The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan returns to the FIA Baja calendar after a one-year absence when Jordan Motorsport hosts the three-day Aqaba-based Jordan Baja on November 14th-16th. 

A late influx of entries has increased the field for the event to 20 cars, with two registered in the Ultimate section, eight competing in the Challenger group, seven in SSV and three in the Stock category for series production cross-country machines. Nine crews are chasing FIA World Baja Cup points and 11 are targeting the FIA Middle East Baja Cup. 

Alvarez and Ferreira to go head-to-head in Wadi Rum 

Argentina-based Spaniard Fernando Alvarez and his French navigator Xavier Panseri head to the Red Sea city in southern Jordan with a slender five-point cushion in the Drivers’ and Co-drivers’ Championships over the Portuguese pairing of João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro. Ferreira is putting his lead in the Ultimate category at risk by tackling the second event in two weeks with a Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR entered in the SSV class, as he tries to hunt down Alvarez over the last two rounds in Jordan and Dubai.

While Alvarez is virtually certain to confirm the SSV title in Jordan, Ferreira’s lead of 49 points in the Ultimate category is in serious jeopardy from Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal. The Ford F-150 driver is one of two entrants in the Ultimate class and maximum points across the stunning Martian-type landscapes of Wadi Rum would set-up the prospect of a grand stand finish to the series in Dubai. 

Top seed Zapletal’s co-driver Marek Sýkora said: “We are looking forward to Baja Jordan. It’s a unique and interesting country. There are lots of rocks but the colour of the land almost resembles Mars with the red sands. It’s truly amazing. I first went there in 2022 and I was staring, feeling like I was on Mars!”

As far as the overall Drivers’ Championship is concerned, Spaniard Eduardo Pons and Emirati Khalid Al-Jafla still have a mathematical chance of snatching victory but, for that to happen, the two Taurus T3 Max drivers would need both Alvarez and Ferreira to slip up badly. 

Pons and Jafla are more concerned with what is developing into a thrilling tussle for supremacy in the Challenger category. The Spaniard leads Al-Jafla by just seven points heading to Jordan and the South Racing Can-Am Team’s Diego Martinez is only 18 points adrift and still firmly in contention for the title. Al-Jafla’s co-driver Andrei Rudnitski leads Martinez’s navigator Sergio Lafuente by 11 points in the Challenger Co-drivers’ Championship.

Barring a mathematical miracle, Alvarez and Panseri will be assured of the SSV titles in Jordan. Miguel Toril is not making the trip to the Middle East and the South Racing Can-Am driver leads third-placed Quaddy Racing Yamaha driver Amerigo Ventura by 80 points. The Italian’s navigator Erika Mingozzi is 81 points behind Panseri in the Co-drivers’ Championship.

Santag Racing’s João Dias is also making the trip in a two-car team with Ferreira. The Portuguese pair finished second and third overall in Qatar two weeks ago. Saudi Arabia’s Ibrahim Al-Muhanna completes the line-up.

With Overdrive Racing not making the trip to Jordan, the South Racing Can-Am Team has an unassailable 135-point cushion in the Teams’ Championship.

Ahmed Al-Kuwari to defend slender FIA Middle East Baja Cup lead

Eleven drivers will be chasing points towards the four-round FIA Middle East Baja Cup. Saudi Arabian driver Dania Akeel claimed maximum points for finishing fifth at the recent Qatar International Baja and that enabled her to close to within seven points of Quaddy Racing’s Ahmed Al-Kuwari in the overall standings.

The Saudi will team up with Sébastian Delaunay in Jordan but has replaced her Overdrive Racing Toyota for a Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR entered in the SSV category for the Jordan Baja. Al-Kuwari has also made the changes and Argentina’s Augusto Sanz will partner the Qatari in his Yamaha.

The outcome of the FIA Middle East Baja Cup is wide open with two events remaining in Jordan and Dubai. Stock category leader Majed Al-Thunayyan is third in the standings, a mere point behind Akeel, and the Saudi duo of Maha Al-Hamali and Hamad Al-Harbi are within striking distance of the top three. 

Neither of the front-running co-drivers, Manuel Lucchese and Stéphane Duplé, are making the trip to Jordan and that could well open the door for Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari’s navigating brother Nasser to make a late challenge for the title. He is fourth in the points’ standings with Al-Thunayyan’s partner Fahad Al-Sufyani also firmly in contention. 

The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) has entered three Taurus T3 Max machines for Al-Kuwari, five-time Dakar winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah’s brother Khalifa and Rashid Al-Muhannadi. All three are entered under the Nasser Racing banner and are registered for the FIA Middle East Baja Cup.

Quaddy Racing takes a 50-point cushion over the QMMF Team into the weekend’s action in the Teams’ Championship, while Can-Am drivers Al-Hamali and Al-Harbi are separated by just three points in the Challenger category. Al-Kuwari leads Al-Hamali’s navigator Oriol Mena by three points in the Co-drivers’ standings. 

Nasser Al-Kuwari said: “I have competed here twice. It’s a very unique landscape with challenging navigation in some areas. It is similar terrain to Tabuk and northern Saudi Arabia and it’s the best preparation for Dakar.”

Neither Abdullah Al-Khelaifi nor Moaaz Hariri have entered the Jordan Baja and that leaves the door firmly open for Ahmed Al-Kuwari to seal the FIA Middle East SSV title with one round to spare. His only rival in southern Jordan will be Dania Akeel in her Can-Am. 

Al-Thunayyan and Al-Sufyani take 33-point leads over Qatar’s Abdullah Al-Rabban and Emirati Ali Hassan Obaid into the penultimate round in the Stock section for series production cross-country machines. Mohammed Al-Meer of Qatar drives a third Nissan Patrol. 

A short three-kilometre Prologue at South Beach in Aqaba on Thursday (November 14) will determine the starting order but will not count towards the general classification. 

The action then switches to the legendary Wadi Rum, its spectacular red rock formations and eerie moonscapes for the opening day’s action on November 15. The day’s stage will be split into two sections of 200.60km and 133.53km before a return to Aqaba for the night halt. 

The second day’s action centres around one stage of 185.30km before the podium, prize giving and post-event press conference take centre stage at the Arab Revolt Plaza in Aqaba. In a compact route of 749.30km, 522.43km will be timed against the clock.