Dania Akeel has taken victory in the Italian Baja prologue. The Saudi driver and navigator Sébastien Delaunay completed the 13.97-kilometre prologue in just 9:53.60, making them the fastest in both the Ultimate class and the overall standings. For the duo in the Toyota Hilux Overdrive Evo, it was their first-ever prologue victory, earning the first championship points of the weekend.
The best result among the Dutch competitors came from Mitchel van den Brink. The Harskamp driver brought his Can-Am Maverick R from the Challenger class to second in the overall standings, just 3.7 seconds behind Akeel and ahead of a whole row of heavier T1+ cars.
Akeel leads the Ultimate field
In the Ultimate class, the top four positions were filled by competitors entered for the World Baja Cup. Behind Akeel, Saood Variawa and Charan Moore took second at 15.4 seconds, followed by Portuguese driver Francisco Barreto with Paulo Fiúza at 19.2 seconds. Lionel and Lucie Baud completed the top four in their X-Raid Mini. João Ramos, fifth in the Ultimate class, was the best representative of the European Baja Cup.
SSV: the narrowest margins
The production SSV class produced the tightest times. Briton Sean Haran was fastest in his Polaris RZR Pro R, 5.4 seconds ahead of Mansour Al-Helei from the United Arab Emirates. Murat Kapanoğlu and Portuguese driver Paulo Rodrigues followed in third and fourth, with Hedda Hosås in fifth.
Van den Brink dominates in Challenger
In the Challenger group, Mitchel van den Brink and Bart van Heun were in a class of their own. The duo finished more than 23 seconds clear of Hamed Al-Wahaibi, who races under the flag of Dutch team Daklapack Rallysport and leads the Challenger standings in the World Baja Cup alongside Polish navigator Maciej Giemza. Al-Wahaibi set the fifth fastest time in the overall standings.
Just behind him, a second Dutch driver made his presence felt. Paul Spierings and Mark Salomons drove their Taurus to third in the Challenger class and sixth overall. To avoid the dust from the car ahead, the duo opted for fifth starting position on Saturday. Erik van Loon and Wouter Rosegaar had a measured opening day, bringing their Can-Am Maverick R to sixth in the SSV group and twentieth in the overall standings.
Saturday brings the real work
The prologue determined the starting order for Saturday’s two stages, which together cover more than 320 kilometres. Akeel gets to open the road on a clean track. Only then will it become clear whether Van den Brink can carry his prologue pace over the full distance against the more powerful Ultimate cars.
