Although the FIA World Baja Cup doesn’t end until Dubai in two weeks, some titles were already locked up at the Qatar International Baja.

Juan Cruz Yacopini recorded a monster run in Stage 2 to pass Martin Prokop for the overall win. He would’ve earned max points anyway since Prokop isn’t registered for points, but the race victory also secured him the World Baja Cup title in Ultimate. Yacopini entered Qatar with a 22-point lead over Miroslav Zapletal, whose hopes of contending were dashed when he hit a hole in the ground that damaged his steering.

Even if Zapletal won the Dubai International Baja, it would not help him since he had already exhausted his six points-earning starts. Still, he has the inaugural World Baja Cup for Master Drivers (over 50) locked up.

The win is Yacopini’s first with SVR after departing Overdrive Racing in October, and his fourth in class of the season after Jordan, Italy, and Aragón.

Meanwhile, Mitchel van den Brink struggled after running out of fuel but still finished second in class among WBC drivers to clinch the SSV championship. Amerigo Ventura was 83 points behind and used up his points-eligible entries. Van den Brink still has an eligible start in Dubai since he didn’t run the first two races, meaning he can further cement his title.

“Not really a day to be proud of. We lost a lot of time because we ran out of fuel. Still, we’re happy,” said van den Brink. “We made it to the finish within the time limit and completed all the waypoints. The big goal has been achieved and that’s what mattered.

“After (Hamed) Al-Wahaibi’s retirement, we carefully ran the rally without risk. The overall victory in the World Championship was our goal. We’re very happy that we’re assured of the title. It was very difficult for the navigators during this rally; however, Bart (van Heun) has done a great job again.”

With their respective class trophies in hand, Yacopini and van den Brink will now duel for the overall World Baja Cup in Dubai. Yacopini has the upper hand as van den Brink was third behind Zapletal going into Qatar, and winning the QIB overall means he still holds the top spot by a comfortable but not rock solid margin.

Sergei Remennik was third in Challenger and first for WBC drivers to maintain his lead. Khalid Al-Jafla still has a chance despite a disastrous race but would need to be perfect and misfortune to strike Remennik in Dubai. Nasser Al-Attiyah scored his first Challenger win after deciding to drive one of his team’s Taurus T3 Maxes with Dacia’s season already over.

Behind Yacopini and Zapletal, Dania Akeel was third overall and won the race for Middle East Baja Cup drivers. Nasser Al-Ajmi’s retirement assures Akeel of the MEBC Ultimate championship, and she also leapfrogged Khalifa Al-Attiyah for the outright title with one race to go.

In the FIM Bajas World Cup, Konrad Dąbrowski’s race began with him hitting a rock ten kilometers into Stage 1 then deviating 15 km from the course with 17 km until the stage finish. He wasn’t the only rider to get lost due to navigation error either. Justin Gerlach took advantage of multiple riders making similar mistakes in the early stretch to go from 30th into the top 20 before his trip meter went into standby during the refuel and didn’t turn back on automatically, throwing him off his rhythm before he got lost as well and missed a waypoint. Gerlach was able to salvage a third in the Junior Trophy by the end of the race.

Even with his gaffe, Dąbrowski still beat Philip Horlemann for the stage win by over 20 minutes. He then iced his third QIB win in four years (2022 and 2023) with another dominant run on Saturday. Jean-Loup Lepan finished third for bikes in his return to action after missing much of the year due to injuries he suffered at the 2024 Rallye du Maroc.

Mattias Ekström, another Ultimate regular like Nasser who dropped down to a UTV, had his race overshadowed by punctures before a mechanical knocked him out. While Ekström’s occasional SSV forays were mainly in his new EKS X3+, South Racing gave him a Can-Am Maverick R for Qatar.

Husband-and-wife duo Erik and Anja Van Loon had a tough going in their Mavericks. Before the race, Erik’s navigator Wouter Rosegaar was sidelined by a leg infection so van den Brink’s father Martin filled in. During Stage 1, a rock got lodged in Erik’s fan and pierced the radiator, causing it to leak, while Anja had two bolts suddenly break off her steering rack. Things seemed to get worse for Erik in Stage 2 as the fuel pump and Sentinel system both broke, a tire went down, and a water crossing caused the navigation tablet to glitch out; Anja also had fuel pump problems.

“Despite all the bad luck, we can still celebrate because Mitchel has won a championship in the FIA World Baja Cup,” Erik commented.

FIA

Ultimate

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	1	200	Juan Cruz Yacopini	Daniel Oliveiras	SVR	Toyota Hilux IMT EVO	T1+	4:50:30.6	Leader
2	2	205	Martin Prokop	Viktor Chytka	ORLEN Jipocar Team	Ford Raptor	T1+	4:53:02.6	+ 2:32.0
3	3	202	Dania Akeel	Sébastien Delaunay	Overdrive Racing	Toyota Hilux Overdrive	T1+	5:07:14.0	+ 16:43.4
4	5	201	Miroslav Zapletal	Marek Sýkora	Offroadsport	Ford F-150 EVO	T1+	5:32:00.4	+ 41:29.8
5	8	208	Lionel Baud	Lucie Baud	X-raid Mini JCW Team	Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0d	T1+	5:42:18.1	+ 51:47.5
6	10	209	Ronan Chabot	Xavier Panseri	Overdrive Racing	Toyota Hilux Overdrive	T1+	5:44:29.8	+ 53:59.2
7	12	204	Ahmed El-Shamy	Ali Obaid	Ahmed El-Shamy	Century CR6	T1.2	6:11:34.8	+ 1:21:04.2
DNF	DNF	203	Nasser Al-Ajmi	Nuno Sousa	Nasser Al-Ajmi	Nissan Patrol Safari	T1.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	206	Denis Krotov	Konstantin Zhiltsov	X-raid Mini JCW Team	Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0i	T1+	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	207	Khaled Al-Feraihi	Cándido Carrera	SVR	Toyota Hilux IMT EVO	T1+	DNF	N/A

Challenger

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	4	300	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Fabian Lurquin	Nasser Racing	Taurus T3 Max	5:12:59.3	Leader
2	6	308	Nouef Al-Sowaidi	Aisvydas Paliukėnas	QMMF Racing Team by Nasser Racing	Taurus T3 Max	5:33:36.7	+ 20:37.4
3	7	302	Sergei Remennik	Aleksei Ignatov	Nasser Racing	Taurus T3 Max	5:42:02.7	+ 29:03.4
4	11	305	Khalifa Al-Attiyah	Bruno Jacomy	QMMF Racing Team by Nasser Racing	Taurus T3 Max	5:53:24.8	+ 40:25/5
5	13	303	Alexey Shmotev	Yaroslav Fedorov	Nasser Racing	Taurus T3 Max	6:14:29.8	+ 1:01:30.5
6	16	311	David Mabbs	David McBride	David Mabbs	Can-Am Maverick X3	7:01:33.2	+ 1:48:33.9
7	31	301	Khalid Al-Jafla	Andrei Rudnitski	Al-Jafla Racing	Taurus T3 Max	14:45:54.6	+ 9:32:55.3
DNF	DNF	304	Francisco Barreto	Paulo Fiúza	Nasser Racing	Taurus T3 Max	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	306	Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari	Stéphane Duplé	QMMF Racing Team by Nasser Racing	Taurus T3 Max	DNF	N/A

SSV

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	9	413	Mohammed Al-Marri	Szymon Gospodarczyk	QMMF Racing Team	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:43:49.0	Leader
2	14	409	Maha Al-Hamali	Xavier Flick	South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	6:33:53.4	+ 50:04.4
3	15	401	Mitchel van den Brink	Bart van Heun	Eurol Rally Sport / South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	6:51:58.8	+ 1:08:09.5
4	17	415	Camelia Liparoti	Syndiely Wade	Apex Performance	Yamaha YXZ1000R Sport Shift	T4	7:07:41.1	+ 1:23:52.1
5	18	410	Dhari Al-Dhafeeri	Omar Al-Lahim	Dhari Al-Dhafeeri	Can-Am Mverick X3	T4	7:48:56.7	+ 2:05:07.7
6	19	408	Eugenio Amos	Paolo Ceci	South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	7:49:50.2	+ 2:06:01.2
7	20	404	Paul Severn	Max Delfino	Paul Severn	Polaris RZR Pro R Sport	T4	7:49:53.0	+ 2:06:04.0
8	21	419	Ibrahim Al-Muhna	Faisal Al-Suwayh	Al-Muhna Racers	Can-Am Mverick X3 XRS Turbo RR	T4	7:56:25.4	+ 2:12:36.4
9	22	405	Hamzah Bakhashab	Marcin Pasek	South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	8:00:56.2	+ 2:17:07.2
10	23	416	Erminio Nati	Jacopo Casini	Erminio Nati	Can-Am Mverick X3 XRS Turbo RR	T4	8:23:44.0	+ 2:39:55.0
11	26	417	Luigi Ricci	Stefano Tiraboschi	Luigi Ricci	Yamaha YXZ1000R Sport Shift	T4	10:32:01.2	+ 4:48:12.2
12	27	403	Hamed Al-Wahaibi	Ilka Minor	R-X Sport	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	11:20:20.4	+ 5:36:31.4
13	28	418	Anja Van Loon	Hein Verschuuren	Van Loon Racing / South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	12:11:27.2	+ 6:27:37.2
14	29	414	Christiano Gabbarrini	Alessandro Forni	Christiano Gabbarrini	Yamaha YXZ1000R Sport Shift	T4	12:33:34.9	+ 6:49:45.9
15	32	407	Erik Van Loon	Martin van den Brink	Van Loon Racing / South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	15:01:42.3	+ 9:17:53.3
16	33	402	Amerigo Ventura	Erika Mingozzi	Quaddy Racing	Yamaha YXZ1000R Sport Shift	T4	15:02:23.1	+ 9:18:34.1
DNF	DNF	400	Mattias Ekström	Emil Bergkvist	South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	406	Mohammed Al-Atteya	Alexey Kuzmich	QMMF Racing Team	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	411	Nora Al-Jassasi	Egor Okhotnikov	Nora Al-Jassasi	Can-Am Mverick X3 XRS Turbo RR	T4	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	412	Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi	Abdulaziz Al-Jabri	Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi	Yamaha YXZ1000R Sport Shift	T4	DNF	N/A

Stock

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	24	502	Abdulla Al-Rabban	Ali Ajami	Abdulla Al-Rabban	Nissan Patrol	9:05:31.0	Leader
2	25	501	Majed Al-Thunayy	Fahad Al-Sufyani	Torq Racing	Nissan Patrol	9:16:49.7	+ 11:18.7
3	30	503	Mohammed Almeer	Alexey Mun	Mohammed Almeer	Nissan Patrol	13:51:23.8	+ 4:45:52.8
DNF	DNF	500	Fernando Barreiros	José Sá Pires	Fernando Barreiros	Nissan Patrol	DNF	N/A

FIM

Bike

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	1	2	Konrad Dąbrowski	DUUST Rally Team	6:37:11.7	Leader
2	2	1	Mohammed Al-Balooshi	MX Ride Dubai	7:08:28.7	+ 31:17.0
3	3	24	Jean-Loup Lepan	DUUST Rally Team	7:18:30.8	+ 41:19.1
4	4	25	Makis Rees-Stavros	Makis Rees-Stavros	7:18:56.2	+ 41:44.5
5	5	5	Philip Horlemann	Philip Horlemann	7:24:10.5	+ 46:58.8
6	6	8	Michael Anderson	Michael Anderson	7:35:19.6	+ 58:07.9
7	7	21	Alex McInnes	Motozone Racing	7:42:47.5	+ 1:05:35.8
8	8	11	Harith Noah	Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team	7:43:43.4	+ 1:06:31.7
9	9	43	Peter Saxhaug Solnør	Peter Saxhaug Solnør	7:56:14.2	+ 1:19:02.5
10	10	42	Hans Kristian Dovland	Hans Kristian Dovland	7:57:01.8	+ 1:19:50.1
11	11	23	Simon Marčič	Simon Marčič	8:03:40.4	+ 1:26:28.7
12	13	3	Rafic Eid	MX Ride Dubai	8:06:07.1	+ 1:28:55.4
13	14	31	Justin Gerlach	JG Racing	8:17:31.6	+ 1:49:19.9
14	15	38	Andrew Houlihan	Andrew Houlihan	8:40:24.4	+ 2:03:12.7
15	16	14	Thomas Childs	Thomas Childs	8:42:44.5	+ 2:05:32.8
16	17	55	Badr Al-Hamdan	Badr Al-Hamdan	8:54:28.2	+ 2:17:16.5
17	18	32	Emanuele Gallone	Emanuele Gallone	8:56:25.9	+ 2:19:14.2
18	19	10	Abdallah Abuaisheh	Abdallah Abuaisheh	9:04:13.9	+ 2:27:02.2
19	20	52	Marcin Talaga	Marcin Talaga	9:06:41.2	+ 2:29:29.5
20	21	12	Mohammed Al-Kubaisi	Mohammed Al-Kubaisi	9:08:57.4	+ 2:31:45.7
21	22	41	Luc Dumore	Luc Dumore	9:19:27.8	+ 2:42:176.1
22	23	19	Joanna Modrzewska	DUUST Rally Team	9:20:01.6	+ 2:42:49.9
23	24	15	Jason Joslin	Jason Joslin	9:22:43.6	+ 2:45:31.9
24	25	28	Robbie Wallace	Robbie Wallace	9:26:50.1	+ 2:49:38.4
25	26	6	Abdulla Lanjawi	Abdulla Lanjawi	9:36:17.9	+ 2:59:06.2
26	28	18	Tony Schattat	Tony Schattat	9:46:11.0	+ 3:08:59.3
27	29	56	Jakov Jukić	Jakov Jukić	9:51:44.9	+ 3:14:33.2
28	30	50	Leoncio Reynoso Sosa	Leoncio Reynoso Sosa	10:01:22.0	+ 3:24:10.3
29	31	47	Roberto Mariscal	Roberto Mariscal	10:09:01.2	+ 3:31:49.5
30	32	4	Sultan Alshanqiti	DUUST Rally Team	10:19:30.9	+ 3:42:19.2
31	33	33	Jatin Jain	Jatin Jain	10:23:25.0	+ 3:46:13.3
32	34	35	Benjamin Harvey-Grounds	Benjamin Harvey-Grounds	10:40:38.9	+ 4:03:27.2
33	35	46	Ladislao Hernandez	Ladislao Hernandez	10:49:48.9	+ 4:12:37.2
34	36	37	Matthew Glade	Matthew Glade	11:09:57.7	+ 4:31:46.0
35	37	51	Tomasz Niedźwiedzki	Tomasz Niedźwiedzki	11:43:48.8	+ 5:06:37.1
36	38	9	Frederic Fontarosa	Frederic Fontarosa	11:55:12.9	+ 5:18:01.2
37	39	22	Oran O’Kelly	Oran O’Kelly	12:00:22.6	+ 5:23:10.9
38	40	58	Tla’at Al-Shishane	Tla’at Al-Shishane	12:23:09.2	+ 5:45:57.5
39	41	48	Mauricio Reynoso Sosa	Mauricio Reynoso Sosa	12:33:59.8	+ 5:56:48.1
NC	NC	26	Steven Holt	Steven Holt	NC	N/A
NC	NC	27	Stefan Mieczkowski	Stefan Mieczkowski	NC	N/A
NC	NC	29	Ehab Al-Hakeem	Ehab Al-Hakeem	NC	N/A
NC	NC	30	Sarah Khuraibet	Sarah Khuraibet	NC	N/A
NC	NC	39	Matthew Roach	Matthew Roach	NC	N/A
NC	NC	45	Christophe Beraud	Christophe Beraud	NC	N/A
DNF	DNF	20	Abdulrahman Al-Sheeb	Abdulrahman Al-Sheeb	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	36	Sławomir Sypien	DUUST Rally Team	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	40	Muhamed Pličaniċ	Omnia Racing	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	44	Erik Myrberget	Erik Myrberget	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	49	Fernando Beristain	Fernando Beristain	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	53	‪Michał Janaszek‬	‪Michał Janaszek‬	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	54	‪Norbert Świętochowski‬	DUUST Rally Team	DNF	N/A
DNS	DNS	57	Eyad Salmirza	Eyad Salmirza	DNS	N/A

Quad

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	12	102	Abdulaziz Ahli	Abdulaziz Ahli	8:04:21.1	Leader
2	27	104	Hani Al-Noumesi	Hani Al-Noumesi	9:42:40.9	+ 1:3:19.8
NC	NC	101	Abdulaziz Al-Atawi	Abdulaziz Al-Atawi	NC	N/A
DNF	DNF	103	Yaghoob Azadi	Yaghoob Azadi	DNF	N/A

Featured image credit: MCH Photo