Cross-Nation – Al-Rajhi and Ferreira lead staggering 110-vehicle entry for Baja Spain Aragón

2024 Baja Spain Aragón (26-28 July) – FIA World Baja Cup, spherical 3 of 8

Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi and his German co-driver Timo Gottschalk and the Portuguese pairing of João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro lead a quality-packed 110-vehicle entry into this weekend’s Baja Spain Aragón, spherical three of the 2024 FIA World Baja Cup. 

The entry listing contains 27 vehicles within the Final class, a staggering 57 operating within the Challenger part for light-weight prototype cross-country machines and an extra 26 entered within the SSV part. 

Al-Rajhi (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) is presently having fun with a 32-point cushion over Ferreira (X-Raid Mini) within the Final class after the opening two rounds in Saudi Arabia and Greece however each drivers are extra targeted on the battle for the general FIA World Baja Cup’s Drivers’ Championship that additionally options opponents from the opposite classes. 

Due to the best way that the factors system has been devised this season, every of the three part have glorious alternatives to problem for the general title. The South Racing Can-Am duo of Fernando Alvarez and Xavier Panseri presently have a 15-point lead over Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk within the Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ Championships along with a giant lead within the battle for SSV honours.  

Within the Final class, Al-Rajhi faces competitors from a fleet of extra Overdrive Racing-prepared Toyota Hiluxes within the fingers of Lithuania’s Rokas Baciuška, Argentina’s Juan Cruz Yacopini, Belgian Guillaume de Mévius and the returning Pole Martin Kaczmarski. De Mévius will probably be partnered in Spain by Mathieu Baumel for the primary time. 

Ferreira, in the meantime, presently holds fourth within the Drivers’ Championship and third within the Final part and wheels out the official X-Raid Mini JCW Rally Plus, though the Trebur-based operation additionally has privateer Minis within the fingers of Portugal’s Alejandro Martins and Maria Gameiro and Spaniard José-Luis Garcia. 

Extra seemingly front-runners within the Final class embrace Frenchman Mathieu Serradori (Century CR7-T), Daniel Alonso (Ford Ranger) and João Ramos (Toyota).

The South Racing Can-Am Staff presently holds a 20-point cushion over Overdrive Racing within the Groups’ Championship with Escuderia JMP Racing, Santag Racing and the X-Raid JCW Staff rounding off the highest 5. 

5-time Dakar winner Al-Attiyah tops Challenger class 

Qatari legend Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah will use his new Dacia for the primary time in Morocco in October however the five-time Dakar Rally winner has taken a break from his preparations for the taking pictures competitors on the forthcoming Paris Olympics to drive a Taurus T3 Max on the head of a 58-strong listing of Challenger crews.  

The defending W2RC champion just isn’t registered for the FIA World Baja Cup however will probably be chasing honours in a top quality discipline that features the present main South Racing Can-Am crew of Diego Martinez/Sergio Lafuente and their closest challengers, Khalid Al-Jafla/Andrei Rudnitski (Taurus) and João Dias/Pedro Ré (OT3). 

Spaniard Eduard Pons may even be chasing championship factors in his Previous Racing Taurus, along with the G Rally Staff’s Ghislain de Mévius. 

There’s huge expertise down the entry with the gifted Polish trio of Eryk, Michal and Marek Goczal wheeling out Taurus T3 Max machines and registering late for the FIA World Baja Cup. The listing additionally contains younger Spaniard Pau Navarro driving the X-Raid Yamaha YXZ 1000 R Turbo, veteran Dutchman Erik van Loon returning to drive a South Racing Can-Am and the likes of Ricardo Porém (Can-Am) and Tiago Reis (Taurus) flying the flag for Portugal. 

Belgian WRC and Dakar veteran Grégoire de Mévius (OT3), WRC2 star and former M-Sport manufacturing facility rally driver Pierre-Louis Loubet (Apache) and Lukas Lauda (Can-Am) – the son of the late System One racer Niki – are additionally on the listing. 

FIA World Baja Cup-leading Alvarez and Panseri head spectacular SSV discipline

Alvarez and Panseri head a 26-strong discipline of SSV runners and can defend their commanding 47-point leads within the SSV Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ Championships, along with attempting to remain forward within the total FIA World Baja Cup. 

The Spanish duo of Alexander and Miguel Toril are Alvarez’s closest challengers after two rounds with French veteran Claude Fournier holding fourth. Can-Am Maverick XRX Turbo RRs fill the main locations within the factors’ standings. Of the six drivers registered for the FIA World Baja Cup in Spain, solely Italy’s Amerigo Ventura (Yamaha) just isn’t driving a Can-Am. 

The listing additionally contains the Brazilian former FIA champion Cristiano de Sousa Batista whose son Otavio is participating within the Challenger class. Each drivers are with Santag Racing. 

The listing of non-registered crews options a powerful variety of privateers from throughout Europe. They embrace Spain’s Federico Mogni, the British duo of Sean Haren and Paul Severn and the skilled Swiss driver Jérôme de Sadeleer.

The occasion is predicated out of the city of Teruel within the Aragón area of jap Spain the place fierce summer season temperatures, intense warmth and mud are anticipated on the demanding rural off-road phases. Opponents will sort out 522.98km aggressive kilometres in a revised route laid on by Motor Membership Baja – Octagon.

Motion will get underway with a brief 7.57km Prologue to find out beginning orders on Friday afternoon (July twenty sixth). 

Opponents then sort out two phases of 173.25km and 181.08km on Saturday (July twenty seventh) and the on-stage motion concludes on Sunday (July twenty eighth) with a single stage of 161.08km.

2024 Baja Spain Aragón – main entries (prime 10 in every class):

*denotes not registered for FIA World Baja Cup