Nasser Al-Attiyah and Konrad Dąbrowski have claimed the demanding first stage of the Qatar International Baja. On the 336-kilometre special stage through the north, west and centre of Qatar, the longest of the World Baja Cup season, Al-Attiyah managed his energy cleverly and, together with Max Delfino, built a lead of 6 minutes and 15 seconds over Francisco Barreto. In the bikes, Dąbrowski beat FIM standings leader Alex McInnes by 5 minutes and 17 seconds. In the quads, the day’s victory went to Khalifa Al-Bastaki of the United Arab Emirates.
For the Netherlands it was a difficult day. Mitchel van den Brink and Bart van Heun, the leaders of the Challenger category in the World Baja Cup, came to a standstill with technical problems and finished 26th, 2 hours, 14 minutes and 15 seconds behind the winner. Their closest rival Hamed Al-Wahaibi finished ninth. Luc Dumore finished as the fifteenth bike rider on a day when eleven competitors in the bike and quad field failed to reach the finish within the time limit.
Dąbrowski breaks away in the final phase
Dąbrowski started tenth on the road but had already caught McInnes around kilometre 13. The pair then reeled in the leading group together. The Pole subsequently led for most of the stage but could not shake off the Briton, who, as it turned out, had a good reason to stay in his tracks: McInnes’ roadbook device had broken down over the final eighty kilometres. “The safest option for him was to follow me, I understand that,” Dąbrowski said. Because the gap between them was just one second, he opted for a short breather roughly 45 kilometres before the finish. After fifteen kilometres of easy riding, drinking water and catching his breath, he launched a sprint over the final twenty kilometres “at 110 percent effort” and pulled away after all. By his own account, McInnes eased off when following the dust became too dangerous. “The championship is the most important thing,” said the Briton.
Dąbrowski clocked 3 hours, 43 minutes and 19 seconds and leads the overall standings by 5 minutes and 18 seconds over McInnes. Romain Dumontier took third, despite four minutes of penalties. The Frenchman noted that he had not sat on a rally bike with navigation for five months, and that he had to ride cautiously without mechanics or spare parts. Toni Mulec was fourth, Ethan Lane fifth after six minutes of penalties. Michael Anderson and Robert Wallace followed.
In the battle for the FIM Bajas World Cup, McInnes gained ground on his pursuers. Four-time champion Mohammed Al-Balooshi finished ninth, 43 minutes and 2 seconds back, while Abdulhalim Al-Mogeera, second in the interim standings, was twelfth, 53 minutes and 21 seconds back after two minutes of penalties. Joanna Modrzewska was the fastest woman despite six minutes of penalties.
The retirement list is long. Simon Marčič was riding in the top ten until he stopped with mechanical problems after the second refuelling. Louis Abou Nader retired following a crash, and Andrew Houlihan stopped riding the final part of the stage after a fall and returned to Lusail. Martin Chalmers, Makis Rees-Stavros, Priyankka Dutta, Jakov Jukić and Ismail Mansour were also given maximum time. Norbert Świętochowski did not take the start. Brett Hunt was handed a penalty of 1 hour and 8 minutes after his navigation tower broke off. Notably, three riders had time returned to them: Jason Joslin (22 minutes), Patrick Emmert (20 minutes) and Anton Tyll (5 minutes and 19 seconds). The provisional classification gives no reason.
Al-Bastaki benefits in the quads
In the quads, FIM leader Ahmed Al-Jaber looked set to take the overall lead, but three minutes of penalties at the end of the day spoiled things. Al-Bastaki, who had trailed far behind after the prologue due to a lost time card, won the stage by 4 minutes and 6 seconds and now leads the overall standings by eighteen seconds over Al-Jaber. Hani Al-Noumesi took third, followed by defending champion Abdulaziz Ahli and Abdulaziz Al-Atawi. Matteo Lardori, Abdulrahman Alabdullatif and Badr Al-Hamdan did not reach the finish within the time limit.
Al-Attiyah saves his tyres, Barreto misses waypoints
Al-Attiyah chose to enter the stage first and immediately built up a lead. Over the first two hundred kilometres he deliberately spared his tyres, because his Optimus MD Rallye has rear-wheel drive only. “We made a strategy, otherwise you get a flat tyre,” he explained. During that phase Barreto, in his SVR Toyota Hilux IMT Evo, closed to within less than twenty seconds. Over the final hundred-plus kilometres the Qatari upped the pace again, and the decision came when Barreto and Paulo Fiúza missed two waypoints roughly twenty kilometres before the finish and had to turn back. “The tyres are completely gone,” said Al-Attiyah, who completed the stage in 3 hours, 5 minutes and 15.3 seconds.
Barreto stayed positive. “We didn’t make any major mistakes and the result is good,” he said, praising his navigator. Because Al-Attiyah is entered only for the Middle East Baja Cup, Barreto is the highest-placed World Cup driver in Qatar. “We’re first in the World Cup and that’s where we need to finish,” said the Portuguese.
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Oriol Mena (QMMF Team) put in a strong performance in their Can-Am Maverick R with third place overall and the lead in the Challenger class, 21 minutes and 50.6 seconds back. The young Aliyyah Koloc was fourth in her Red-Lined Revo GTR, well over a minute and a half ahead of Khalifa Al-Attiya (Taurus T3 Max). Lionel and Lucie Baud were not held back by their poor starting position and finished sixth, as the day’s third World Cup driver behind Barreto and Al-Kuwari. Martin Koloc, Ahmed El Shamy (Century CR6), Al-Wahaibi and Fernando Alvarez completed the top ten. Alvarez was once again the fastest SSV driver.
For Saood Variawa it was a day to forget quickly. Three flat tyres cost the South African a lot of time: he finished sixteenth, 1 hour, 1 minute and 38.9 seconds back. In doing so he lost a great deal of ground to Barreto and Baud in the title fight. David Mabbs retired after 58.69 kilometres with gearbox problems, dealing a heavy blow to his chances in the Middle East Baja Cup. Fahhad Al-Fahhad stopped after 70.83 kilometres with mechanical problems. Both were given maximum time. Christiano Gabbarrini did not take the start.
In the Stock category, Abdulla Al-Rabban (Nissan Patrol) was more than forty minutes faster than Majed Al-Thunayyan, but the Saudi reached the finish and thus keeps his hopes of the World Cup title in this class alive. Ghanim Al-Attiyah, making his debut in the event, finished thirteenth. Mohammed Al-Marri ended up fifteenth.
Tough day for Van den Brink and Van Heun
For Van den Brink and Van Heun the day turned into a major disappointment. The organisation reports that the pair came to a standstill with technical problems and lost a lot of time; nothing has yet been disclosed about the exact cause. They did reach the finish and ended up 26th. In doing so they lost over 1 hour and 38 minutes to Al-Wahaibi, with whom they are fighting for the Challenger title. In the battle for the overall World Cup title, too, they now trail Barreto and Baud by a wide margin.
Luc Dumore rode a solid day on his Husqvarna FR 450. He finished as the fifteenth bike rider, 1 hour, 5 minutes and 20 seconds behind Dąbrowski, including two minutes of penalties, keeping the likes of Ola Floene, Rafic Eid and Abdullah Abu Aisheh behind him.
Final day through the dunes of Sealine
Saturday brings the closing stage with 204.79 special-stage kilometres through the south of Qatar, including a passage through the demanding dunes of the Sealine region in the south-east. A neutralisation splits the stage into sections of 88.79 and 115.42 kilometres. According to the organisation, the first bike starts at 07:10 local time (05:10 Dutch time), the first car at 09:30 (07:30 Dutch time).
Stage 1 result
Bikes (top 5 and Dutch riders)
- 1st Konrad Dąbrowski (POL), KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica, 03:43:19
- 2nd Alex McInnes (GBR), KTM 450 RFR, 03:48:36
- 3rd Romain Dumontier (FRA), KTM 450 Rally Factory, 03:55:25
- 4th Toni Mulec (SLO), KTM 450 Rally Replica, 03:56:41
- 5th Ethan Lane (GBR), KTM 450 Rally, 04:08:49
- 15th Luc Dumore (NED), Husqvarna FR 450, 04:48:39
Quads (top 3)
- 1st Khalifa Al-Bastaki (UAE), Yamaha YFZ450R, 04:38:57
- 2nd Ahmed Al-Jaber (KSA), Yamaha Raptor, 04:43:03
- 3rd Hani Al-Noumesi (KSA), Yamaha 700, 04:51:19
Cars (top 5 and Dutch crews)
- 1st Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Max Delfino (FRA), Optimus MD Rallye, 03:05:15.3
- 2nd Francisco Barreto (POR) / Paulo Fiúza (POR), Toyota Hilux IMT Evo, 03:11:30.6
- 3rd Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT) / Oriol Mena (ESP), Can-Am Maverick R, 03:27:05.9
- 4th Aliyyah Koloc (UAE) / Marcin Pasek (POL), Red-Lined Revo GTR, 03:36:05.1
- 5th Khalifa Al-Attiya (QAT) / Stéphane Duplé (FRA), Taurus T3 Max, 03:37:41.7
- 26th Mitchel van den Brink (NED) / Bart van Heun (NED), Can-Am Maverick R, 05:19:30.3
