staddoha.com
Kuwait’s Mohammed Jaffar Meshari, Saudi Arabia’s Haitham Al-Tuwaijri and Qatar’s Ahmed Al-Kuwari led the motorcycle, quad and SSV categories after the opening super special stage of the Qatar International Baja at Semaisma on Thursday afternoon.
The fifth round of the FIM Bajas World Cup officially got underway at the new Al-Bayt stadium in Al-Khor, before 32 bikes, four quads and four SSVs tackled the 7.68km opening stage. Logistical issues forced Jordan’s front-running rider Abdullah Abuaisheh to miss the start of the event.
Six of those 32 motorcycles were in the over-450cc category that will not score FIM Baja points. There was also a separate Qatar National Baja section for competitors running behind the FIM event.
MX Ride Dubai’s Mohammed Al-Balooshi slotted into second place in the motorcycle class behind the leading Kuwaiti and British youngster Robert Wallace was third and topped the Juniors section.
Kuwait’s Sarah Khuraibet led the FIM Women’s category, although she was beaten by both Patsy Quick and Vanessa Ruck on their over-450cc bikes. Mozambique’s Paulo Oliveira led the Veterans Trophy on his Husqvarna CRF450 RX.
Ahmed Al-Kuwari teamed up with Nasser Al-Kuwari to lead the SSV section by 21 seconds in a Yamaha YXZ 1000R. Khalid Al-Mohannadi made a late co-driver change that saw French navigator Sebastien Delaunay replaced by Chris Barwick. The Qatari held second in the category with Lebanon’s Henry Kahy in third place.
Eight competitors attended the pre-event press conference shortly before the official start ceremony got underway.
Qatar’s Sheikh Mohammed Al-Thani, Khalid Al-Mohannadi, Abdullah Al-Khelaifi and Ahmed Al-Kuwari were joined by British rider Patsy Quick, Emirati Mohammed Al-Balooshi, Kuwait’s Sarah Khuraibet and Saudi Arabia’s quad front-runner Haitham Al-Tuwaijri.
Friday
Competitors will tackle a selective section of 249.12km through the north and central Qatar deserts on Friday. There will be four passage controls at the 124.66km, 146.87km, 161.82km and 177.72km points with a refuelling zone at PC1.
The leading five competitors from the super special stage will start stage two in reverse order from the classification. The remainder will start in their stage finishing order, while the SSVs will start in their stage finishing order.