for FIA World Cup Baja points.
Saudi Border Guard team driver Khalid Al-Feraihi is
chasing FIA Middle East Cup points in his Nissan Patrol and again teams up with
Frenchman Sébastien Delaunay. He holds seventh in the Drivers’ Championship
after a disappointing opening round. Italy’s Stefano Moro (Mitsubishi) and
local driver Abdullah Al-Rabban (Chevrolet) wrap up the T1 field.
There are three T2 Nissan entries in the category for
series production cross-country machines and all three are for Saudi drivers.
Ibrahim Al-Muhanna and Ahmed Al-Shegawi are chasing FIA Middle East Cup points
and Majed Al-Thunayyan is registered for the FIA World Cup.
Thursday
Tomorrow, sees competitors complete any late
scrutineering checks before the competitive action gets underway with a 9.08km
Prologue stage from 14.40hrs (motorcycles) and 15.40hrs (cars) onwards.
This precedes the ceremonial start at a new location on
Lusail Boulevard, starting with the motorcycles and quads from 19.20hrs.
FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas – standings after
round 1:
Drivers
1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT) 40pts
2. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG) 32pts
3. Krzysztof Holowczyc (POL) 24pts
4. Saleh
Al-Saif (SAU) 19pts
5. Fernando
Alvarez (ESP) 16pts
6. Pau Navarro (ESP) 13pts
7. Kees Koolen (NLD) 12pts
8. Dania Akeel (SAU) 11pts
9. Jeremie Warnia (FRA) 8pts
9. Santiago
Navarro (ESP) 8pts
11. Otavio
Sousa (BRA) 7pts
12. Michele
Cinotto (ITA) 5pts
13. Ricardo
Ramilo (ESP) 4pts
FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas – standings after
round 1:
Co-drivers (top 3 only)
1. Mathieu Baumel (AND) 40pts
2. Daniel
Oliveras (ESP) 32pts
3. Lukasz
Kurzeja (POL) 24pts, etc
FIA Middle East Cup for Cross-Country Bajas – standings
after round 1:
Drivers
1. Yasir Seaidan (SAU) 40pts
2. Hamad Al-Harbi (SAU) 32pts
3. Abdullah Al-Shegawi (SAU) 23pts
4. Ahmed Al-Shegawi (SAU) 20pts
5. Salem Al-Dhafeeri (KWT) 15pts
6. Ibrahim Al-Muhanna (SAU) 13pts
7. Mohammed Al-Hameli (SAU) 12pts
9. Saeed Al-Mouri (SAU) 11pts
FIA Middle East Cup for Cross-Country Bajas – standings after round 1:
Co-drivers (top 3 only)
1. Alexey Kuzmich (ANA) 40pts
2. Dmytro Tsyro (UKR) 32pts
3. Waleed Al-Shegawi (SAU) 23pts
Comments
Post a Comment