The Dubai International Baja is the final round of the FIA World and Middle East Baja Cups and will decide the outcome of several of the racing categories and the overall driver and co-driver champions in both series on November 28th-December 1st.

The eighth edition of the event has attracted a field of 43 cars with nine registered in the Ultimate category, 17 in Challenger, 14 in SSV, three in Stock. There are also an additional six vehicles running to 2025 technical regulations and permitted to race In an Experimental category, but they are not eligible for the general classification.

Twelve crews will be competing for FIA World Baja Cup points and 16 will be challenging for points towards the FIA Middle East Baja Cup.

The event is being held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, and is running in tandem with the UAE’s National Day celebrations. It is being supported by official automotive partner Al-Futtaim Toyota, energy partner ENOC and the strategic collaboration of the Dubai Government, including the Dubai Police, RTA and Dubai Municipality.

The Portuguese pairing of João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro arrive in the UAE with a nine-point cushion over the South Racing Can-Am Team’s Fernando Alvarez and Xavier Panseri in the quest to win the Driver and Co-driver Championships in the FIA Baja World Cup. Alvarez and his navigator have already secured the SSV titles.

Ferreira has entered the Baja in an X-Raid Mini JCW Rally Plus in a bid to secure both the outright championship and success in the Ultimate category. Miroslav Zapletal trails the Portuguese by nine points in his Ford F-150, although Marek Sykora’s absence from the last round in Jordan through illness means that Ferreira’s co-driver Palmeiro has already won the Ultimate Co-drivers’ title.

The Challenger category will see a tied Eduardo Pons and Khalid Al-Jafla starting the last event of the year on 187 points with South Racing Can-Am rival Diego Martinez 25 points behind in third and ready to pounce if the two Taurus T3 Max drivers hit trouble in the Al-Qudra desert. Al-Jafla won the last round in Jordan and will be on home ground in the UAE against his main Spanish rival. Al-Jafla’s co-driver Andrei Rudnitski holds a 25-point lead over Martinez’s partner Sergio Lafuente in the quest to be the top Challenger co-driver.

Ferreira drove for Santag Racing at the last two rounds in Qatar and Jordan and his then team-mates João Dias and Gonçalo Reis could have a crucial say in the destiny of the FIA World Baja Cup. The points system is class-orientated and they will be up against Alvarez and Panseri in the SSV category in a Can-Am, with a plan to try and take points off the Spaniard over the weekend. Italian Amerigo Ventura (Yamaha) and Saudi Ibrahim Al-Muhanna (Can-Am) are also chasing SSV points. Ventura and his co-driver Erika Mingozzi are already guaranteed the runner-up spots behind Alvarez and Panseri.

The Overdrive Racing duo of Ronan Chabot and Juan Cruz Yacopini are also registered for the FIA World Cup Baja in their Toyotas, as is Qatar International Baja winner Denis Krotov in his petrol-engined Mini JCW Rally. Top results for the trio could well work against Ferreira in the Ultimate class and the overall title race.

Five-driver showdown in prospect for FIA Middle East Baja Cup honours

Five drivers and co-drivers can still mathematically win the FIA Middle East Baja Cup’s Driver and Co-driver Championships. Qatar’s Ahmed Al-Kuwari arrives in Dubai with a two-point lead over Saudi rival Dania Akeel and a four-point cushion over Majed Al-Thunayyan. Fellow Saudis, Hamad Al-Harbi and Maha Al-Hameli, are also still in contention.

Al-Thunayyan’s co-driver Fahad Al-Sufyani leads Nasser Al-Kuwari by 20 points and Oriol Mena by 21 in the quest to become the top co-driver. Ahmed Al-Kuwari’s regular navigator Manuel Lucchese missed the last round in Jordan but holds fourth, ahead of Akeel’s navigator Stéphane Duplé.

In the absence of any rivals, Akeel and Duplé have already secured the regional Ultimate class titles for their performances in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but they could still become runners-up in the SSV section behind Ahmed Al-Kuwari. The Qatari drives the latest specification Yamaha YXZ 1000 R built by Quaddy Racing and his team heads into the Dubai showdown for the Teams’ title with a 21-point lead over Qatar’s QMMF team.

The QMMF team has entered three Taurus T3 Max machines for Rashid Al-Muhannadi, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah. They will be aiming for Challenger category success in the UAE, although the destiny of the overall Challenger title looks set to be a straight fight between Hamad Al-Harbi and Maha Al-Hameli. The Saudis are separated by just four points. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari’s co-driving brother Nasser leads Oriol Mena by a point in the race to be the top Challenger co-driver.

Five-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah has also entered the event in a Taurus T3 Max running under the Nasser Racing banner, the team that is looking after Eduardo Pons’s Taurus. Al-Attiyah again teams up with Pablo Moreno but is not registered for either of the FIA Baja championships.

Three Nissan Patrol crews are entered in the Stock section for series-production cross-country machines. Al-Thunayyan and Al-Sufyani are also chasing the overall Drivers’ and Co-drivers’ titles and have a 38-point lead over Qatar’s Abdullah Al-Rabban and his Emirati navigator Ali Hassan Obaid in the Stock rankings. Mohammed Al-Meer and Alexsey Mun crew the third car.

Toyota Gazoo Racing is using the event to shakedown the latest versions of the Toyota GR DKR Hilux that will be used from the start of 2025. Lucas Moraes and Seth Quintero were members of the team that won this year’s W2RC Manufacturers’ title but they won’t be eligible for the results classification.

Likewise, the South Racing Can-Am Team has entered three of the latest Can-Am Maverick Rs for Mattias Ekström, Erik van Loon and Sara Price. They will not be eligible for the FIA event either. R-X Sport’s Dubai-based Rashid Al-Ketbi will run a fourth new Can-Am himself.

This year’s Dubai International Baja is organised by the Emirates Motorsport Organisation and is based at the Dubai Festival City Mall. It features a compact three-day format with 394.32 competitive kilometres in a route of 867.30km through the Al-Qudra desert.

The event started out as the Dubai International Rally way back in 1979 and morphed into a Baja event in 2016. This year it is celebrating its 45th anniversary and will see a return to the Hatta region and the majestic Hajar mountains, an area that was used for graded special stages on numerous Dubai rallies of old.

After an exciting new 4.32-kilometre Prologue stage at stunning Hatta on Friday afternoon (November 29), the first selective section of 195.00km starts from Al-Marmoun and is split into two parts (65.00km and 130.00km) by a neutralisation zone and refuelling for Challenger and SSV vehicles. The 195.00km stage is repeated on Sunday (December 1).

2024 Dubai International Baja (entry list):

Ultimate:

200. João Ferreira (PRT)/Filipe Palmeiro (PRT)                                         Mini John Cooper Works Rally Plus*    

201. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Maciej Marton (POL)                                  Ford F-150 Evo*

202. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Dani Oliveras (ESP)                                 Toyota Hilux Overdrive*

203. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (ANA)                                Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0i*     

204. Motab Saud Al-Qnon (SAU)/Waleed Al-Shegawi (SAU)                                   Nissan Patrol+

205. Ronan Chabot (FRA)/Gilles Pillot (FRA)                                              Toyota Hilux Overdrive*

206. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA)                                                   Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0i

207. Vladas Jurkevicius (LTU)/Aisvydas Paliukenas (LTU)                       Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0i

208. Ahmed El-Shamy (ARE)/Hassan Ali Obaid (ARE)                              Fast & Speed 2WD

209. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Armand Monleón (ESP)                                                    Toyota GR DKR Hilux (EXP)

210. Seth Quintero (USA)/Dennis Zenz (DEU)                                           Toyota GR DKR Hilux (EXP)

Challenger:

300. Khalid Al-Jafla (ARE)/Andrei Rudnitski (LTU)                                                      Taurus T3 Max*     

301. Eduardo Pons (ESP)/Jaume Betriu (ESP)                                           Taurus T3 Max*      

302. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Pablo Moreno (ESP)                       Taurus T3 Max

303. Diego Martinez (ARG)/Sergio Lafuente (URY)                                  Can-Am Maverick X3*            

304. Hamad Al-Harbi (SAU)/Aleksei Kuzmich (ARE)                                 Can-Am Maverick X3+

305. Maha Al-Hameli (SAU)/Oriol Mena (ESP)                                          Can-Am Maverick X3+

306. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT)                       Taurus T3 Max+

307. Rashid Al-Muhannadi (QAT)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL)           Taurus T3 Max+

308. Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Enio Bozzano (BRA)                        Taurus T3 Max+

309. Michael van der Brink (NLD)/Bart van der Brink (NLD)                                   Can-Am Maverick X3+

310. Mansour Al-Helai (ARE)/Khalid Al-Kendi (ARE)                                Can-Am Maverick X3

311. Thomas Bell (ARE)/Patrick McMurren (ARE)                                    Taurus T3 Max

312. Jonathan Hart (ARE)/Ali Mirza (ARE)                                                  Can-Am Maverick X3

313. Vic Flip (AUT)/Gerhard Schmiedberger (AUT)                                  Can-Am Maverick X3

314. Mark Mustermann (AUT)/Michael Zajc (AUT)                                 Can-Am Maverick X3

315. Maria Gameiro (PRT)/José Marques (PRT)                                       Yamaha X-Raid 1000R Turbo

316. Robert Knight (AUS)/Chris Western (AUS)                                        Toyota Hilux UAE

317. Shukri Agouf (LBY)/Mustapha Ouahab (DZA)                                                     Can-Am Maverick X3

SSV:

400. Fernando Alvarez (ARG)/Xavier Panseri (FRA)                                 Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR*

401. Amerigo Ventura (ITA)/Erika Mingozzi (ITA)                                                      Yamaha YXZ 1000R*               

402. Ibrahim Al-Muhanna (SAU)/Faisal Al-Suwayh (SAU)                      Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR*

403. João Dias (PRT)/Gonçalo Reis (PRT)                                                   Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR*

404. Ahmed Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Manuel Lucchese (QAT)                           Yamaha YXZ 1000R Short Shift+

405. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA)                                        Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR+          

406. Moaz Hariri (SAU)/Kirill Shubin (KGZ)                                                Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR+

407. Atif Al-Zarouni (ARE)/Rawdah Al-Naqbi (ARE)                                 Yamaha YXZ 1000R+

408. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KWT)/Michael Metge (FRA)                              Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR+

409. Abdullah Al-Haydan (SAU)/Bader Al-Ajmi (KWT)                            Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR+

410. Heder Hosas (NOR)/Mohammed Al-Hameri (ARE)                         Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR

411. Hamed Salimi Mavi (IRN)/Kiarash Zare Rafie (IRN)                         Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR

412. Adam Kus (POL)/Dmytro Tsyro (UKR)                                                Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR

414. Mattias Ekström (SWE)/Wouter Rosegaar (NLD)                            Can-Am Maverick R (EXP)

415. Rashid Al-Ketbi (ARE)/Jennifer Lerch (DEU)                                      Can-Am Maverick R (EXP)

416. Sara Price (USA)/Sean Berriman (USA)                                              Can-Am Maverick R (EXP)

417. Erik van Loon (NLD)/Hein Verschuuren (NLD)                                  Can-Am Maverick R (EXP)

Stock:

500. Majed Al-Thunayyan (SAU)/Fahad Al-Sufyani (SAU)                      Nissan Patrol+

501. Abdullah Al-Rabban (QAT)/Ali Al-Ajmi (ARE)                                                      Nissan Patrol+

502. Mohammed Al-Meer (QAT)/Alexsey Mun (KAZ)                             Nissan Patrol+

*denotes registered for the FIA World Baja Cup

+ denotes registered for the FIA Middle East Baja Cup

Timetable of events

Thursday, November 28

Administration checks, Service Park, Festival City Mall               07.30-12.30hrs

Scrutineering checks, Toyota, Al-Badia Service Centre                                  08.30-14.30hrs

Pre-event press conference                                                                    17.00hrs

Friday, November 29

Prologue (4.32km), Hatta                                                                         14.35hrs (first competitor)

Ceremonial start, Dubai Festival Bay                                                    19.30hrs

Saturday, November 30

SS1 Al-Marmoun-Al Qudra Desert (195.00km)                                09.56hrs (first car)

Sunday, December 1

SS2 Al-Marmoun-Al-Qudra Desert (195.00km)                               08.56hrs (first car)

Post=event interviews, TBA                                                                     18.30hrs

Podium ceremony and prize giving, TBA                                           19.00hrs