UAE’s Balooshi bags record fourth World Cup title

Dubai International Baja 2025 concluded with the spectacular 270km Zayed and Rashid Stage 3 in Al Qudra Desert where the stars of FIA and FIM Baja World Cup rally completed their season.

Celebrating a record fourth FIM World Cup Bajas title is UAE star Mohammed Al Balooshi who has cruised through the three days of action in Hatta and Al Qudra to secure a landmark success and reaffirm his status as the motorcycle king of the dunes.

The most successful Emirati in FIM Bajas World Cup history, Balooshi finished third on this ninth edition of his home Baja behind a terrific tussle for event glory between day two leader Alex McInnes of Britain and Poland’s defending Dubai champion Konrad Dabrowski.

For Balooshi, the main goal of the weekend was a strong points finish to ensure that he secured his fourth World Cup title, his third in succession. He adopted a no-risk strategy on the final day in contrast to the top two for whom there was no title interest and he still reached the podium while adopting a conservative approach.

“I took it super easy as the leading two were pushing to the limit,” he said. “I was like, okay, today (the goal) is to finish. I couldn’t afford to ride their pace, and hats off to Alex and Konrad. They did an amazing job.

“Third seems good with the situation I was in. I think yesterday I lost a lot of time. That was what encouraged me a little bit today not to take any unnecessary chances. And the bigger picture was to win the World Cup which I did in this this is the icing on the cake at the end of the season. So I’ll take third, and we can celebrate the World Cup today.”

McInnes carried a 2m55s lead into the final day but 2024 winner Dabrowski is at ease like no other on the unique dunes in Dubai and he overturned his deficit and added another half a minute to take overall victory by the narrow margin of 34 seconds.

There was further local cause for celebration as another Emirati Abdulaziz Ahli secured another comfortable Dubai International Baja victory in the Quads despite facing mechanical maladies, which threatened to force his retirement.

Ahli had to give best to Marcin Wilkolek on the final stage but the local man still had plenty in hand to take overall victory by more than 15 minutes.

Titles were up for grabs in various categories among the FIA and FIM competitors but Juan Cruz Yacopini knew that his overall victory in the FIA World Baja Cup was all but assured before he arrived in Dubai and the Argentinian driver engaged in a fascinating battle for event honours with Californian Seth Quintero throughout the three days of action.

Quintero looked to be in control on day two but sustained a five-minute penalty speeding penalty applied after the stage which handed a 1m12s lead to Yacopini starting the third and final stage.

Ultimately it was Yacopini who prevailed. Despite a late scare when his transmission began to fail within a kilomtre of the finish, the champion elect and co-driver by Dani Oliveras gave up just six seconds of his advantage to Quintero to take his first victory in Dubai International Baja by 1m05.9s and end a glorious season on a high.

This was Yacopini’s fifth win from six starts in the series this year, a breakthrough season for the Toyota Hilux crew and a conclusion to the season which will send them into the short winter break on the crest of a wave.

Quintero was left rueing the road penalty collected on day two and he was not even the fastest on the final day. That honour fell to his Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Toby Price, the former motorcycle star and navigator Armand Monleon breaking the timing beam at the end just six seconds faster than Quintero and his co-driver Andrew Short.

Price and Short finished third overall, the first three all using Toyota Hilux equipment and separated by just three minutes after three arduous days of competition.

Also celebrating after securing the FIA Middle East Baja Cup is Saudi driver Dania Akeel. Partnered by Frenchman Sebastien Delaunay, Akeel rose one place to finish sixth overall and take the championship victory after leading her three title rivals throughout the final event.

The Zayed and Rashid Stage 3 started and finished in front of enthusiastic crowd at the Al Marmoom spectator area on the edge of the Al Qudra Desert with similar challenging terrain to that faced by the crews on day two.