Overdrive Racing’s Juan Cruz Yacopini and Dani Oliveras took full advantage of the last stage retirement of their team-mates Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk to claim a vital victory at the Aqaba-based Jordan Baja, round two of both the FIA World and Middle East Baja Cups.

The narrow win was the first for the Argentine in the FIA World Baja Cup and gives him the early-season advantage in the championship.

He said: “I am really happy to finish this race. It was a tough one and I enjoy a lot. It was my first time and, for sure, I will come again. We had a good pace on the last stage. The road book was good but quite hard, so Dani had to see a lot of tracks and we had to be really focused. We both made a good job. I am proud of my team and of myself to win my first World Cup event.”

Al-Rajhi had been in full control of the event for two days and was coasting to the finish to pick up his first win in the Hashemite Kingdom when his Toyota hit a sand depression at speed and both he and Gottschalk stopped immediately with back pain. They were both airlifted out of the stage for a medical examination and were both fully conscious and in a stable condition en route, with the Dakar champion insisting from his treatment room that he would be back in time for the next round…Medical tests later revealed fractured vertebrae for both crew members.

Two flat tyres on the final stage and another two on day one cost Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah the chance to claim victory in the Challenger category and a potential shock overall victory. The Qatari and his navigator Bruno Jacomy came home in third place but the time lost opened the door for his QMMF Team colleagues, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Oriol Mena, to storm through and snatch second overall and the Challenger win. Al-Kuwari missed out on overall victory by just 11 seconds but picked up maximum points in the FIA Middle East Baja Cup.

Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari said: “I always seem to have good days in Jordan. This is my favourite country for rallying. We won the Challenger and we finished second. It was a very good event for us but the navigation was difficult We were lost in a lot of places. The co-drivers are amazing. If I got paid one million Euros, I would never be a good co-driver. I just try to drive.”

The final 25-car start list saw 13 teams registered for the FIA World Baja Cup and 10 of the remaining 12 entering the FIA Middle East Baja Cup. Six teams were entered in the Ultimate category, nine in Challenger, seven in SSV and three in the Stock section for series production cross-country machines.

Seasoned Czech campaigner Miroslav Zapletal teamed up with Slovakian navigator Marek Sýkora to take fourth place and points for second in the Ultimate section of the FIA World Baja Cup. He was also the leading Master driver in his Ford F-150 Evo.

Saudi Arabia’s Hamza Bakhashab (Can-Am) moved up three places on the final day to take fifth and also earned victory in the SSV category with his Polish navigator Marcin Pasek. The leading Junior driver said: “It was very tough in terms of driving and navigation. I thank Marcin for his amazing job. We had a lot of moments with navigation, sideways and flying but no punctures and we finished. Thanks to Jordan for this amazing event with beautiful landscapes and stages.”

UAE-based Sergei Remennik and his co-driver Aleksei Ignatov boosted their title aspirations with a solid sixth overall in a Nasser Racing Team Taurus T3 and were the third registered crew at the finish in the FIA World Baja Cup. The rival Polaris crew of Paul Severn and Max Delfino finished seventh and second in the SSV section.

Qatar’s Ahmed Al-Kuwari sustained two punctures on stage one but set the overall fastest time on the last Wadi Rum stage to take eighth overall, despite a 15-minute time penalty for a missed waypoint that cost him three places on the leaderboard. He remains on the coat tails of Al-Attiyah, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Dania Akeel in the fight for the regional cup.

Al-Kuwari’s Qatari team-mates Nouef Al-Sowaidi and Mohammed Al-Harqan rounded off the leading 10 finishers and gave the QMMF Team five positions inside the top 10. Khalid Al-Jafla (Taurus) had won last year’s Jordan Baja and he finished 11th and well clear of the 12th-placed Portuguese driver Francisco Barreto (Taurus).

Veteran Omani rally driver Hamed Al-Wahaibi incurred a 15-minute missed for missing a waypoint on day one and also went off the road, rolled, made some repairs and continued. He and his Austrian navigator Ilka Minor enjoyed their return to the sport after a lay-off and finished 14th in the R-X Sport Can-Am behind the Nasser Racing Team’s Mohammed Al-Atteya.

Qatar’s Abdullah Al-Rabban dominated the Stock section from start-to-finish and increased his lead over fellow countryman Mohammed Al-Meer in the showroom section of the FIA Middle East Baja Cup. Saudi rival Majed Al-Thunayyan finished second and earned maximum Stock points in the FIA World Baja Cup.

Yamaha driver Amerigo Ventura sustained two punctures and had electrical issues on stage one but recovered strongly to finish 16th and third in the SSV section of the FIA World Baja Cup. Maha Al-Hameli (Can-Am) reached the end just behind the Italian after her own fair share of delays on day one.

Overdrive Racing’s Dania Akeel is the defending FIA Middle East Baja Cup champion but the Saudi blotted her copybook in the first part of stage one when she strayed off course, hit a big hole and her Overdrive Racing Hilux suffered suspension damage and she incurred a fistful of penalties. Along with her navigator Stéphane Duplé, the Saudi fought back strongly to finish 20th but lost ground on her rivals in the regional cup. 

Liwa Team Can-Am driver Mansour Al-Helai ruined his chance of success on stage one. The Emirati ran out of fuel after 160km and was towed to the refuelling truck for 50km in the dust by Nasser Al-Ajmi. He also lost the brakes for the remainder of the stage but set a top 10 stage time on the final day to finish 21st and fifth in SSV in the FIA World Baja Cup.

Ultimate category entrant Al-Ajmi rolled his Nissan Patrol on the Prologue but was able to continue and then he also incurred massive penalties for failing to finish stage one. He managed to finish 23rd and second in the regional cup’s Ultimate category.

The Saudi duo of Abdullah Al-Shegawi and Ibrahim Al-Muhanna were non-starters and a freak bike accident resulted in two broken ribs and forced Argentina’s Diego Martinez to miss the event.

The 2025 FIA World Baja Cup continues with Baja Greece on May 29th-June 1st.

2025 Jordan Baja – results:

1. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                           5hr 23min 13.3sec*

2. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Oriol Mena (ESP) Taurus T3 Max                                               5hr 23min 24.3sec+

3. Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Bruno Jacomy (ARG) Taurus T3 Max                                                    5hr 30min 38.7sec+

4. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sýkora (SVK) Ford F-150 Evo                                               5hr 30min 56.0sec*

5. Hamza Bakhashab (KSA)/Marcin Pasek (POL) Can-Am Maverick R                                     5hr 44min 30.6sec+

6. Sergei Remennik (UAE)/Aleksei Ignatov (KGZ) Taurus T3 Max                                             5hr 52min 34.6sec*

7. Paul Severn (GBR)/Max Delfino (FRA) Polaris RZR Pro R Sport                                             5hr 57min 37.8sec*

8. Ahmed Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Augusto Sanz (ARG) Taurus T3 Max                                              5hr 58min 41.6sec+

9. Nouef Al-Sowaidi (QAT)/Aisvydas Paliukenas (LTU) Taurus T3 Max                                                     5hr 59min 27.6sec+

10. Mohammed Al-Harqan (QAT)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Taurus T3 Max                                   6hr 02min 54.3sec

11. Khalid Al-Jafla (UAE)/Andrei Rudnitski (LTU) Taurus T3 Max                                              6hr 08min 57.1sec*

12. Francisco Barreto (POR)/Paulo Fiuza (POR) Taurus T3 Max                                                7hr 21min 53.2sec*

13. Mohammed Al-Atteya (QAT)/Dmytro Tsyro (UKR) Can-Am Maverick R                          7hr 32min 09.9sec+

14. Hamed Al-Wahaibi (OMN)/Ilka Minor (AUT) Can-Am Maverick R                                     7hr 40min 23.1sec*

15. Abdullah Al-Rabban (QAT)/Ali Al-Ajmi (UAE) Nissan Patrol                                                7hr 57min 02.0sec+

16. Amerigo Ventura (ITA)/Erika Mingozzi (ITA) Yamaha YXZ 1000R                                      8hr 39min 40.0sec*

17. Maha Al-Hameli (KSA)/Michael Metge (FRA) Can-Am Maverick R                                                     8hr 41min 22.9sec*

18. Majed Al-Thunayyan (KSA)/Fahad Al-Sufyani (KSA) Nissan Patrol                                    8hr 54min 01.9sec*

19. Mohammed Al-Meer (QAT)/Ali Hassan Obaid (UAE) Nissan Patrol                                                    10hr 21min 23.9sec+

20. Dania Akeel (KSA)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                                                     18hr 12min 05.2sec+

21. Mansour Al-Helai (UAE)/Khaled Al-Kendi (UAE) Can-Am Maverick R                               18hr 12min 28.1sec*

22. Alexsei Shmotev (UAE)/Yaroslav Fedorov (KGZ) Taurus T3 Max                                       18hr 17min 05.9sec*

23. Nasser Al-Ajmi (KWT)/Arunas Gelazninkas (LTU) Nissan Patrol                                         19hr 02min 47.3sec+

Martin Kaczmarski (POL)/Armand Monleón (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                            RETIRED - SS2

Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                                                    RETIRED - SS2*

*denotes registered for the FIA World Baja Cup

+ denotes registered for the FIA Middle East Baja Cup