DOHA: The third round of Qatar Baja will be held today and tomorrow, the Qatar Motor and Motorcycling Federation (QMMF) announced yesterday.
“We are looking forward to this week’s round. We are very excited at this point in time,” QMMF President Abdulrahman Al Mannai said.
“We have planned a series of activities right throughout the season, like we always do. We shall give more details in the coming days,” Al Mannai said.
This week’s Qatar Baja will have 11 entries, it was announced yesterday. The closing date for entries was yesterday. Administrative checks will be carried out today besides the all-important scrutineering process.
The pre-event briefing will also take place today, Al Mannai said. The ceremonial start will be held tomorrow at 8:00am with the official start scheduled at 9:30am. The race results will be announced around 5:30pm.
“It’s going to be a busy season. Next month we will have the hugely popular Manateq Qatar International Rally. That will host the big names in motor racing. We will special activities during that week,” QMMF President said.
QMMF President praised Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah’s fightback at last week’s Rally of Morocco.
Al Attiyah, Qatar’s two-time Dakar Rally champion, stayed clear of problems through the final stage to claim his fifth successive victory in the gruelling Rally of Morocco on Tuesday.
A demanding six-day event that ran with a new organising team under the leadership of former Dakar organiser and navigator David Castera featured 1,362 kilometres of tricky navigation, dunes, rocky terrain, river bed crossings and everything that the team needed to shake down its fleet of Toyota Hiluxes before January’s Peruvian challenge.
The success in Morocco marked a hat-trick of wins for Al Attiyah with the Toyota.
“The best news was the way he fought hard in trying conditions,” Al Mannai said. “He’s had a tough time recently but we know he doesn’t give up,” he added.
QMMF President Abdulrahman Al Mannai.
“His team and car have been working really well for him. I think he is getting good preparation for the Manateq Qatar International Rally and eventually the Dakar Rally next year.
“It will be challenging for him in Kuwait but he loves a challenge. We know that. But Morocco was tricky all the way. It was sandy dunes and I am glad to see his fightback. Splendid stuff,” Al Mannai said.
Al Mannai said Adel Abdulla’s, Qatar’s big hope in T2 class in this year’s championship, has been a revelation in 2018.
Adel, driving a Nissan Patrol Y62 as part of the QX Rally Team with French navigator Jean-Michel Polato, finished the event in third place behind the Russian driver Andrey Titov.
After the tough fight in Morocco, the ace Qatari driver had the consolation of finishing as runner-up in this year’s T2 World Championship after a campaign that was marred on more than one occasion by cruel luck.
“Adel had a great fight despite the setbacks in Morocco. He did not give up until the end. The great achievement is that he drove three different cars this season. It is just unbelievable,” Al Mannai said.
“Hopefully he will come back strong next season,” the QMMF chief said.
Al Mannai said he will be attending the FIA and FIM General Assembly meetings in Russia in December.
“It will be a busy time for me and QMMF team. We will be meeting the stakeholders in the world of motor racing.
“I will be there to meet the Asian FIM officials as well,” Al Mannai said.
