LUSAIL (Qatar): The FIA World and Middle East Baja Cups and the FIM Bajas World Cup are hotting up in advance of the Qatar International Baja on October 28th-31st.
The Lusail-based event is the penultimate round of both the FIA World and Middle East Baja Cups and round five of the FIM Bajas World Cup.
Before FIA World Baja Cup competitors descend upon the State of Qatar to tackle one of the most challenging events in the cross-country calendar, they will visit Portugal to compete in the Baja de Portalegre 500 on October 15th-17th. The Qatar event will be the next round of both the FIA Middle East Baja Cup and the FIM series for motorcycles and quads.
South Africa’s Saood Variawa is the current leader of the Drivers’ Championship and the Ultimate category in the FIA World Baja Cup. The Toyota Gazoo Racing SA driver won the Jordan Baja outright and has scored 232 points from four events so far. Six scores from a possible eight count towards the championship.
In a series with an emphasis on class-based results also counting towards the Drivers’ and Navigators’ Championships, Emirati Mansour Al-Helai leads the SSV section in an R-X Sport Can-Am and trails Variawa by just 20 points, with former regional champion Dania Akeel holding third, just two points further adrift in her Overdrive Racing Toyota. R-X Sport has a comfortable lead in the Teams’ Championship.
