Jordan Motorsport has announced a record entry for the Aqaba-based Jordan Baja, round two of both the FIA World and Middle East Baja Cups, taking place on April 10th-12th.  

The three-day event utilises a stunning desert route through the world-renowned Wadi Rum. It has switched from a mid-November date to mid-April this year and has attracted an impressive 33-car entry.

Eleven crews are chasing points in the FIA World Baja Cup and 14 of the remaining 22 are registered for the four-round FIA Middle East Baja Cup. Seven crews will compete in the Ultimate category, 10 in Challenger, 12 in SSV and four in the Stock section for series production cross-country machines.

Dakar Rally winner Al-Rajhi leads the title race

Victory at the opening round of the FIA World Baja Cup in his native Saudi Arabia has seen the reigning Dakar Rally winner Yazeed Al-Rajhi edge into a 16-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship before his first attempt at the Jordan Baja.

The Riyadh driver again teams up with German co-driver Timo Gottschalk, as the duo aim to defend their championship leads from Overdrive Racing team-mates Juan Cruz Yacopini and Dani Oliveras in the second of four Toyota Hiluxes on the entry list. Yacopini and Oliveras are currently second in the overall championship and the Ultimate category.

UAE-based Sergei Remennik and his co-driver Aleksei Ignatov hold third in the respective Drivers’ and Co-drivers’ Championships. Remennik also tops the standings in the Challenger category and holds a 15-point cushion over last year’s Jordan Baja winner Khalid Al-Jafla in a class dominated by Taurus T3 Max machines. Aleksei Shmotev is third in the points’ standings.

Argentina’s Diego Martinez returns to action with the South Racing Can-Am Team after missing the opening round but an ongoing recovery from back surgery means his team-mate Fernando Alvarez remains on the sidelines. Veteran Omani rally driver Hamed Al-Wahaibi teams up with Austrian WRC co-driver Ilka Minor to make a first appearance at the event in an R-X Sport Can-Am.

In the absence of Dutch veteran Erik van Loon, who leads both the new Master Driver section and the SSV class, the Saudi duo of Abdullah Al-Haydan (Can-Am) and Maha Al-Hameli (Can-Am) and Great Britain’s Paul Severn (Polaris) have the opportunity to leap into title contention in the SSV section. Majed Al-Thunayyan (Nissan) will be unchallenged in the Stock category.

Dania Akeel looks to defend FIA Middle East Baja Cup lead

Saudi Arabian driver Dania Akeel is the defending FIA Middle East Baja Cup champion and began the defence of that title by claiming maximum points at the opening round in Ha’il.

She drives an Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux and will be aiming to defend her five-point advantage over Qatar’s Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah (Taurus T3 Max). Akeel’s navigator Stéphane Duplé has a five-point lead over Dmytro Tsyro in the Co-drivers’ Championship.

The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) has entered five Taurus machines for Al-Attiyah, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, Ahmed Al-Kuwari, Nouef Al-Sowaidi and Mohammed Al-Harqan and all five drivers are chasing FIA Middle East Baja Cup points. Ahmed Al-Kuwari is currently tied for third in the Drivers’ Championship with Saudi Arabia’s leading Junior driver Hamza Bakhashab.

Al-Attiyah, meanwhile, aims to defend a 20-point cushion over Ahmed Al-Kuwari in the Challenger section, while Bakhashab will arrive in the Red Sea port city of Aqaba with a lead of 14 points in the SSV category. Qatar’s Mohammed Al-Atteya and the Saudi duo of Abdullah Al-Shegawi and Ibrahim Al-Muhanna will be hoping to close the gap on the youngster in the points’ standings.

Qatar’s Abdullah Al-Rabban (Nissan) faces competition from fellow countryman Mohammed Al-Meer in the Stock section and is also the current leader of the Master Driver category in the FIA Middle East Baja Cup.

A short 5.2km Prologue, near Aqaba, on Thursday (April 10th) will determine the starting order but will not count towards the general classification.

The action then switches to the stunning desert region of Wadi Rum, its spectacular red rock formations and eerie moonscapes for the opening day’s action on Friday, April 11th. 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.

Day two action centres around one stage of 185.30km before the podium, prize giving and post-event press conference take centre stage at the historic Arab Revolt Plaza in Aqaba. In a compact route of 761.35km, 524.63km will be timed against the clock.

2025 Jordan Baja – entry list:

Ultimate:

200. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU)                                 Toyota Hilux Overdrive*

201. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP)                              Toyota Hilux Overdrive*

202. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sýkora (SVK)                                                     Ford F-150 Evo*

203. Dania Akeel (KSA)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA)                                         Toyota Hilux Overdrive+

204. Martin Kaczmarski (POL)/Armand Monleón (ESP)                          Toyota Hilux Overdrive

205. Nasser Al-Ajmi (KWT)/Arunas Gelazninkas (LTU)                            Nissan Patrol+

206. Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh (KSA)/Omar Al-Lahim (KSA)                            Nissan Patrol+

Challenger:

300. Ahmed Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Augusto Sanz (ARG)                                  Taurus T3 Max+

301. Sergei Remennik (UAE)/Aleksei Ignatov (KGZ)                                 Taurus T3 Max*

302. Khalid Al-Jafla (UAE)/Andrei Rudnitski (LTU)                                                     Taurus T3 Max*

303. Alexsei Shmotev (UAE)/Yaroslav Fedorov (KGZ)                              Taurus T3 Max*

304. Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Bruno Jacomy (ARG)                      Taurus T3 Max+

305. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Oriol Mena (ESP)                                                     Taurus T3 Max+

306. Francisco Barreto (POR)/Paulo Fiuza (POR)                                      Taurus T3 Max

307. Hamad Al-Harbi (KSA)/Aleksei Kuzmich (UKR)                                 Can-Am Maverick X3

308. Nouef Al-Sowaidi (QAT)/Aisvydas Paliukenas (LTU)                       Taurus T3 Max+

309. Mohammed Al-Harqan (QAT)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL)        Taurus T3 Max+

SSV:

400. Maha Al-Hameli (KSA)/Michael Metge (FRA)                                                    Can-Am Maverick R*

401. Diego Martinez (ARG)/Sergio Lafuente (URY)                                  Can-Am Maverick R*              

402. Paul Severn (GBR)/Max Delfino (FRA)                                               Polaris RZR Pro R Sport

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

404. Hamza Bakhashab (KSA)/Marcin Pasek (POL)                                  Can-Am Maverick R+

405. Abdullah Al-Haydan (KSA)/Bader Al-Ajmi (KSA)                               Can-Am Maverick R*

406. Hamed Al-Wahaibi (OMN)/Ilka Minor (AUT)                                                     Can-Am Maverick R*

407. Mohammed Al-Atteya (QAT)/Dmytro Tsyro (UKR)                         Can-Am Maverick R+

408. Abdullah Al-Shegawi (KSA)/Raed Al-Assaf (KSA)                             Can-Am Maverick X3+

409. Mansour Al-Helai (UAE)/Khaled Al-Kendi (UAE)                              Can-Am Maverick R*

410. Ibrahim Al-Muhanna (KSA)/Faisal Al-Suwayh (KSA)                        Can-Am Maverick R+

411. Nora Al-Jassasi (UAE)/Jeannete Kvick (DEN)                                    Can-Am Maverick R                 

Stock:

500. Majed Al-Thunayyan (KSA)/Fahad Al-Sufyani (KSA)                        Nissan Patrol*

501. Fahad Al-Muaywid (KSA)/Khaled Al-Marshood (KSA)                    Nissan Patrol

502. Abdullah Al-Rabban (QAT)/Ali Al-Ajmi (UAE)                                                     Nissan Patrol+

503. 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

FIA World Baja Cup – positions after round 1:

Overall

1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)                                                                                 86pts

2. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)                                                                          70pts

3. Sergei Remmenik (UAE)                                                                            63pts

4. Erik van Loon (NLD)                                                                                    58pts

5. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)                                                                              51pts

6. Abdullah Al-Haydan (KSA)                                                                         49pts

7. Majed Al-Thunayyan (KSA)                                                                       49pts

8. Khalid Al-Jafla (UAE)                                                                                   48pts

9. Aleksei Shmotev (UAE)                                                                              47pts

10. Paul Severn (GBR)                                                                                     46pts

FIA Middle East Baja Cup – positions after round 1:

Overall

1. Dania Akeel (KSA)                                                                                       84pts

2. Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)                                                                  79pts

3. Ahmed Al-Kuwari (QAT)                                                                            59pts

3. Hamza Bakhashab (KSA)                                                                            59pts

5. Saleh Al-Saif (KSA)                                                                                      51pts

6. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KUW)                                                                          45pts

6. Abdullah Al-Rabban (QAT)                                                                        45pts

8. Abdulaziz Al-Yaeesh (KSA)                                                                         41pts

9. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)                                                                        36pts

10. Nasser Al-Ajmi (KUW)                                                                              35pts                                                            

Timetable of events

Wednesday, April 9

Administration checks, Rally HQ                                          16.00hrs-22.00hrs

Scrutineering checks, Aqaba Service Park                        17.00hrs-23.00hrs

Thursday, April 10

Prologue – 5.2km, Aqaba                                                        14.30hrs

Pre-event press conference, Arab Revolt Plaza             16.30hrs

Ceremonial start, Arab Revolt Plaza                                                     17.15hrs

Friday, April 11

SS1A Rum – 200.60km                                                             08.30hrs (first car)

SS1B Rum – 133.53km                                                             12.05hrs (first car approx.)

Saturday, April 12

SS2 Disi – 185.30km                                                                  09.10hrs (first car)

Podium and prize giving, Arab Revolt Plaza                    17.30hrs

Post-event press conference, Arab Revolt Plaza           18.00hrs