After three months without events, riders competing in the FIM Bajas World Cup are back on the road to Spain and the legendary Baja Spain Aragón.
There will be 23 motorcycles and seven quads on the start line in the eastern Spanish town of Teruel hoping to challenge for honours in this fourth round of the 2023 season.
Because of general elections being held in Spain on Sunday, organisers of Baja Spain Aragón have compressed the events into two days – Friday, July 21st and Saturday July 22nd.
This second round of the FIM Bajas World Cup in a row to be held on the Iberian Peninsula will be run over a total distance of 905km, including 533km of special stages in temperatures around 40°C. Like every year, it will provide a stern test for riders and their machines. There will, nevertheless, be 23 motorcycles and seven quads, including four Women, three Juniors and nine Veterans.
Mirjam Pol is missing from the entry for family reasons and Junior rider Konrad Dabrowski is preparing for the Desafio Ruta 40 and is also absent. Dubai-based rider Mohammed Al-Balooshi will come to defend his place as leader, alongside Canadian rival Jonathan Finn - who is second in the provisional classification and leader of the Junior classification - and Andrew Houlihan, third in the provisional classification and leader of the Veteran category.
There are several other riders aspiring to win the laurels on this beautiful Baja; like former winner Lorenzo Santolino, his Sherco teammate Rui Gonçalves, Tosha Schareina also former winner, the young Neels Theric and David Megre, winner of the Baja Dehesa Extremadura.
In the Women's category, Mirjam Pol’s absence leaves the way open for Sara Garcia to fight against Alona Ben-Natan, Ester Merino and Sarah Khuraibet.
In the quads, Junior racer Kevin Giroud will have to battle against the leader of the category, Haitham Al-Tuwaijri, and his fellow Saudi Hani Al-Noumesi.
The race will be thrilling to follow with the six-kilometre prologue opening proceedings at 06.00hrs (first motorcycle) on Friday, July 21. This will be followed by SS1, while SS2 and SS3 will be played out on Saturday.
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2023 FIM Bajas World Cup - provisional classification
Bikes
1.M. Balooshi (KTM) 44 pts
2.J. Finn (Honda) 32 pts
3.A. Houlihan (Husqvarna) 31 pts
Quad
1.Haitham Altuwaijri (Yamaha) 45 pts
2.Hani Alnoumesi (Yamaha) 45 pts
3.K. Giroud (Yamaha) 25 pts
Source FIM
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