Dubai International Baja: Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi in thick of title hunt after first day

Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi of Abu Dhabi Racing, in his Peugeot 2008 DKR, along with navigator Khalid Al Kendi, bash over dunes on the opening day of the Dubai International Baja on March 10, 2017. Courtesy Total CommunicationsShow less

DUBAI // Abu Dhabi Racing’s Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi is set for an engrossing battle with reigning FIA World Cup champion Nasser Al Attiyah in the deserts of Al Qudra today after finishing day one of the Dubai International Baja in second behind the Qatari.

A two-time Dakar winner, Al Attiyah will start the day with a six-minute, 12-second lead over his Emirati rival, but Sheikh Khalid will be looking to keep the pressure on and hoping for a better showing on day two after losing time on SS1 when his Peugeot 2008 DKR’s jack arm fell off.

“We had a very good start to SS1 in the morning with great rhythm but then faced some difficulties when driving on the sand as the track was affected by the bikes and cars that started in front of us,” said Sheikh Khalid, who finished SS1 in second, 4.14 minutes behind Al Attiyah. “So we tried to take a different line and managed to get our rhythm back and regain some of the time we had lost.

“Approaching the last 10km we hit another obstacle when the jack arm fell off. We tried to pull the arm back up which affected our pace. We also lost a little bit of time when we had to turn and pass the waypoint after 500m, but that’s fine.”

The second stage of the day went much better for Sheikh Khalid and he finished 1.58 minutes behind the leader.

“The second loop was better than the first,” said Sheikh Khalid. “We tried to keep a good speed and momentum, and avoid problems.”

Mansour Belhelie, Abu Dhabi Racing’s Junior Rally Programme driver, will also be keeping his fingers crossed as he and co-driver Chris Patterson start the day with a healthy five-minute, 34-second lead in the T2 category over Emil Khneisser and his co-driver Manie Kruis.

Belhelie had finished SS1 in second, 37 seconds behind Saudi Arabia’s Yasir Seaidan, but the Emirati stepped it up in the second stage to finish first and grab the lead.

In the bikes category, the Dubai-based 2017 Dakar champion Sam Sunderland was forced to retire due to mechanical problems, and Frenchman Benjamin Melot made the most in his absence, winning both the stages of the day and will take a one-minute, 28-second lead over South African Mark Ackerman into the final day.

Top Emirati rider Mohammed Al Balooshi is fourth in the overall classification, six minutes and 20 seconds behind Melot, after finishing third in the opening stage and fourth in the second.

Emirati Ahmed Al Maqoodi, winner of the candidate event in December, and co-driver Obaid Al Kitbi are top of the standings in the buggies category and ninth overall in his Polaris, while his compatriot Mohammed Al Shamsi is leading the quad standings in his Yamaha 700 Raptor, a minute and 20 seconds ahead of Kuwaiti Fahad Al Musallam. Emirati Humaid Al Mashghouni is in third, 6 minutes 32 seconds behind.

“We’ve had a great first day of desert rallying, and the excitement generated by the event already suggests it has a very big future,” said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of the Automobile and Touring Club or the UAE, the rally organisers, and the Emirates Motor Sport Federation.

Taking place under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai, the Dubai International Baja is the second round of this year’s FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies for cars and buggies and the opening round of the FIM Bajas World Cup for bikes and quads.

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