Baja Troia cancelled, ending 2024 FIA European Baja Cup

The 2024 FIA World Baja Cup has come to a rather abrupt end. On Wednesday, the İstanbul Off-Road Kulübü announced the cancellation of the Baja Troia Türkiye due to low entries.

The race was supposed to be the fifth and final round of the season, scheduled for 7–9 November. However, once registration closed on Tuesday, organisers found there were not enough drivers signed up to meet the minimum for the FIA. Wednesday’s news mark the second year in a row that an FIA Baja Cup season finale was cancelled after the World and Middle East Baja Cups’ Jordan Baja was canned in 2023.

ISOFF hopes to have the event back in 2025, where it will be the second race and planned for 15–18 May.

“Our club diligently worked for eight months to prepare for the Baja Troia 2024 race, planned to be held in Çanakkale,” begins a statement from ISOFF. “We conducted numerous meetings with local authorities to ensure a smooth operation for all stages of the race. As part of our meticulous preparations, we secured:

17 vehicles and 75 gendarmerie personnel 6 vehicles and 24 Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) personnel 8 fire trucks, including 6 4×4 vehicles, and 28 firefighters 6 4×4 ambulances, 2 4×2 ambulances, and 19 emergency medical personnel 22 radio communication vehicles A total of 160 hotel room reservations across 3 hotels

“With the support of the Governorship, the Provincial Special Administration, General Directorate of Highways, Provincial Directorate of Youth and Sports, Çanakkale Municipality, Provincial Security Directorate, Provincial Gendarmerie Command, Uludağ Elektrik, Regional Directorate of Forestry, and other institutions, we finalised the assignments and preparations for all teams involved throughout the race.

“However, due to the insufficient number of registered racers to constitute a ‘sporting’ event as per championship requirements, we have, in agreement with TOSFED (Turkish Automobile Sports Federation), concluded that the race cannot take place. Consequently, the FIA has also decided to cancel the event.

“The Baja Troia race will be included in the 2025 FIA calendar and is scheduled for May 15–18. We eagerly await the participation of all racers in the Baja Troia Turkey race in May 2025. We have designed exhilarating and enjoyable stages for your racing pleasure.

“See you on May 15–18, 2025.”

With the season cut short, João Ferreira officially clinches his second European Baja Cup overall title, narrowly holding off Stock champion Fernando Barreiros. Ironically, Turkey’s cancellation gives Ferreira a chance to also secure the Portuguese Cross-Country Championship (CPTT) because it was originally scheduled to take place on the same weekend as the CPTT’s Baja Escuderia Castelo Branco.

Since the European Baja Cup’s formation in 2021, the outright championship has alternated between Krzysztof Hołowczyc and Ferreira, the former winning the inaugural crown and in 2023 while the latter took the 2022 and 2024 titles. With Hołowczyc planning to take a sabbatical from cross-country rally, however, the pattern is unlikely to hold for 2025.

João Dias settled for third overall but won the Challenger championship, while Tomasz Białkowski claimed the production SSV title.

The 2024 EBC began with the Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura in May followed by the Italian Baja, Hungarian Baja, and Baja TT Sharish Gin.

Final 2024 FIA World Baja Cup standings

Overall

Drivers

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	João Ferreira	168	Leader
2	Fernando Barreiros	155	– 13
3	João Dias	142	– 26
4	Tomasz Białkowski	127	– 41
5	Miquel Prat	111	– 57
6	Alexandre Pinto	101	– 67
7	Adam Kus	81	– 87
8	Fidel Castillo Ruiz	75	– 93
T-9	Włodzimierz Grajek	65	– 103
T-9	Yağız Birinci	65	– 103
11	Magdalena Zajac	61	– 107
12	Paulo Rodrigues	58	– 110
13	William Buller	50	– 118
14	Rui Carneiro	44	– 124
15	Fernando Álvarez	43	– 125
16	Francisco Barreto	41	– 127
17	Otávio Leite	39	– 129
18	Rui Serpa	34	– 134
19	Armindo Araújo	32	– 136
20	Benediktas Vanagas	29	– 139
21	Daniel Alonso	25	– 143
22	Rui Farinha	23	– 145

Co-drivers

Rank	Co-Driver	Points	Margin
1	Filipe Palmeiro	168	Leader
2	João Miranda	128	– 40
3	Dariusz Baśkiewicz	127	– 41
4	Antonio Rui Manuel Pereira	115	– 53
5	Bernardo Oliveira	101	– 67
6	Ion Del Cid	82	– 86
7	Marcin Pasek	81	– 87
8	Fausto Mota	75	– 93
9	João Pedro Vitoria Re	74	– 94
T-10	Michał Goleniewski	65	– 103
T-10	Evangelos Sotirchos	65	– 103
12	Błażej Czekan	61	– 107
13	Rui Pita	57	– 111
14	Ola Fløene	44	– 124
15	Xavier Panseri	43	– 125
16	Carlos Duarte	41	– 127
17	Rui Antonio	40	– 128
18	Valter Cardoso	39	– 129
19	Gonçalo Reis	30	– 138
T-20	Daniel Olivera Carreras	29	– 139
T-20	Kuldar Sikk	29	– 139
T-22	Candido Estevez Carrera	25	– 143
T-22	Allan Stirlin	25	– 143
T-22	Jorge Jordão	25	– 143

Teams

Rank	Team	Points	Margin
1	Santag Racing	274	Leader
2	X-raid Mini JCW Team	168	– 106
3	G Rally Team	136	– 138

Ultimate

Drivers

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	João Ferreira	168	Leader
2	Włodzimierz Grajek	65	– 103
3	Magdalena Zajac	61	– 107
4	Francisco Barreto	41	– 127
5	Benediktas Vanagas	29	– 139
6	Daniel Alonso	25	– 143

Co-drivers

Rank	Co-Driver	Points	Margin
1	Filipe Palmeiro	168	Leader
2	Michał Goleniewski	65	– 103
3	Błażej Czekan	61	– 107
4	Carlos Duarte	41	– 127
5	Kuldar Sikk	29	– 139
6	Candido Estevez Carrera	25	– 143

Challenger

Drivers

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	João Dias	142	Leader
2	Alexandre Pinto	101	– 41
3	Adam Kus	81	– 61
4	Paulo Rodrigues	58	– 84
5	Rui Carneiro	44	– 98
6	Fernando Álvarez	43	– 99
7	Otávio Leite	39	– 103
8	Armindo Araújo	32	– 110

Co-drivers

Rank	Co-Driver	Points	Margin
1	João Miranda	128	Leader
2	Bernardo Oliveira	101	– 27
3	Marcin Pasek	81	– 47
4	João Pedro Vitoria Re	74	– 54
5	Ola Fløene	44	– 84
6	Xavier Panseri	43	– 85
7	Valter Cardoso	39	– 89
8	Gonçalo Reis	30	– 98

SSV

Drivers

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	Tomasz Białkowski	127	Leader
2	Miquel Prat	111	– 16
3	Fidel Castillo Ruiz	75	– 52
4	Yağız Birinci	65	– 62
5	William Buller	50	– 77
6	Rui Serpa	34	– 93
7	Rui Farinha	23	– 104

Co-drivers

Rank	Co-Driver	Points	Margin
1	Dariusz Baśkiewicz	127	Leader
2	Ion Del Cid	82	– 45
3	Fausto Mota	75	– 52
4	Evangelos Sotirchos	65	– 62
5	Rui Pita	57	– 70
6	Daniel Carreras	29	– 98
T-7	Allan Stirling	25	– 102
T-7	Jorge Jordão	25	– 102

Stock

Drivers

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	Fernando Barreiros	155	Leader

Co-drivers

Rank	Co-Driver	Points	Margin
1	Antonio Rui Manuel Pereira	155	Leader