Cross-Country Bajas is no more. Say hello to the Baja Cup.
On Thursday, the World Motor Sport Council approved the 2024 schedules for the FIA World, European, and Middle East Baja Cups. The World Cup will be the longest at seven rounds long followed by Europe’s five and the Middle East’s four.
The series were formerly known as the Cups for Cross-Country Bajas before their names were simplified on Thursday. The change also applies to the terminology used for races as “Cross-Country Bajas” have been renamed to just “Bajas”. A Baja is a rally that takes place over four days with two days of competition over 350 kilometres in Selective Sections.
The 2024 World Baja Cup begins significantly later than in 2023, kicking off in Greece on 22–25 May with what used to be the Rally Greece Off-Road, which swaps championships with the Italian Baja by coming over from the European Cup. The Saudi Baja, which began the 2023 season in February, has been dropped.
Back on the European Baja Cup calendar, the Italian Baja will be the second race after the Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura. The rest of the schedule remains identical to 2023.
While no longer a World Cup event, the Saudi Baja will continue as the Middle East Baja Cup opener. Unlike in 2023, the season will only be four races long and feature a nearly nine-month gap between the first and second rounds as the Qatar International Baja has been moved from March to October. The Middle East Cup will then join up with the World Cup for the Dubai International Baja and Jordan Baja in November.
Bajas serve as a sort of regional series to the larger World Rally-Raid Championship, whose 2024 season begins with the Dakar Rally in January. The bike-focused FIM Bajas World Cup, which races in tandem with the FIA, has not revealed its 2024 calendar.
World Baja Cup
| # | Race | Country | Date |
| 1 | Baja Greece | Greece | 22–25 May |
| 2 | Baja España Aragón | Spain | 26–28 July |
| 3 | Baja Poland | Poland | 22–25 August |
| 4 | Baja Portalegre | Portugal | 17–19 October |
| 5 | Qatar International Baja | Qatar | 31 October – 2 November |
| 6 | Dubai International Baja | United Arab Emirates | 15–17 November |
| 7 | Jordan Baja | Jordan | 28–30 November |
European Baja Cup
| # | Race | Country | Date |
| 1 | Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura | Spain | 2–4 May |
| 2 | Italian Baja | Italy | 4–7 July |
| 3 | Hungarian Baja | Hungary | 8–11 August |
| 4 | Baja TT Sharish Reguengos Mourão | Portugal | 19–22 September |
| 5 | Baja Troia Türkiye | Turkey | 7–9 November |
Middle East Baja Cup
| # | Race | Country | Date |
| 1 | Saudi Baja | Saudi Arabia | 8–10 February |
| 2 | Qatar International Baja | Qatar | 30 October – 2 November |
| 3 | Dubai International Baja | United Arab Emirates | 15–17 November |
| 4 | Jordan Baja | Jordan | 28–30 November |