· Al-Balooshi moves ahead of Eid and Horlemann in motorcycle category
· Challenger, SSV and Stock leads for Al-Attiyah, Bakhashab and Al-Rabban
AQABA (JORDAN): Overdrive Racing’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi and German co-driver Timo Gottschalk romped into a lead of 6min 16.3sec over team-mates Martin Kaczmarski and Armand Monleón after the first stage of the 6th Jordan Baja through Wadi Rum on Friday.
MX Ride Dubai’s Mohammed Al-Balooshi (Husqvarna) got the better of Lebanese team-mate Rafic Eid (GasGas) in the day’s motorcycle stage to take a lead of 2min 25.1sec into the overnight halt in Aqaba. Saudi Arabia’s Hani Al-Noumesi remains on track for a fistful of points in the quad category.
The timed section of 294.03km was split into two parts for the cars and all 25 entrants made the start. With this season’s new start order regulations in play after Thursday’s Prologue, Juan Cruz Yacopini was forced to open the road with Miroslav Zapletal and Al-Rajhi trailing in his wake.
The Saudi was in fine form, passed both his rivals and began to close in on the leading bikes midway through the first section of the special with Yacopini running close behind. The duo romped into the distance with Al-Rajhi winning the opening part of the stage by 5min 34sec.
Kaczmarski won the second section but Al-Rajhi held on to confirm his overnight advantage. Al-Rajhi said: “It was not an easy day for us. It was the first time in my life that Timo and I forget the helmet in the service but (Hamza) Bakhashab and his co-driver help us and gave us a helmet five minutes before the start. Everything went well. We see what we need to do tomorrow.”
Kaczmarski added: “For me, it is not easy to come back after a few years. The stage was really tricky and stony in places. The car is really fast. I love it. The landscape here is simply awesome.”
Yacopini and his co-driver Dani Oliveras guided their Overdrive Racing Toyota into third and finished the day 1min 43.2sec ahead of the flying Qatari Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah, the overnight leader of the Challenger category with co-driver Bruno Jacomy in a QMMF Team Taurus T3 Max. Al-Attiyah also led the FIA Middle East Baja Cup contenders.
Yacopini said: “Very happy to finish day one. We really enjoyed the stage. It is similar in some ways to Argentina, really spectacular and very challenging. The plan now is to push Yazeed because anything can happen. He is a very good driver so it will be tough.”
The QMMF Team’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Oriol Mena were fifth and second in Challenger and Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal held sixth with his navigator Marek Sykora in a self-built Ford F-150 Evo.
Defending champion Khalid Al-Jafla (Taurus) was well-placed in seventh, Hamza Bakhashab (Can-Am) was the class of the SSV field in eighth and Polaris SSV rival Paul Severn and Sergei Remennik (Taurus) rounded off the top 10. Qatar’s Abdullah Al-Rabban (Nissan) led the way in the Stock category.
Aleksei Shmotov, Mansour Al-Helai and Amerigo Ventura lost time with mechanical issues and FIA Middle East Baja Cup leader Dania Akeel’s Toyota sustained suspension and steering damage after an impact in a ditch.
After a slight delay because of wind causing dust and safety issues, Jason Joplin was handed road-opening duties for the motorcycles, but the Briton was quickly caught by the chasing pack and Eid, Al-Balooshi and Philip Horlemann soon began to edge away.
The trio pulled further clear as the route passed close to the frontier with Saudi Arabia and then Eid and Al-Balooshi began to lose Horlemann. Hamdan Al-Ali stopped early in the stage and Thomas Cross also suffered hefty time losses.
Al-Balooshi held on to claim the stage win from Eid and is well-placed to push for a fifth victory on the event on Saturday.
The Emirati said: “I started fifth and within 35 or 40km I was opening the road. I was on my own with the road book, minor mistakes. I kept on going. The problem was the cars. We had a delayed start this morning. But they didn’t have a delayed start. The cars have more top speed. This part was not nice but I won the stage, I got to open and now I need to focus on bringing the trophy back home tomorrow.”
Horlemann was a distant third on his KTM. The German said: “It was such a great day. The weather was perfect, the landscape is beautiful and we finished well. I could have sped up a bit more but I focused more on the navigation.”
Thomas Childs (KTM) and local rider Abdullah Abu Aisheh (GasGas) rounded off the top five riders on two wheels.
Younes Al-Katatzi and Sakher Al-Khasasi were the early leaders of the Jordan National Baja in a Mitsubishi Pajero, while 26 crews were also taking part in the second running of the Wadi Al-Qamar Navigational Rally.
Tomorrow (Saturday), competitors tackle the final 189.92km stage through Wadi Rum before the return to Aqaba for the post-event press conference and prize giving formalities at the Arab Revolt Plaza.
The 2025 Jordan Baja is sponsored by Zain Jordan, Markazia Toyota, Bank of Jordan, Manaseer Oil and Gas, Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), Guarantee Travel Group, Budget Jordan, Hala and Bliss FM.
2025 Jordan Baja – Positions after SS1 (unofficial @15.10hrs):
Cars
1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 3hr 05min 16.1sec*
2. Martin Kaczmarski (POL)/Armand Monleón (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 3hr 11min 32.4sec
3. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 3hr 11min 48.8sec*
4. Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Bruno Jacomy (ARG) Taurus T3 Max 3hr 13min 32.0sec+
5. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Oriol Mena (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 3hr 15min 49.0sec+
6. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sýkora (SVK) Ford F-150 Evo 3hr 19min 30.8sec*
7. Khalid Al-Jafla (UAE)/Andrei Rudnitski (LTU) Taurus T3 Max 3hr 24min 16.5sec*
8. Hamza Bakhashab (KSA)/Marcin Pasek (POL) Can-Am Maverick R 3hr 30min 40.4sec+
9. Paul Severn (GBR)/Max Delfino (FRA) Polaris RZR Pro R Sport 3hr 33min 14.9sec*
10. Sergei Remennik (UAE)/Aleksei Ignatov (KGZ) Taurus T3 Max 3hr 34min 32.6sec*
11. Ahmed Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Augusto Sanz (ARG) Taurus T3 Max 3hr 37min 50.2sec+
12. Nouef Al-Sowaidi (QAT)/Aisvydas Paliukenas (LTU) Taurus T3 Max 3hr 46min 37.9sec+
13. Mohammed Al-Harqan (QAT)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Taurus T3 Max3hr 48min 21.7sec
14. Hamed Al-Wahaibi (OMN)/Ilka Minor (AUT) Can-Am Maverick R 4hr 15min 25.5sec*
15. Abdullah Al-Rabban (QAT)/Ali Al-Ajmi (UAE) Nissan Patrol 5hr 01min 38.5sec+
16. Francisco Barreto (POR)/Paulo Fiuza (POR) Taurus T3 Max 5hr 04min 10.2sec*
17. Mohammed Al-Atteya (QAT)/Dmytro Tsyro (UKR) Can-Am Maverick R 5hr 06min 11.5sec+
*denotes registered for the FIA World Baja Cup
+ denotes registered for the FIA Middle East Baja Cup
Bikes
1. Mohammed Al-Balooshi (UAE) Husqvarna RR450 4hr 37min 12.5sec
2. Rafic Eid (LEB) GasGas RX Rally Bike 4hr 39min 37.6sec
3. Philip Horlemann (GER) KTM 450 Rally Replic 4hr 54min 20.7sec
4. Thomas Childs (UAE) KTM 450 Rally 5hr 13min 42.3sec
5. Abdullah Abu Aisheh (JOR) GasGas 450 Rally 5hr 18min 02.9sec
6. Frederic Fontarosa (FRA) Kove 450 Rally 5hr 48min 09.1sec
7. Barry Howe (GBR) Husqvarna Factory Bike 5hr 48min 14.9sec
8. Sultan Al-Shanqiti (UAE) KTM 450 Rally Replica 5hr 55min 47.6sec
9. Jason Joslin (GBR) Husqvarna RX 450F 6hr 07min 06.3sec
10. Abdullah Al-Bataynah (JOR) Honda CRF 450R 6hr 22min 37.0sec
Quads
1. Hani Al-Noumesi (KSA) Yamaha YFM 700R 5hr 13min 14.6sec