LUSAIL (Qatar): Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Polish rider Konrad Dabrowski topped the times in the car and motorcycle categories on the afternoon’s Prologue stage before the 2025 Qatar International Baja was officially flagged away at the ‘Way to the World Cup’ landmark on Doha Corniche on Thursday evening.
Forty-three cars, 53 motorcycles and four quads graced the official start lists for the penultimate rounds of the FIA World and Middle East Cups and the FIM Bajas World Cup.
While the afternoon’s Prologue to the north-west of Lusail sorted the starting order for Friday’s opening desert stage, the highlight of the day was the ceremonial start at the ‘Way to the World Cup’ landmark with the stunning backdrop of Doha’s spectacular hi-rise West Bay skyline.
Cars were flagged away by Abdulrahman Al-Mannai, President of the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF), in the presence of distinguished guests and senior officials from both the FIA and FIM.
Czech duo of Martin Prokop and Viktor Chytka were initially fastest in the FIA category with a run of 6min 46.0sec. That enabled the Ford Raptor driver to win the Prologue by just four-tenths of a second from last year’s event winners Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov (X-Raid Mini). But both drivers were later handed time penalties that dropped them down to 18th and sixth positions, respectively.
