Rally Raid

X-raid Mini’s Krotov and Zhiltsov snatch maiden win in Qatar

The X-Raid Mini Team’s Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov overtook the overnight-leading Dania Akeel and Stéphane Duplé to snatch a first victory in an enthralling three-day Qatar International Baja on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, MX Ride Dubai’s Mohammed Al-Balooshi (KTM) delivered one of the greatest rides of his career to overturn a 15-minute deficit and upstage team-mate Abdullah Al-Shatti and win for the second time in the motorcycle category after the Kuwaiti suffered a niggling gearbox issue. Saudi Arabia’s Hani Al-Noumesi (Yamaha) won the quad section.

Saturday’s action featured one stage of 251.10km that started to the east of Dukhan and wound its way through the western Qatar deserts before cutting across the country to take in the dunes near Sealine and the Inland Sea in the south. The special then turned north to finish south of the Al-Udeid Airbase, east of Mesaieed.

Dania Akeel was first on the road and attempting to become the first woman ever to win a Baja-type event in the Middle East. She had a 1min 32.9sec lead to defend but Krotov applied the pressure from the outset. It took the Mini driver over 45 minutes to catch the determined Saudi but he gained the virtual rally lead on the run southeast before the run towards the dunes and the Inland Sea.

Akeel kept Krotov in her sights for much of the stage but the X-Raid driver gave the new petrol-engined Mini JCW Rally 3.0i a maiden win by a somewhat flattering margin of 30min 06.7sec.

A delighted Krotov said: “I am very happy to come back to Qatar and take the win with the new petrol Mini. This race is very challenging and tough for the driver, co-driver and the car. I am proud that we have the first victory with X-Raid in the new car. I am sure this project has a great future. Thanks to the organisers for an amazing race. Our crew was on the podium last year and now we have won.”

Cruelly, Akeel stopped shortly before the stage finish with a broken steering arm and was deprived of her second runner-up spot in as many weekends in her Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux. She managed to make desperate emergency repairs and reached the finish in fifth place.

Akeel said: “We had a great day opening the stage. That was something new for us. We were in second place until 10km from the end when one of the steering arms came loose. It came off. We ended up finishing fifth instead of second. That happens sometimes. That’s part of the game. We came here to learn and train and we learned a lot.”

Her misfortune paved the way for the Portuguese pairing of João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro to snatch second overall and vital FIA World Baja Cup points in their Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR. Their Santag Racing team-mates João Dias and Gonçalo Reis rounded off the podium places in the second of the Can-Ams.

Ferreira said: “It’s been a season with many races and many achievements. This result is very important for our goals in the World Cup. We really want to try and win the competition and are now just five points behind the lead. We’re going to do our best to fight for good results in Jordan and Dubai. We know anything can happen in racing and we have to be careful.”

Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal was fourth in his self-built Ford F-150 Evo, Akeel’s team-mate Akira Miura finished sixth after a late time penalty for a tyre infringement and South Racing’s Fernando Alvarez collected valuable FIA World Baja Cup points for finishing seventh and sixth of the registered drivers.

Eighth-placed Anja van Loon (Can-Am) won the Challenger category after Khalid Al-Jafla (Taurus) incurred a late seven-minute time penalty and slipped to 10th behind Rashid Al-Muhannadi.

Qatari drivers Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Ahmed Al-Kuwari were fastest on the last stage in the Challenger and SSV categories. Abdullah Al-Rabban won the Stock category in his Nissan Patrol.

Engine issues prevented local hero Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah from restarting and Kuwait’s Nasser Al-Ajmi was also sidelined with mechanical issues.

Time penalties of two hours were awarded to both Salem Al-Dhafeeri and Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh on Friday evening for running off-road tyres not fitted with FIA bar codes. Al-Yaeesh also relinquished any points he would have earned in the FIA Middle East Baja Cup. Italy’s Luigi Ricci was disqualified for refuelling his vehicle with team assistance in an unauthorised area.

Numerous time penalties for route violations were imposed on a large number of the bike entrants before the final stage. Al-Shatti emerged unscathed and opened the stage trying to defend a lead of 7min 29.1sec over Badr Al-Hamdan, after the Saudi rider’s hefty overnight penalties were withdrawn on Saturday morning because of a GPS error.

FIM Bajas World Cup title contenders, Mohammed Al-Balooshi, Pedro Bianchi Prata and David Megre, were classified in fifth, 11th and 19th. American rider Terrell Thien withdrew before the restart with physical fatigue and was joined on a growing list of retirements by Hanno Geyser, Mishal Al-Ghuneim, Norbert Swietochowski, Han-Yeh Chiang and Karsten Hoitz.

Al-Shatti was happy for Gregor Mikl and Pole Filip Grot to pass him and lead the way after the start and the Kuwaiti rode alongside team-mate Al-Balooshi. The quartet ran close together on the run south with Al-Shatti using the ‘safety in numbers’ tactic to guide him through the closing stage. FIM Veteran class rider Andrew Houlihan and Canadian Matthew Glade retired with rear tyre mousse issues. Muhamad Plicanic (Yamaha) and Frederic Fontarosa (Kove) also broke down.

After refuelling, Al-Balooshi and Al-Shatti pulled away from their European challengers and headed for the dunes and the Inland Sea. The Emirati then pulled clear of Grot and Al-Shatti but Al-Hamdan had started 36th on the road after his time penalty and was running strongly in the chasing pack until he lost time in the dunes. Briton Robert Wallace had struggled to keep his KTM running and then stopped to support Mikl, who crashed out of the Baja and was suffering from heat exhaustion.

Al-Balooshi claimed the stage win in 3hr 48min 15.8sec to earn a sensational second victory in the event. He had started the stage 15min 33.8sec behind his friend and team-mate and pulled away on the run south to beat Al-Shatti by 23min 47.4sec.

Briton Alex McInnes rounded off the podium places and Pole Filip Grot and Rafic Eid finished fourth and fight after a gruelling two-wheel event held in punishing heat.

The Portuguese duo of Pedro Bianchi Prata and David Megre kept the FIM Bajas World Cup title fight alive with sixth and seventh places but trail Al-Balooshi heading to the last three rounds in Portugal, Jordan and Dubai. Isle of Man TT legend James Hillier completed the event in 10th.

Al-Noumesi fended off Abdulaziz Al-Atawi to seal an emphatic victory in the quad category after lengthy delays for third-placed Abdulaziz Al-Shayban on Friday.

Action in the FIA World and Middle East Baja Cups resumes with the Aqaba-based Jordan Baja on November 14th-16th. The FIM Bajas World Cup continues in Portugal next weekend.

 

2024 Qatar International Baja – final result:

Cars (top 20 only)

  1. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (ANA) Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0i      5hr 27min 13.7sec*
  2. João Ferreira (PRT)/Filipe Palmeiro (PRT) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR               5hr 57min 20.4sec*
  3. João Dias (PRT)/Gonçalo Reis (PRT) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR                        6hr 01min 09.7sec*
  4. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sykora (SVK) Ford F-150 Evo                            6hr 01min 29.9sec*
  5. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                      6hr 09min 02.6sec+
  6. Akira Miura (JPN)/Jean-Michel Polato (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                      6hr 12min 08.4sec*
  7. Fernando Alvarez (ARG)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR                      6hr 16min 59.4sec*
  8. Anja Van Loon (NLD)/Floor Maten (NLD) Can-Am Maverick X3                             6hr 29min 57.6sec*
  9. Rashid Al-Muhannadi (QAT)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Taurus T3 Max                  6hr 30min 52.1sec
  10. Khalid Al-Jafla (ARE)/Andrei Rudnitski (LTU) Taurus T3 Max                            6hr 31min 27.9sec*
  11. Diego Martinez (ARG)/Sergio Lafuente (URY) Can-Am Maverick X3                             6hr 31min 29.8sec*
  12. Nouef Al-Suwaidi (QAT)/Aisvydas Paliukenas (LTU) Taurus T3 Max                            6hr 36min 19.4sec+
  13. Maha Al-Hameli (SAU)/Oriol Mena (ESP) Can-Am Maverick X3                             6hr 40min 30.7sec+
  14. Abdullah Al-Khelaifi (QAT)/Abdulaziz Al-Jabri (QAT) Yamaha YXZ 1000R Short Shift    6hr 41min 09.4sec+
  15. Ahmed Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Manuel Lucchese (QAT) Yamaha YXZ 1000R Short Shift    7hr 02min 26.2sec+
  16. Hamad Al-Harbi (SAU)/Hugo Magalhães (PRT) Can-Am Maverick X3                             7hr 05min 20.7sec+
  17. Amerigo Ventura (ITA)/Erika Mingozzi (ITA) Yamaha YXZ 1000R Short Shift                          7hr 14min 26.1sec*
  18. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Taurus T3 Max                            7hr 20min 56.9sec+
  19. Mohammed Al-Atteya (QAT)/Aleksei Kuzmich (ARE) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR          7hr 38min 30.0sec
  20. Eduardo Pons (ESP)/Jaume Betriu (ESP) Taurus T3 Max                                 7hr 45min 46.3sec*

*denotes registered for the FIA World Baja Cup

+ denotes registered for the FIA Middle East Baja Cup

 

Bikes (top 15 only – final)

  1. Mohammed Al-Balooshi (ARE) KTM 450 Rally                                 8hr 14min 25.3sec
  2. Abdullah Al-Shatti (KWT) Kawasaki KX Rally Bike                            8hr 22min 38.9sec
  3. Alex McInnes (GBR) Husqvarna FE450                                          8hr 30min 03.7sec
  4. Filip Grot (POL) GasGas 450 Rally                                                8hr 37min 46.8sec
  5. Rafic Eid (LBN) GasGas 450F Replica                                            8hr 42min 56.9sec
  6. Pedro Bianchi Prata (PRT) Honda CRF 450 RX                                8hr 47min 45.1sec
  7. David Megre (PRT) KTM EXC                                                      8hr 49min 59.9sec
  8. Robert Wallace (GBR) KTM 450 EXC-F                                          8hr 57min 18.7sec
  9. Simon Marcic (SVN) Husqvarna Rally                                            8hr 57min 44.6sec
  10. James Hillier (GBR) Husqvarna FR450                                         8hr 59min 29.7sec
  11. Ehab Al-Hakeem (LBN) Fantic Rally Factory                                  9hr 06min 19.5sec
  12. Michael Anderson (PRT) KTM 450 EXC                                        9hr 08min 03.3sec
  13. Hamdan Al-Ali (ARE) Honda CRF 450 R                                       9hr 09min 38.4sec
  14. Makis Rees-Stavros (GBR) KTM EXC F450                                    9hr 10min 38.0sec
  15. Martin Chalmers (AUS) GasGas 454 RFR                                      9hr 21min 30.9sec

Quads (final)

  1. Hani Al-Noumesi (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700                                   10hr 16min 16.2sec
  2. Abdulaziz Al-Atawi (SAU) Yamaha YZ                                            11hr 45min 55.9sec
  3. Abdulaziz Al-Shayban (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700                            14hr 48min 25.8sec

Abdulaziz Ahli (ARE) Yamaha Raptor 700                                          RETIRED – SS2

Haitham Al-Tuwaijri (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700                                  RETIRED – SS2

Share.

Related Posts

Exit mobile version