Day 1 of the Aqaba-based Jordan Baja 2024
The Portuguese Can-Am duo of João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro led the Jordan Baja by just 3.5 seconds from Emirati Taurus T3 Max driver Khalid Al-Jafla and his co-driver Andrei Rudnitski after the first day of the Aqaba-based Jordan Baja on Friday.
MX Ride Dubai’s Mohammed Al-Balooshi romped to an emphatic stage win in the motorcycle race after two punishing sections of 200.60km and 133.53km through the legendary Wadi Rum region that was split by a refuelling stop. The Emirati took a lead of 12min 51.5sec lead into the overnight halt over Lebanon’s Rafic Eid with Saudi rider Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera in third.
Yamaha rider Abdulaziz Al-Shayban leads fellow Saudi Abdulaziz Al-Atawi and championship leader Hani Al-Noumesi in the quad category.
Ferreira said: “It was super long and my first stage in Jordan. It was very tricky navigation since the beginning. There were a lot of stones at the start and it was difficult to find the right way. We finished the stage with a puncture because there were some rocks even hiding under the sand. I enjoyed it a lot and Filipe did an amazing job on the navigation.”
Al-Balooshi said: “Good but very difficult navigation today. We caught the guys around 40km in. I was quite surprised but not really ready to be opening this soon. There are many notes without caps so it was a difficult task (to navigate). But I am really happy to bring the bike home and to finish on top. Tomorrow, I need to bring the bike home and hopefully it all pays off.”
Dania Akeel was handed road-opening duties in the FIA car section with Thursday’s Prologue winner Diego Martinez of Argentina opting to start in seventh between the two Santag Racing Can-Ams of Ferreira and his team-mate João Dias.
Akeel stayed out in front for the entire first part of the stage where the win went to Al-Jafla from Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari. Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah retired his Taurus T3 Max early on with transmission and clutch-related issues and returned to the service park in Aqaba.
Despite his puncture, Ferreira managed to snatch the overall lead and the SSV advantage on the second part of the stage with Challenger front-runner Al-Jafla, Dias, Eduardo Pons, Rashid Al-Muhannadi and Miroslav Zapletal rounding off the top six when Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari suffered problems in the afternoon. Despite a fuel issue, Akeel held seventh ahead of FIA World Baja Cup leader Fernando Alvarez.
Al-Jafla said: “It was a lovely day but it was very fast and stony. There was dust and so many cars in front of me. I started in 19th position. At the refuel, after 200km, I was the fifth car in the queue. It was good. I was leading at the refuelling.”
Pons added: “It was a complicated stage and we had a puncture at km100. We lost some time there. Then, the second half went well and we pushed a little bit more and we had some nice navigation. We are happy.”
Al-Balooshi had opened up a lead of 10min 01.9sec over Eid by the end of the first part of the stage with Al-Mogheera holding third. Prologue winner Abdullah Abu Aisheh suffered some arm swelling after a fall and Martin Chalmers also took a tumble and handed in his time card before the end of the first stage, as Al-Balooshi stormed into a comfortable lead after the second part of the day’s action that ran close to the border with Saudi Arabia.
Briton Steven Holt also retired while Jordan’s Tia’at Al-Shishane and Abdullah Al-Batayneh were running a long way behind in a decimated FIM field.
The local crew of Taha Masoud and Emran Taha continued to lead the National Baja in their Can-Am Maverick.
H.R.H. Prince Feisal Al-Hussein, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Jordan Motorsport, visited the headquarters of the Jordan Baja in Aqaba, where he met with members of the organising committee to review the administrative and technical arrangements made for the event. His Royal Highness expressed his complete satisfaction with the high level of preparedness, emphasising the importance of this event in enhancing Jordan’s reputation as a world-class sports and leisure destination.
The Jordan Baja is being supported by Zain Jordan, Jordan Kuwait Bank, Can-Am, Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC), Aqaba Cruise Terminal (part of AD Ports Group), Guarantee Travel Group, Hala and Bliss FM.
Tomorrow (Saturday), competitors will tackle a stage of 185.30km in Wadi Rum before the return to Aqaba for the ceremonial finish at the Arab Revolt Plaza.
2024 Jordan Baja – Positions after SS1 (unofficial @15.40hrs):
Cars
1. João Ferreira (PRT)/Filipe Palmeiro (PRT) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 4hr 04min 05.7sec*
2. Khalid Al-Jafla (ARE)/Andrei Rudnitski (LTU) Taurus T3 Max 4hr 04min 09.2sec*
3. João Dias (PRT)/Gonçalo Reis (PRT) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 4hr 07min 13.9sec*
4. Eduardo Pons (ESP)/Jaume Betriu (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 4hr 11min 28.9sec*
5. Rashid Al-Muhannadi (QAT)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Taurus T3 Max 4hr 14min 51.2sec+
6. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marcin Pasek (POL) Ford F-150 Evo 4hr 15min 43.7sec*
7. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 4hr 16min 57.2sec+
8. Fernando Alvarez (ARG)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 4hr 17min 36.2sec*
9. Diego Martinez (ARG)/Sergio Lafuente (URY) Can-Am Maverick X3 4hr 21min 45.1sec*
10. Hamad Al-Harbi (SAU)/Aleksei Kuzmich (ARE) Can-Am Maverick X3 4hr 31min 29.9sec+
11. Ahmed Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Augusto Sanz (ARG) Yamaha YXZ 1000R Short Shift 4hr 32min 37.5sec+
12. Maha Al-Hameli (SAU)/Oriol Mena (ESP) Can-Am Maverick X3 4hr 34min 05.6sec+
13. Amerigo Ventura (ITA)/Erika Mingozzi (ITA) Yamaha YXZ 1000R 4hr 57min 57.7sec*
14. Mohammed Al-Meer (QAT)/Alexsey Mun (KAZ) Nissan Patrol 5hr 39min 55.9sec+
15. Ibrahim Al-Muhanna (SAU)/Faisal Al-Suwayh (SAU) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 5hr 56min 58.9sec*
16. Majed Al-Thunayyan (SAU)/Fahad Al-Sufyani (SAU) Nissan Patrol 5hr 57min 03.1sec+
Abdullah Al-Rabban (QAT)/Ali Hassan Obaid (ARE) Nissan Patrol AWAITED+
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Taurus T3 Max DNF+
Khalifa Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Enio Bozzano (BRA) Taurus T3 Max DNF+
*denotes registered for the FIA World Baja Cup
+ denotes registered for the FIA Middle East Baja Cup
Bikes
1. Mohammed Al-Balooshi (ARE) KTM 450 Rally 5hr 01min 35.6sec
2. Rafic Eid (LBN) GasGas RX450-F 5hr 12min 25.9sec
3. Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera (SAU) KTM Rally Bike 5hr 18min 55.0sec
Hamza Al-Zawahreh (JOR) Yamaha WR-450F AWAITED
Tla’at Al-Shishane (JOR) Yamaha WR-450F AWAITED
Abdullah Al-Batayneh (JOR) Honda CRF 450R AWAITED
Steven Holt (GBR) Honda CRF 450X DNF
Martin Chalmers (AUS) GasGas Rally Replica DNF
Abdullah Abu Aisheh (JOR) GasGas 450 DNF
Abdullah Al-Shatti (KWT) Husqvarna 450 Rally DNF
Quads:
1. Abdulaziz Al-Shayban (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700 5hr 44min 55.1sec
2. Abdulaziz Al-Atawi (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700 5hr 51min 21.9sec
3. Hani Al-Noumesi (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700 5hr 57min 04.3sec
