Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mohammed Al-Marri on top in Challenger and SSV
Published: 07 Nov 2025 - 07:36 pm | Last Updated: 07 Nov 2025 - 07:52 pm
Defending champion Denis Krotov holds the lead after day one of the Qatar International Baja.
Lusail, Qatar: Denis Krotov and the rampant Polish rider Konrad Dabrowski moved into the outright lead in the car and motorcycle categories after the opening 220.31km stage of the Qatar International Baja through the northern and extreme western deserts of the country on Friday.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah led the Challenger category after day one in Qatar.
A time penalty cost Martin Prokop and navigator Viktor Chytka the fastest time on Thursday’s Prologue but the Czech duo took full advantage of their starting position to win the car stage in the latest version of the Ford Raptor they will use at the Dakar Rally in January.
But lightning struck twice for the former WRC star and he incurred a further 2min 21sec in penalties for a jump start and an additional one minute for failing to stop in a neutralisation. He duly lost the outright lead to the X-raid Mini JCW Team duo of Krotov and his navigator Konstantin Zhiltsov. Last year’s winners in Qatar held a virtual advantage through the early kilometres and now lead overnight by 2min 42.4sec.
Martin Prokop guided his Ford Raptor to second in the car category.
FIA World Baja Cup leader Juan Cruz Yacopini and his Spanish navigator Dani Oliveras were third in their Toyota Hilux. Danial Akeel did her FIA Middle East Baja championship ambitions the world of good by rounding off the top four in her Toyota.
Yacopini said: “We made a pretty nice stage. Dani did a good job. I think we can push a little bit more if we feel more comfortable with the rear of the car.”
Despite losing time near the stage start, Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah pushed hard for the remainder of the stage to move into fifth and top the Challenger category standings from the QMMF Team’s sixth-placed Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari. Tenth-placed Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah lost around 13 minutes to his rivals after a time-consuming stoppage with a puncture and suspension issues.
“It was a good day for us,” said Al-Kuwari. “We were the fastest of the Challenger Middle East and second behind Nasser. We saw Khalifa (Al-Attiyah) stop in the stage. We were behind him and he’s my rival in the championship. Not easy for navigation but we achieved the mission today.”
Frenchman Ronan Chabot delivered a strong performance to hold seventh in the second of the Overdrive cars and Akeel’s regional title rival Miroslav Zapletal was eighth in his Ford F-150 Evo. Despite incurring some penalties, Emirati Khalid Al-Jafla held 15th and boosted his ambitions of securing the FIA World Cup Baja Challenger title by staying over a minute ahead of main rival Sergei Remennik.
Young Mohammed Al-Marri grabbed the early advantage in the SSV class, the Qatari finishing less than half a minute ahead of runaway FIA World Baja Cup category leader Mitchel van den Brink. Mattias Ekström. Mohammed Al-Attiyah and Paul Severn were in close attendance but Oman’s Hamed Al-Wahaibi was forced to retire his Can-Am after sustaining three flat tyres.
Qatar’s Abdullah Al-Rabban held a lead of over 22 minutes over Saudi rival Majed Al-Thunayyan in the Stock category for series production cross-country machines in his Nissan Patrol.
Konrad Dabrowski
Dabrowski was the class of the bike field from the outset. The KTM rider started 10th on the road, overtook all his rivals and finished the stage 20min 13.6sec in front of Germany’s Philip Horlemann. British Husqvarna rider Alex McInnes moved up to second overall with Horlemann in third.
The triumphant Pole said: “Like, 17km to the finish I did 15km too much. Apart from that I had a really smooth ride. Ten kilometres after the start, I think a rock hit my rear brake. It damaged the screw and I didn’t have the rear brake for the whole stage. It was eventful but I am happy with my performance.
“Navigation was different to previous years. They didn’t put too many entrance caps. There were only exit caps. That made it difficult if you didn’t choose the right road you were lost. Now I need to stay good on the navigation. If I don’t make any mistakes, I am too far ahead for anyone to reach me. I need to stay good on the navigation.”
Alex McInnes crosses the Qatar desert on the way to a strong result on Friday.
MX Ride Dubai’s Mohammed Al-Balooshi completed the stage in fourth with Makis Rees-Stavros and Robbie Wallace rounding off the top six.
Al-Balooshi said: “It was really difficult navigation. I had some problems with the GPS. It was not secure and fell four times before the refuel, so I kept stopping to put it back and it fell off again. After the refuel, I was running second for a bit and then made a big mistake with the navigation and got lost big time. The guys behind were able to catch us when we found the route. They didn’t get lost.”
A broken brake caliper over the closing kilometres dropped Australia’s Andrew Houlihan down to 14th. Al-Balooshi’s closest FIM World Bajas Cup title rival Rafic Eid struggled all day with the navigation and the rocks and held 15th.
Emirati Abdulaziz Al-Ahli managed to pull away from Saudi racer Hani-Noumesi as the stage progressed to lead the quad category by around 28 minutes. Qatar’s Yaghoob Azadi and Abdulaziz Al-Atawi were unable to complete the day’s route.
Friday – as it happened
Road opening duties in the motorcycle category went to Harith Noah, Rafic Eid and Simon Marcic with FIM series leader Al-Balooshi and fellow two-time champion Dabrowski setting out from eighth and 10th on the road.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah took on the challenge of opening the road in the FIA category from Martin Prokop, Lionel Baud, Denis Krotov and Eugenio Amos. Prologue winner Al-Kuwari started in 12th. The stage started in the north of the country and then headed down the northwest and western coastline through varied and challenging desert terrain.
Dabrowski was the class of the bike field through the opening timed sections with Al-Balooshi trailing in his wake as his closest rival after Robert Wallace slipped back following a strong start. Ehab Al-Hakeem suffered injector issues on his Yamaha after just two kilometres and Sultan Al-Shanqiti dropped a lot of time.
Dabrowski passed Noah before the third checkpoint at 90.69km and was then joined by a small group of riders for part of the stage before pulling away again to comfortable seal the win and extend his lead in the bike standings to 21min 20sec. Irishman Oran O’Kelly retired with a broken wheel and returned to Lusail by truck. Slawomir Sypien also retired with shoulder pain.
Mexican rider Leoncio Sosa pulls a wheelie in the desert in Qatar.
Prokop managed to pass Al-Attiyah and was opening the road before the first checkpoint at 31.08km after the Qatari stopped for around four minutes. The early pace in the car category had an Eastern European feel to it with defending champion Krotov leading the way from Prokop and Miroslav Zapletal.
Prokop had gained the virtual stage lead from Krotov at the 90.69km checkpoint and both Yacopini and Al-Kuwari had passed Zapletal before 60km. By 90.69km, Dania Akeel had made her way up to fifth and Can-Am’s Mattias Ekström was leading the SSV entrants from Mitchel van den Brink.
Navigational mistakes took their toll on several crews over the closing kilometres, although Prokop held on to secure the stage win from Krotov and Yacopini with Akeel and Al-Attiyah rounding off the top five. The time penalties then dropped Prokop behind the Mini driver into second.
Tomorrow (Saturday), the second stage runs for 234.19km and is split into five timed sections by a series of neutralisations. It takes in some of the most spectacular terrain in southern Qatar, including a series of stunning dunes near the Inland Sea.
2025 Qatar International Baja – Positions after SS1 (unofficial @16.00hrs):
Cars (top 20 only)
1. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (KGZ) Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0i 2hr 07min 43.1sec
2. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Viktor Chytka (CZE) Ford Raptor 2hr 10min 25.5sec
3. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Dani Oliveras (ESP) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 2hr 10min 31.6sec*
4. Dania Akeel (KSA)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Toyota Hilux 2hr 16min 18.7sec+
5. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL) Taurus T3 Max 2hr 16min 21.1sec
6. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA) Taurus T3 Max 2hr 17min 43.1sec+
7. Ronan Chabot (FRA)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Toyota Hilux 2hr 24min 32.8sec
8. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sykora (SVK) Ford F-150 Evo 2hr 26min 30.9sec*
9. Francisco Barreto (POR)/Paulo Fiuza (POR) Taurus T3 Max 2hr 29min 01.6sec*
10. Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Bruno Jacomy (ARG) Taurus T3 Max 2hr 29min 29.0sec+
11. Mohammed Al-Marri (QAT)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Can-Am Maverick R 2hr 30min 10.4sec
12. Khalid Al-Feraihi (KSA)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 2hr 30min 22.5sec
13. Mitchel van den Brink (NED)/Bart van Heun (NED) Can-Am Maverick R 2hr 30min 36.3sec*
14. Nouef Al-Suwaidi (QAT)/Aisvydas Paliukenas (LTU) Taurus T3 Max 2hr 31min 02.1sec+
15. Khalid Al-Jafla (UAE)/Andrei Rudnitski (LTU) Taurus T3 Max 2hr 31min 02.7sec*
16. Sergei Remennik (UAE)/Aleksei Ignatov (KGZ) Taurus T3 Max 2hr 32min 19.3sec*
17. Mattias Ekström (SWE)/Emil Bergkvist (SWE) Can-Am Maverick R 2hr 32min 46.2sec
18. Mohammed Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Aleksei Kuzmich (UAE) Can-Am Maverick R 2hr 35min 34.6sec+
19. Paul Severn (GBR)/Delphine Denfino (FRA) Polaris RZR Pro R Sport 2hr 36min 16.7sec*
20. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA) Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0D 2hr 38min 27.5sec
*denotes registered for the FIA World Baja Cup
+ denotes registered for the FIA Middle East Baja Cup
Bikes (Top 20 only)
1. Konrad Dabrowski (POL) KTM 450 Rally 3hr 13min 36.7sec
2. Alex McInnes (GBR) Husqvarna Rally Replica 3hr 34min 56.7sec
3. Philip Horlemann (GER) KTM Rally Replica 450 3hr 35min 37.6sec
4. Mohammed Al-Balooshi (UAE) KTM 450 RR 3hr 39min 42.1sec
5. Makis Rees-Stavros (GBR) KTM EXC 450 3hr 39min 44.3sec
6. Robbie Wallace (GBR) Honda CRF 450R 3hr 42min 08.4sec
7. Leoncio Sosa (MEX) KTM 350 ECX 3hr 44min 28.2sec
8. Michael Anderson (POR) KTM Rally Replica 3hr 46min 07.1sec
9. Jean Loup Lepan (FRA) KTM 450 Rally 3hr 47min 40.0sec
10. Hans Christian Dovland (NOR) Husqvarna FR450 3hr 47min 43.4sec
11. Peter Solnor (NOR) Kove Rally 450 EX 3hr 49min 51.2sec
12. Simon Marcic (SLO) Kove Rally EX 3hr 57min 24.6sec
13. Luc Dumore (NED) Husqvarna FE450 3hr 59min 38.1sec
14. Andrew Houlihan (AUS) Husqvarna FR450 Rally 4hr 04min 37.1sec
15. Rafic Eid (LBN) KTM 450 Rally 4hr 04min 58.1sec
16. Michal Janaszek (POL) GasGas EC 350F 4hr 09min 32.2sec
17. Harith Noah (IND) Sherco 450 SEF 4hr 17min 40.1sec
18. Justin Gerlach (GER) KTM 450 FR Replica 4hr 18min 06.7sec
19. Badr Al-Hamdan (KSA) Kove EX 450 4hr 22min 08.4sec
20. Christophe Beraud (MEX) Beta 430 RR 4hr 22min 53.5sec
Quads
1. Abdulaziz Ahli (UAE) Yamaha Raptor 700R 4hr 00min 52.2sec
2. Hani Al-Noumesi (KSA) Yamaha Raptor 4hr 28min 50.2sec
3. Abdulaziz Al-Atawi (KSA) Yamaha Raptor 700 8hr 00min 00.0sec
4. Yaghoob Azadi (QAT) Yamaha Raptor 700R 8hr 00min 00.0sec
