Tribune News Network
Lusail
MX Ride Dubai’s Mohammed Al Balooshi and his Portuguese rivals David Megre and Pedro Bianchi Prata are locked in a three-way battle for supremacy in the FIM Bajas World Cup as the eight-round series heads to Qatar this week.
The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) is hosting the fifth round of the series on October 30th-November 2nd and the event has attracted 62 motorcycle riders and five quads competing under the auspices of the FIM.
Al Balooshi (KTM) and Megre (Kawasaki) are currently tied on 47 points apiece with four rounds still to run in Qatar, Portugal, Jordan and Dubai. Prata is a mere four points behind in third place in the 450cc standings on his Honda CRF 450RX.
Martim Ventura and Bruno Santos have not made the trip to Qatar and their absence has opened the door for Kuwait’s Abdullah Al Shatti, Saudi rider Abdulhalim Al Mogheera and Lebanon’s Rafic Eid to close in on the top three from their current positions of sixth, seventh and 10th in the championship standings.
Poland’s Filip Grot has a 16-point lead in the Junior category on his Gas Gas 450 Rally and has the perfect opportunity to extend that advantage in the absence of Ventura and Edgar Canet.
Prata is the clear favourite to win the Veteran category as well as challenging for the overall FIM Bajas World Cup. Eid will also be chasing Veteran honours and both the Duust Rally Team’s Slawomir Sypien and Australian Andrew Houlihan will be present in Doha.
Sypien’s Duust Rally Team colleague Joanna Modrzewska will be looking for valuable points in the Women’s category on her Husqvarna FE450.
Saudi Arabian riders have dominated the quad section of the FIM Bajas World Cup this season and Haitham Al Tuwaijri takes a four-point cushion over Abdulaziz Al Shayban into the Qatar event. Hani Al Noumesi and Abdulaziz Al Atawi are third and sixth in the points’ standings and are also entered in Qatar. Al Shayban got the better of Al Tuwaijri to win last weekend’s Qassim Rally in Saudi Arabia.
The remainder of the world-class motorcycle field is made up of riders from the UAE, Poland, Lebanon, Qatar, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, India, Slovenia, Portugal, Germany, Ireland, South Africa, France, Croatia, Italy, China, Canada, Mexico and the USA all chasing honours at the Qatar International Baja.
Isle of Man TT legend James Hillier is present on a Husqvarna 450 and the vast list of names also includes talented Slovenian Simon Marcic, Gulf-based Australian Martin Chalmers and the Irish trio of Oran and Tiarnan O’Kelly and Michael Stafford.
Saudi Arabia’s Mishal Al Ghuneim is a regular face on desert rallies and he is joined by fellow countrymen Badr Al Hamdan, Abdulrahman Al Medaihesh and Ibrahim Al Jarallah in a strong GGC field that also features Qatar’s Abdulattif Mojadam, Abdulrahman Al Sheeb and Mohammed Al Thani.
There has been massive interest shown from Great Britain and a list of 13 riders includes Jason Joslin, Robert Wallace, Motozone Racing’s Alex McInnes, Chris Hamer, Makis Rees-Stavros, Neil Worsley, Carl and Chris Searles and Patrick Heffron.
The Qatar International Baja event is being organised by the QMMF under the chairmanship of QMMF President Abdulrahman Al Mannai, QMMF’s Executive Director Amro Al Hamad and board member Abdulrazaq Al Kuwari.
Motorcycle action gets underway with a timed Prologue stage of 9.9km starting at 13.45hrs on Thursday (October 31).
2024 FIM Bajas World Cup – latest positions:
450: 1. Mohamned Al Balooshi (ARE) 47pts; 2. David Megre (PRT) 47pts; 3. Pedro Bianchi Prata (PRT) 43pts; 4. Martim Ventura (PRT) 36pts; 5. Bruno Santos (PRT) 35pts; 6. Abdullah Al Shatti (KWT) 30pts; 7. Abdulhalim Al Mogheera (SAU) 27pts; 8. Tosha Schareina (ESP) 25pts; 9. Edgar Canet (ESP) 20pts; 10. Rafic Eid (LBN) 20pts, etc.
Juniors: 1. Filip Grot (POL) 61pts; 2. Martim Ventura (PRT) 45pts; 3. Edgar Canet (ESP) 25pts; 4. Tanika Shanbhag (IND) 13pts, etc
Veterans: 1. Pedro Bianchi Prata (PRT) 91pts; 2. Rafic Eid (LBN) 55pts; 3. Adao Marques (PRT) 40pts; 4. Paulo Cardoso (PRT) 36pts; 5. Slawomir Sypien (POL) 33pts; 6. Andrew Houlihan (AUS) 30pts, etc
Women: 1. Sara Garcia Alvarez (ESP) 50pts; 2. Joanna Modrzewska (POL) 45pts; 3. Aishwarya Pissay (IND) 40pts; 4. Tanika Shanbhag (IND) 16pts, etc
Quads: 1. Haitham Al Tuwaijri (SAU) 61pts; 2. Abdulaziz Al Shayban (SAU) 57pts; 3. Hani Al Noumesi (SAU) 53pts; 4. Marcin Wilkolek (POL) 41pts; 5. Jerome Connart (FRA) 25pts; 6. Abdulaziz Al Atawi (SAU) 24pts, etc.