Dania Akeel got off to a strong start at the Italian Baja when she scored her first career prologue win, taking advantage of being the first car on track with no dust. Unfortunately, she didn’t have much luck keeping that overall lead. Her Stage 1 ended in a retirement after missing a tight hairpin. While making a U-turn to rejoin the course, she hit a cable hidden within a bush and destroyed the steering.

Although able to run Stage 2 on Sunday and finish fifth, she’s officially listed as a DNF for the overall.

“Stage 1, we made some risky decisions that definitely did not work out for us. Stage 2 was okay, a bit dusty starting a bit behind, but we got some stage points today so that’s nice with the Prologue points,” Akeel said. “For the Baja World Cup, you have to race six races from eight during the year. We’ve raced the first four, so that allowed us to collect points to be at the top of the ranking. However, there are four races left for the year and we are only racing two, so we are going to see a lot of points changing. Keeps the cup interesting until the end.”

She wasn’t the only contender to encounter trouble in Pordenone. Saood Variawa won two of the weekend’s three specials but never had a chance in the overall because of a mechanical failure. Mitchel van den Brink, fresh off winning the Baja Greece outright, was second overall in the Prologue only to have some sort of trouble strike in each SS: he lost some time in the first because of shrubbery getting jammed in the radiator, a brake line broke 20 kilometers into SS2, and a turbo failure prevented him from going full throttle on the last.

Aliyyah Koloc retired after the first special with mechanical issues as well, while Magdalena Zając was knocked out for the same reason but salvaged a fifth on the last stage.

Even the top finishers had some challenges. Benediktas Vanagas had a spine-rattling hard landing in Stage 1 then suffered an “annoying” tire puncture in the second, but otherwise successfully recorded another overall podium in third and second in Ultimate.

While others struggled, Francisco Barreto had what he called a “perfect day” on Sunday to secure his maiden European Baja Cup overall victory. Paul Spierings achieved his second baja class win in Challenger after Hungary last year, sitting between Barreto and Vanagas on the outright podium.

As van den Brink could attest, vegetation was a major snag. Spierings had to stop several times in SS1 to unclog his radiator after leaves got inside. The first special was such a mess for Tomasz Białkowski that he had to remove the windshield and put on goggles, then found he was missing a spare wheel after the strap snapped off mid-race. Erik van Loon got stuck in the dust on Saturday followed by a flat on Sunday that cost him five minutes, but still walked away as the top SSV driver for the World Baja Cup.

“Our top speed is lower than the rest, so that always costs time,” van Loon noted. SSVs are limited to a max speed of 125 kilometers per hour as opposed to 135 km/h for Challenger and 170 km/h for Ultimate and Stock. “But we didn’t let that get to us and didn’t really make any mistakes. The Can-Am ran well, Wouter (Rosegaar) was flawless, and I had a great drive.”

With the World Rally-Raid Championship on summer break, José Ignacio Cornejo traded handlebars for a roadbook as he made his navigating debut for his girlfriend Rebecca Busi. SS1 was basically the only day without something going wrong as they struggled with water crossings in the Prologue, got stuck behind T1+ cars in SS2, then gambled on a used tire for SS3 that cost them time.

After several delays, the Minotor CH1 finally made its competition debut with Stéphane Sarrazin behind the wheel. The hybrid T3 was surprisingly impressive as it won its class for Stage 2, beating van den Brink for the latter by 12 seconds. Sarrazin finished tenth in Challenger.

The FIA stewards didn’t have it any easier. Three drivers received fines for being late to pre-race inspection: Rodrigo Luppi and Bruno Conti got €1,500 (€1,000 suspendedfor the rest of the season) for being nearly two hours behind schedule while Tomáš Kubiena was an hour late and was slapped with €1K (half suspended). Paul Schmidt got a €500 fine because the roll cage was missing the FIA passport seal.

Even more curiously, the FIA even reprimanded the race’s GPS provider Be Traced. The company makes the main GPS tracker used in the Campionato Italiano Cross Country but had never worked an FIA-sanctioned rally before, which became apparent to the stewards since they found the system doesn’t operate like ERTF. For example, it doesn’t come with navigation or communication relays between cars, while pre-race testing found it didn’t handle neutralization correctly. Be Traced’s COO Diego Casanova explained to FIA Cross-Country Commission head Jerôme Roussel that his company didn’t have much time to adapt it for the FIA.

As such, the FIA ruled it “does not allow us to guarantee the sporting fairness and safety of the event as it should.”

Not great, but certainly could be worse for the organizers. The 2023 Italian Baja was overshadowed by the FIA investigating the Clerk of the Course because the start order got changed for rather flimsy safety reasons.

FIA

Ultimate

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	1	203	Francisco Barreto	Paulo Fiúza	SVR Barata Racing Team	Toyota Hilux Evo	T1+	5:21:38.8	Leader
2	3	207	Benediktas Vanagas	Aisvydas Paliukėnas	Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltics	Toyota Hilux	T1+	5:25:33.3	+ 3:54.5
3	7	212	Mariusz Wiatr	Łukasz Łaskawiec	Mariusz Wiatr	Ford F-150 EVO	T1+	5:36:204	+ 14:41.6
4	8	206	Karel Trněný	Václav Pritzl	X-Force Racing	Ford F-150 EVO	T1+	5:38:32.3	+ 16:53.5
5	12	215	Andrea Schiumarini	Daniele Fontana Sacchetti	R Team	Century CR6	T1.2	5:47:20.3	+ 25:41.5
6	13	214	Adam Lacko	Mirko Brun	Buggyra ZM Racing	Red-Lined REVO T1+	T1+	5:48:18.0	+ 26:39.2
7	18	209	Costel Cășuneanu	Sergiu-Sebastian Itu	Costel Cășuneanu	Mini Countryman R60	T1.1	5:52:40.6	+ 31:01.8
8	22	222	Khalid Al-Jafla	Andrei Rudnitski	SRG Motorsports	Toyota Hilux Evo	T1+	6:01:09.6	+ 39:30.8
9	26	205	Magdalena Zając	Błażej Czekan	Proxcars TME Rally Team	Toyota Hilux	T1.1	6:03:39.4	+ 42:00.6
10	32	201	Saood Variawa	Charan Moore	Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa	Toyota Hilux Evo	T1+	8:01:28.7	+ 2:39:49.9
11	33	202	Lionel Baud	Lucie Baud	X-raid Team	Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0d	T1+	8:02:21.2	+ 2:44:42.4
12	39	208	José Rogeira	Paulo Marques	767 / PRK Sport Rally Team	Ford Ranger	T1+	8:35:55.4	+ 3:14:16.6
DNF	DNF	200	Dania Akeel	Sébastien Delaunay	Overdrive Racing	Toyota Hilux Evo	T1+	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	210	João Ramos	Jorge Carvalho	Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal	Toyota Hilux	T1+	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	211	Aliyyah Koloc	Marcin Pasek	Buggyra ZM Racing	Red-Lined REVO GT-R	T1+	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	213	Pál Lónyai	Alexandria Miklos	LP Racing	Porsche Macan	T1.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	216	Lőrinc Mészáros	Albert Horn	M1 Motorsport	Century CR7	T1+	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	217	Włodzimierz Grajek	Szymon Marciniak	Grajek Rally Team	Toyota Hilux	T1+	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	218	Fabio Samsa	Roberto Marzocco	MRC Sport	Toyota Hilux	T1+	DNF	N/A

Challenger

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	2	304	Paul Spierings	Mark Salomons	Rebellion Spierings	Taurus Evo Max	5:24:54.6	Leader
2	5	300	Mitchel van den Brink	Bart van Heun	Eurol Rally Sport South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	5:29:57.5	+ 5:02.9
3	14	313	Riccardo Benettolo	Irene Saderini	Riccardo Benettolo	Taurus T3 Max	5:48:19.8	+ 23:25.2
4	20	302	Dinis Rogeira	Nelson Ramos	767 / PRK Sport Rally Team	Can-Am Maverick X3	5:55:47.7	+ 30:53.1
5	23	307	Marek Kubiczek	Dominik Ragiel	Marek Kubiczek	Taurus Evo Max	6:01:17.9	+ 36:23.3
6	24	311	Rebecca Busi	José Ignacio Cornejo	Vertical Motorsport	Taurus Evo Max	6:01:59.1	+ 37:04.5
7	25	308	Marcin Nasilowski	Michał Goleniewski	Stec Motorsport	Taurus T3 Max	6:02:51.0	+ 37:56.4
8	28	303	Alexandre Pesci	Stephan Kuhni	Rebellion Spierings	Taurus Evo Max	6:39:42.6	+ 1:14:48.0
9	30	305	Hamed Al-Wahaibi	Maciej Giemza	DaklaPack Rallysport	Taurus Evo Max	7:15:04.5	+ 1:50:09.9
10	34	314	Stéphane Sarrazin	Laurent Magat	Sasrrazin World Rally Team	Minotor CH1	8:06:43.2	+ 2:41:48.6
11	35	301	Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari	Max Delfino	QMMF Racing	Taurus Evo Max	8:17:10.7	+ 2:52;16.1
12	38	310	Martin Benko	Marek Sýkora	Norwit Racing	Taurus T3 Max	8:28:31.2	+ 3:03:36.6
DNF	DNF	306	Paul Schmidt	Jeanette Kvick	X-raid Team	X-raid Fenic	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	309	Bartosz Kaziród	Rafal Jedrys	Stec Motorsport	Taurus T3 Max	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	312	Gianpaolo Bedin	Sara Torrielli	Raitec Racing	Raitec RT3B	DNF	N/A

SSV

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	4	409	Sean Haran	Martin Hales	Sean Haran	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	5:7:05.6	Leader
2	6	404	Paulo Rodrigues	Fausto Mota	Rio Seco Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:35:09.6	+ 8:04.0
3	9	403	Erik van Loon	Wouter Rosegaar	Van Loon Racing South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:40:49.6	+ 13:44.0
4	10	414	Rodrigo Luppi	Maykel Justo	LLCA Racing	Polaris RZR Pro R	SSV1	5:46:28.2	+ 19:22.6
5	11	407	Filipe Lopes	Gonçalo Reis	Rio Seco Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:46:50.6	+ 19:45.0
6	15	402	Tomasz Białkowski	Dariusz Baśkiewicz	Kamena Rally Team	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	5:50:32.6	+ 23:26.6
7	16	405	Murat Kapanoğlu	Aleksandar Trendafilov	ASC BMW Motorsport Bulgaria	Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS Turbo RR	T4	5:50:32.7	+ 23:27.1
8	17	400	Hedda Hosås	Pol Tibau	R-X Sport	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:50:45.5	+ 23:39.9
9	19	412	Alejandro Cisella	Erika Mingozzi	Alejandro Cisella	Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS Turbo RR	T4	5:53:45.1	+ 26:39.5
10	21	401	Mansour Al-Helei	Khalid Al-Kendi	R-X Sport	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:58:37.5	+ 31:31.9
11	27	415	Bruno Conti	Jhonatan Ardigo	LLCA Racing	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	6:05:47.5	+ 36:41.9
12	35	410	Kevin Haran	Jorge Fernandes Jordão	Kevin Haran	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	8:14:33.8	+ 2:47:28.2
13	37	406	Ruben Rodrigues	Paulo Rui	Rio Seco Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	8:20:39.6	+ 2:53:34.0
DNF	DNF	408	Ernest Kuś	Grzegorz Szymański	Ernest Kuś	Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS Turbo RR	T4	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	411	Aleksandr Celiadin	Nuno Morais	South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	413	Tomáš Kubiena	Miroslav Losos	Tomáš Kubiena	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	416	Massimo Salvatore	Roberto Briani	Massimo Salvatore	Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS Turbo RR	T4	DNF	N/A

Stock

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	29	500	Al-Mashna Al-Shammari	Abdullah Al-Shammari	Al-Mashna Al-Shammari	Nissan Patrol	7:06:24.0	Leader
2	31	501	Majed Al-Thunayyan	Omar Allahim	Majed Al-Thunayyan	Nissan Patrol	7:20:19.4	+ 13:55.4
3	40	502	Fernando Barreiros	José Sá Pires	Fernando Barreiros	Isuzu D-Max	7:37:18.9	+ 2:05:54.9

National class winners

Campionato Italiano Cross Country

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time
T1	4	802	Manuele Mengozzi	Elisa Tassile	Mengozzi SRL	Toyota Hilux Overdrive	4:44:13.6
T2	11	851	Alberto Spinetti	Lara Giusti	Race Elba	Suzuki Grand Vitara	5:16:06.4
T3	2	700	Csucsu	Márk Mesterházi	Speedy Motorsport	Taurus T3 Max	4:38:53.9
T4	1	756	Zoltán Garamvölgyi	Dorottya Kollár	Garilla Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	4:35:23.4
TH	12	901	Lorenzo Traglio	Davide Stefano	Tecnosport	Nissan Terrano Pathfinder	5:21:21.1

Magyar Terep-Rallye

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time
T1	6	213	Pál Lónyai	Alexandria Miklos	LP Racing	Porsche Macan	5:37:10.2
T3	2	700	Kornél Lukács	Márk Mesterházi	Speedy Motorsport	Taurus T3 Max	4:38:53.9
T4	1	756	Zoltán Garamvölgyi	Dorottya Kollár	Garilla Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	4:35:23.4

Featured image credit: MCH Photo