LUSAIL (Qatar): The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) has put the finishing touches to this weekend’s Qatar International Baja and competitors have now set up their equipment in the expansive Baja service park, adjacent to the Lusail International Circuit, north of Doha.
Forty-three cars, 54 motorcycles and four quads are expected to tackle the penultimate rounds of the FIA World and Middle East Baja Cups and the FIM Bajas World Cup.
Rally officials have also made minor tweaks to the route in the days building up to the event. The Prologue to determine the starting order for the first stage will now run for 10.59km on Thursday afternoon.
This precedes a slightly revised opening stage of 220.31km on Friday and the final run through the dunes of southern Qatar on Saturday that has been slightly lengthened to 234.19km.
Five-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah proved last December that it is possible to beat the Ultimate category cars and take an outright victory in a round of the FIA World Baja Cup (he and Pablo Moreno won the Dubai round in a Taurus T3 Max) in a Challenger class machine.
