The Oman Automobile Association (OAA) has announced the new date for the Oman International Baja. The event, originally scheduled for 26 to 28 March 2026, will now be run from 17 to 19 December 2026. The March date was cancelled due to the hostilities in the Gulf region.
The Oman International Baja holds the status of official candidate event for the 2027 FIA World Baja Cup and the FIA Middle East Baja Cup. Alongside cars running under the FIA regulations, the competition is open to motorcycles and quads in an FIM section. It is the first official cross-country baja to be organised in the sultanate.
From March to December
When the 2026 calendar was presented, the FIA had already announced the Omani baja as a candidate event at the end of March, as an addition to the four rounds of the FIA Middle East Baja Cup in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and Dubai. That date fell in the middle of a period when the airspace in parts of the region was closed. In March, Oman Air suspended flights to Dubai, Doha and Bahrain among others, a substantial obstacle for an international field of entrants with equipment and support.
With the move to December, the baja falls after the season finale in Dubai (5 to 8 November) and lands outside the current championship. There are therefore no points to be earned in Oman for the 2026 standings. As a candidate, the organisation will above all need to demonstrate in December that the event can handle the level of an FIA round, before a decision is made on a place on the 2027 calendar.
Dunes of Sharqiya
The baja is run around Bidiyah, a wilayat in the North Al-Sharqiyah governorate, roughly 233 kilometres from Muscat. The area borders Al-Qabil to the north. Oman’s eastern sand plain covers around 10,000 square kilometres of red and brown dunes. The Sharqiya Sands, formerly known as the Wahiba Sands, form the heart of the route.
The definitive programme will be set in the coming period. The expectation is that the competition opens with a prologue that determines the starting order, followed by two selective sections through the remote areas of Bidiyah and Al-Qabil. The headquarters will be at the Jawharat Bidiyah Resort. The service park is located in the nearby Bidiyah Green Homes Park, which also hosts the ceremonial start. The finish is at the Bidiyah 4×4 Club.
Two caveats are in order. In its announcement, the OAA also mentions the surrounding sand plains of the Rub al-Khali, but that desert lies in the southwest of Oman, along the border with Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and far from Bidiyah. The announced route takes place in the Sharqiya Sands. In addition, no distances have been published yet. A round of the FIA World Baja Cup comprises two competition days and at least 350 competitive kilometres; whether the Omani design meets that requirement will have to emerge from the definitive route data.
A restless region
The March postponement does not stand on its own. The situation in the Middle East has forced adjustments to several FIA championships this year. The WEC is replacing the races in Qatar and Bahrain with events in Barcelona and Monza, and the WRC is not closing the season in Saudi Arabia but in Sardinia. According to the most recent communication, the baja rounds in Qatar (28 to 31 October) and Dubai (5 to 8 November) are still scheduled. Whether the December date in Oman holds will depend in part on developments in the region.
Dutch interests
For the Dutch entrants in the FIA World Baja Cup, Oman is not a factor in the championship this year, but the competition may offer a glimpse of the 2027 calendar. In the current season, Mitchel van den Brink (South Racing) leads the Challenger category with a two-point margin over Oman’s Hamed Al-Wahaibi, who returns after an injury for the final two rounds in the Middle East. In the SSV category, Erik van Loon is among the chasers of standings leader Mansour Al-Helai. Before they travel to Qatar and Dubai, the Baja de Portalegre 500 in Portugal is first on the programme in mid-October.
