UAE’s Balooshi bags second FIM Bajas World Cup, Attiyah seals victory in cars

There was glory for local riders on the final day of action in the Dubai International Baja as the 2023 off-road rallying season came to a spectacular conclusion on Sunday.

UAE’s motorcycling star Mohammed Al Balooshi won the ENOC leg two and with it a second FIM Bajas World Cup title with an emphatic 10m37.3s victory over Abdulla Alshatti with Jean Loup Lepan of France just 50 seconds further back in third.

With series leader David Megre of Portugal in fifth, it meant Balooshi was crowned World Cup Champion for the second time after a stunning success on home soil.

Results remained provisional late into the evening as the stewards deliberated over a protest which was ultimately withdrawn. It was a victory for fair play and sportsmanship as, to everyone’s satisfaction, the 2023 title was ultimately decided on the sand out in the desert.

In the cars, Nasser Al Attiyah secured his second success in the event in its current Baja format, from ENOC leg two winner Yazeed Al Rajhi.

The motorcycles were first in action on the ENOC leg two of the Dubai International Baja which covered a total of 337km, with 169km of a very technical Special Stage in the challenging dunes to test the crews.

Balooshi led the riders into action carrying a 1m50s lead into the final day of the seasons. Despite the disadvantage of being first on the road and having to navigate a path through the dunes, Balooshi was at home in every sense on the challenging terrain and roared to victory on the ENOC leg two by 3m43s from Briton Alex McInnes with Loup Lepan third.

For a second day in a row, series leader David Megre struggled on the unforgiving dunes and, while there was tension during refuelling in the desert, Balooshi was always in control and ultimately arrived back in Dubai Festival City with a comfortable margin to replicate his 2018 victories in both event and world series.

As the final results were scrutinized by the FIM Jury it began to emerge that Megre’s eventual fifth place was not enough for him to retain the championship lead and Balooshi can celebrate a second career title by the scant margin of two points.

Balooshi was understandably thrilled to secure victory and world title honours at his home event: “Today was the last day of the last round and the last stage of the World Cup Championship and I’m really happy to finish it on a high note. We had a few situations with the timings and the FIA granted me my time back. I’m really happy to win the World Cup in my country and winning the Dubai International Baja is really the icing on the cake.

“Since 2018 I’ve been really trying to recapture this moment again and every time I fell short. I couldn’t be more happy to win it finally in my home country.”

There was further glory for local riders in the the Quads where overnight leader Abdulaziz Ahli rubber stamped his authority over Kevin Giroud to secure back-to-back successes on his home event.

Giroud’s second place just over 4 minutes behind Ahli was enough for the Frenchman to take the world title.

The car season concluded with Yazeed Al Rajhi winning the second leg from overnight leader Attiyah by 2m16.3s. That was enough for Attiyah to take the overall victory, his 12th success in the history of the event, with 2 victories since the beginning of the Bajas era and 10 previous victories under rally format, reinforcing his authority over the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Bajas.

Initially it seemed that Seth Quintero, the young star who took over Attiyah’s Toyota Overdrive seat after the latter’s move to Prodrive Hunter, might vie for honours but mechanical issues put paid to his chances on the final day.

That promoted outstanding Argentinian Juan Cruz Yacopini who produced a fast and controlled performance to finish on the podium on his first visit to Dubai International Baja.

It’s a second Dubai International Baja victory for Attiyah and in total a 12th victory in Dubai including his success in the Dubai International Rally from which the current event can trace its lineage.

Speaking after his latest success Attiyah said: “It was a really great run. We won the last race and the World Cup and we are so happy.”