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Mohammed Al-Balooshi begins Bajas World Cup title defence with Saudi victory
Yazeed Al-Rajhi‘s hopes of winning the Dakar Rally on his home soil evapourated when he crashed halfway. A month later, while not the World Rally-Raid Championship, he began the FIA World Baja Cup on a strong note when he won the Saudi Baja for the seventh time.
Al-Rajhi set the tone when he won the first stage, but had an off performance in the second stage as he finished fourth, five and a half minutes behind winner João Ferreira. Despite Al-Rajhi’s stumble, Ferreira just narrowly missed out on closing the gap entirely as Al-Rajhi beat him by just thirty-eight seconds.
“It’s always nice to win here,” commented Al-Rajhi. “I never expected that I would become a Baja or a cross-country specialist but my first win here opened my eyes to this kind of racing. I enjoy it a lot.”
Juan Cruz Yacopini lost out to Ferreira in Stage #2 by forty-seven seconds, and was too far back to catch Rokas Baciuška for the final spot on the overall podium. Baciuška, the Stage #1 runner-up, was running his second race in the top-level Ultimate class after the Baja Aragón last summer, improving upon his ninth in that race.
Dania Akeel was sixth in her Ultimate début behind Aliyyah Koloc. Unlike the quartet ahead of them, the two are competing for FIA Middle East Baja Cup points.
Despite not being the Challenger victor, João Dias‘ second-place finish still earned him the win among World Baja Cup racers and he thus leaves Saudi Arabia tied for the outright lead with SSV winner Fernando Álvarez. Amerigo Ventura, third in the 2023 FIA European Cup, suffered a mechanical issue on Friday that knocked him out of the race, though his Quaddy Racing team-mate Ahmed Al-Kuwari won the SSV class in Middle East Baja.
While Nasser Al-Attiyah is not defending his FIA World Baja championship, Mohammed Al-Balooshi‘s hopes of a second consecutive title on the FIM Baja World Cup side are off to a good start as he notched his fourth Saudi Baja win in as many tries. He won Stage #1 ahead of Abdullah Alshatti, and the latter tried to return the favour when he beat him for third the following stage but could not narrow it enough.
“I am very happy to win this rally for the fourth time. I have a perfect record here in Saudi. I have never lost the Saudi Baja,” commented Al-Balooshi after the second stage. “Today was very tricky. It was an easy stage but so simple to make a stupid mistake. Our strategy was to bring the bike to the finish line and secure the win. Thanks to this, I’m leading the FIM Bajas World Cup standings.”
Philip Horlemann was the lone entrant in the FIM’s newly created Trail category for twin-cylinder bikes with over 600cc in engine displacement. Racing the Husqvarna FE 501 enduro bike, his time would have ranked him seventh among all motorcycles.
2024 Saudi Baja results
FIA
Ultimate
| Finish | Number | Driver | Co-Driver | Team | Vehicle | Class | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 200 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Timo Gottschalk | Overdrive Racing | Toyota Hilux Overdrive | T1+ | 4:28:53 | Leader |
| 2 | 201 | João Ferreira | Filipe Palmeiro | X-raid Mini JCW Team | Mini John Cooper Works Rally Plus | T1+ | 4:29:31 | + 0:38 |
| 3 | 203 | Rokas Baciuška | Oriol Vidal | Overdrive Racing | Toyota Hilux Overdrive | T1+ | 4′:30:02 | + 1:09 |
| 4 | 202 | Juan Cruz Yacopini | Daniel Oliveiras | Overdrive Racing | Toyota Hilux Overdrive | T1+ | 4:35:21 | + 6:28 |
| 5 | 205 | Aliyyah Koloc | Sébastien Delaunay | Buggyra ZM Racing | Red-Lined REVO T1+ | T1+ | 5:00:43 | + 31:50 |
| 6 | 204 | Dania Akeel | Stéphane Duplé | Overdrive Racing | Toyota Hilux Overdrive | T1+ | 5:08:02 | + 39:09 |
| DNS | 210 | Nasser Al-Ajmi | Fares Al-Thefiri | Nasser Al-Ajmi | Nissan Patrol | T1.1 | DNS | N/A |
Underscore – Competing in Middle East Baja Cup
Stock
| Finish | Number | Driver | Co-Driver | Team | Vehicle | Class | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 502 | Majed Abdulrahman Al-Thunayyan | Fahad Sulayym Al-Sufyani | Team Al-Thunayyan Racing | Nissan Patrol | T2.1 | 8:32:34 | Leader |
Challenger
| Finish | Number | Driver | Co-Driver | Team | Vehicle | Class | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 301 | Saleh Al-Saif | Nasser Al-Kuwari | Dark Horse Team | GRally OT3 | T3.1 | 4:47:50 | Leader |
| 2 | 306 | João Dias | João Miranda | Santag Racing | Can-Am Maverick | T3.1 | 4:59:31 | + 11:41 |
| 3 | 302 | Diego Martinez | Sergio Lafuente | South Racing Can-Am | Can-Am Maverick | T3.1 | 5:23:52 | + 36:02 |
| 4 | 307 | Pal Lonyai | Dmytro Tsyro | X-raid Yamaha Supported Team | Yamaha YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype | T3.1 | 5:31:37 | + 43:47 |
| 5 | 303 | Annett Quandt | Annie Seel | X-raid Yamaha Supported Team | Yamaha YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype | T3.1 | 5:39:44 | + 51:54 |
| 6 | 300 | Hamad Nasser Al-Harbi | Alexey Kuzmich | Shegawl Racing | Can-Am Maverick | T3.1 | 5:48:18 | + 1:00:28 |
| 7 | 308 | Maha Al-Hamali | Oriol Mena | Dark Horse Team | Can-Am Maverick | T3.1 | 6:01:35 | + 1:13:45 |
| 8 | 304 | Khalid Aljafla | Andrei Rudnitski | Aljafla Racing | Can-Am Maverick | T3.1 | 6:16:29 | + 1:28:39 |
| 9 | 309 | Brad Salazar | Marco Guerrón | R-X Sport | Can-Am Maverick | T3.1 | 6:27:51 | + 1:40:01 |
| DNF | 305 | Eduard Pons | Jaume Betriu | Past-Racing | Taurus T3 Max | T3.1 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 311 | Gunter Hinkelmann | Nicolas Falloux | Gunter Hinkelmann | Taurus T3 Max | T3.1 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 310 | Abdullah Al-Haydan | Bader Al-Ajmi | Ibex Racing | Can-Am Maverick | T3.1 | DNF | N/A |
SSV
| Finish | Number | Driver | Co-Driver | Team | Vehicle | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 402 | Fernando Álvarez | Xavier Panseri | South Racing Can-Am | Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo | 5:13:31 | Leader |
| 2 | 408 | Alexander Toril Boquoi | Pedro López Chaves | Escuderia JMP Racing | Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo | 5:28:14 | + 14:43 |
| 3 | 404 | Ahmed Al-Kuwari | Manuel Luchesse | Quaddy Racing | Yamaha YXZ1000R SS | 5:39:29 | + 25:58 |
| 4 | 407 | Luis Henderson | Bruno Jacomy | Luis Henderson | Polaris RZR Pro R | 5:57;32 | + 44:01 |
| 5 | 411 | Moaaz Majdy Hariri | Tariq Al-Rammah | Dark Horse Team | Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo | 6:25:27 | + 1:11:56 |
| 6 | 416 | Atif Alzarouni | Mohammed Hasan Innab | Atif Alzarouni | Yamaha YXZ1000R SS | 6:26:12 | + 1:12:41 |
| 7 | 409 | Ibrahim Almuhna | Faisal Ibrahim Al-Suwayh | Almuhna Racers | Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo | 6:26:14 | + 1:12:43 |
| 8 | 401 | Mshari Al-Thefiri | Michaël Metge | Sports Racing Technologies | Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo | 6:49:54 | + 1:36:23 |
| 9 | 410 | Bader Mohammed Al-Barrak | Marco Piana | Bader Mohammed Al-Barrak | Polaris RZR Pro R | 7:41:23 | + 2:27:52 |
| 10 | 412 | Tullio Versace | Corrado Ughetti | Tullio Versace | Polaris RZR Pro R | 9:48:30 | + 4:34:59 |
| 11 | 405 | Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi | Abdulaziz Yahya Al-Jabri | Quaddy Racing | Yamaha YXZ1000R SS | 17:14:43 | + 12:01:12 |
| 12 | 415 | Mathilda Lauwens | Syndiely Wade | R-X Sport | Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo | 17:33:43 | + 12:20:12 |
| DNF | 400 | Amerigo Ventura | Habeeb Al-Shammari | Quaddy Racing | Yamaha YXZ1000R SS | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 403 | Abdullah Ahmed Al-Shegawi | Aleksandr Alekseev | Shegawi Racing | Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo | DNF | N/A |
FIM
Bike
| Finish | Number | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 1 | Mohammed Al-Balooshi | MX Ride Dubai | KTM 450 Rally Replica | 7:00:22 | Leader |
| 2 | 3 | Abdullah Alshatti | MX Ride Dubai | Husqvarna 450 Rally | 7:02:34 | + 2:12 |
| 3 | 6 | Abdulhaim Abdullah Masad Al-Mogeera | Abdulhaim Abdullah Masad Al-Mogeera | KTM 450 Rally Replica | 7:13:29 | + 13:07 |
| 4 | 22 | Hamdan Mohamed Al-Ali | Hamdan Mohamed Al-Ali | Husqvarna FE 450 | 7:17:12 | + 16:50 |
| 5 | 2 | Pedro Bianchi Prata* | Pedro Bianchi Prata | Honda CRF 450 Rally | 7:37:13 | + 36:51 |
| 6 | 13 | Abdullah Abu Aisheh | Abdullah Abu Aisheh | GasGas 450 Rally | 7:40:29 | + 40:07 |
| 7 | 15 | Salman Mohamed Humood Farhan | Salman Mohamed Humood Farhan | Husqvarna FE 450 | 7:46:50 | + 46:28 |
| 8 | 12 | Martin Chalmers | Martin Chalmers | GasGas 450 Rally Replica | 7:53:01 | + 52:39 |
| 9 | 4 | Andrew Houlihan* | Andrew Houlihan | Husqvarna FR 450 | 7:57:36 | + 57:14 |
| 10 | 5 | Ehab Walid Al-Hakeem | Ehab Walid Al-Hakeem | Yamaha WR450F Rally | 8:04:18 | + 1:03:56 |
| 11 | 25 | Rafic Eid* | MX Ride Dubai | Husqvarna FE 450 | 8:33:46 | + 1:33:24 |
| 12 | 10 | Ahmed al-Jaber | Ahmed al-Jaber | KTM 450 Rally Replica | 9:13:14 | + 2:12:52 |
| 13 | 11 | Jason Paul Joslin | Jason Paul Joslin | Husqvarna FE 350 | 9:40:05 | + 2:39:43 |
| 14 | 19 | Abdullatif Mohammed Mojadam | Abdullatif Mohammed Mojadam | Honda CRF 450 Rally | 19:21:00 | + 12:20:38 |
| DNF | 18 | Anas Abdullah Al-Rihayani | Anas Abdullah Al-Rihayani | KTM 450 Rally Replica | DNF | N/A |
| DNS | 9 | Badr Mohammed Al-Hamdan | Badr Mohammed Al-Hamdan | Yamaha WR450F Rally | DNS | N/A |
| DNS | 24 | Mohammed Saeed Bawazeer | Mohammed Saeed Bawazeer | Yamaha WR450F Rally | DNS | N/A |
Quad
| Finish | Number | Rider | Team | Quad | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 100 | Haitham Al-Tuwayjiri | Haitham Al-Tuwayjiri | Yamaha Raptor 700 | 7:39:15 | Leader |
| 2 | 101 | Hani Al-Noumesi | Hani Al-Noumesi | Yamaha Raptor 700 | 8:44:40 | + 1:05:25 |
| 3 | 105 | Abdulaziz Al-Shayban | Abdulaziz Al-Shayban | Yamaha Raptor 700 | 9:05:40 | + 1:26:25 |
| 4 | 102 | Abdulaziz Al-Atawi | Abdulaziz Al-Atawi | Yamaha Raptor 700 | 10:24:18 | + 2:45:03 |
| DNS | 103 | Abdulrahman Abdullah Al-Abdullatif | Abdulrahman Abdullah Al-Abdullatif | Can-Am Renegade 800 | DNS | N/A |
Trail
| Finish | Number | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 60 | Philip Horlemann | Philip Horlemann | Husqvarna FE 501 | 7:44:42 | Leader |
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