Fedor Vorobyev and Michele Cinotto will kick up the dust and try and survive punishing heat in the deserts of Wadi Rum, when they go head-to-head in the battle to secure T3 Trophy honours in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas at this weekend’s Jordan Baja.
Vorobyev holds the advantage heading into the desert showdown. Driving his Zavidovo Racing Team Can-Am Maverick X3, the Russian has amassed 107 points from the first six rounds of a series that concludes with this event in Jordan and a finale in Portugal in October.
Vorobyev and co-driver Kirill Shubin claimed maximum points for three T3 victories in Italy, Hungary and Poland, finished second in Dubai and had points-scoring finishes in Russia and Spain.
Those back-to-back victories in Hungary and Poland in August and early September were a killer-blow to third title rival Santiago Navarro of Spain, but Italy’s Michele Cinotto finished fourth in Hungary and second in Poland and has managed to hang on to Vorobyev’s coat-tails.
He now trails the Russian by 15 points, the Polaris RXR 1000 Turbo driver’s cause helped no end by a good start to the season that saw him leading the way in the middle of the summer. Cinotto won Baja Russia through the frozen forests of Russia’s Republic of Karelia in February and added a third in Italy to a pair of fourth places in Dubai and Hungary and fifth in Spain.
Victory in Jordan would confirm the T3 title for Vorobyev, but a top finish for Cinotto would guarantee that the title duel went down to the wire in Portugal next month. Twenty-five points are on offer for the winner, with 18 for second, 15 for third and 12 for fourth.
Competition for the title rivals will come from Saudi Arabia’s Saleh Al-Saif and privateer Guy Bitton. Al-Saif is more than capable of winning the category outright across deserts that are very similar to those found just south of the border in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Can-Am Maverick X3 driver led the Ha’il International Rally outright on one occasion and finished eighth overall in 2018.
T3 is a category for series production cars that conform to certain specific FIA technical regulations, most notably a minimum weight limit of 900kg and a maximum permitted engine cylinder capacity of 1050cm³, although a production turbo is permitted.
Vorobyev’s Can-Am Maverick X3, for example, is built by South Racing and is powered by a Rotax ACE turbo-charged engine and fitted with a fuel tank with a maximum capacity of 130 litres.
Teams will carry out final preparations and any necessary testing on Wednesday before the on-stage action begins with a short super special stage in Aqaba from 4pm on Thursday afternoon. Crews can expect outside temperatures in excess of 40°C in Wadi Rum over the weekend.

FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas – T3 Trophy standings after round 6:
1. Fedor Vorobyev (RUS)  - 107pts
2. Michele Cinotto (ITA) - 92pts
3. Santiago Navarro (ESP) - 76pts                    
4. Adel Abdulla (QAT) - 45pts
5. Aleksandr Dorosinskiy (POL) - 43pts
6. Abdullah Al-Zubair (OMN) - 34pts
7. Gerard Farrés (ESP) - 15pts
7. Dmitrii Ponomarenko (RUS) - 15pts
7. Eric Abel (FRA) - 15pts
10. Alexey Shmotov (RUS) - 12pts
10. Michal Goczal (POL) - 12pts, etc

Source Jordan Baja

If Ata Al-Hmoud is to retain his Jordan Baja crown in the motorcycle category, the Jordanian rider will need to be fully focused and mentally prepared when the Hashemite Kingdom’s exciting new addition to the global cross-country rallying calendar gets underway in Aqaba on Thursday afternoon.
The Beta 480 rider was in a class of his own at the inaugural event that was observed as a candidate for inclusion in this year’s FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas last September. That performance was all the more surprising considering that the former rally co-driver had only tackled one event on two wheels in Greece before his first foray into timed competition in Wadi Rum.
Al-Hmoud won all four stages last year to secure a winning margin of 3hrs 51min 51sec over Hamza Al-Zawahreh. But that time difference will probably never be repeated now that several new formidable rivals lie on the horizon and the future of the sport on two-wheel looks bright in Jordan with the news that this weekend’s event is being observed for possible future inclusion in the FIM Cross-Country Bajas World Cup.
Al-Zawahreh returns again this year to try and step up a place on the podium on his Kawasaki, but the two Jordanian riders face a stern test from two Kuwaiti and two Emirati racers.
Sultan Al-Balooshi could well be the favourite to claim the win on two wheels. The UAE rider has won the motorcycle section at the Ha’il International Rally for the last two seasons in Saudi Arabia and is also an integral member of the UAE off-road motorcycle community.
He finished fifth in the FIM category at this year’s Dubai International Baja but, like his brother Mohammed Al-Balooshi - who is entered on a KTM 450 Rally in Jordan – the Emirati enjoyed mixed fortunes at Rally TT do Pinhal in Portugal. Mohammed Al-Balooshi was the winner of the 2018 Dubai International Baja and carries out extensive motocross training in the UAE under the MX Academy banner.
These four riders may not have it all their own way, however, and Kuwait’s Abdullah Al-Shatti will be pushing hard for the win. The 34-year-old took part in the Dakar for the first time in January and has tackled numerous races and Bajas in the Gulf. A brand ambassador for Kawasaki in the Middle East, he joined Al-Balooshi’s MX Academy in Dubai last year, but retired from the Dakar after three stages when lying 65th overall. He will ride a KTM 450 Rally in Jordan.
Mohammed Meshari Jaffar had been hoping for success over some of the most stunning desert terrain on the planet, as the Jordan Baja winds its way through spectacular moonscapes and Martian-type sandy terrain.
The Kuwaiti motocross rider began his career in 2007 and won his first regional championship in the UAE in 2011. He was also the 2014 Bahrain MX2 and Kuwait MX1 and MX2 champion. This season he finished fourth at the Dubai International Baja, but will not now be taking part this weekend.
Further competition in the two-wheel category comes from Abdullah Bosmaf’s KTM EXC 500, the Yamaha WR 450F of Saif Al-Abbadi and a late KTM EXC 500F entry for Jordan’s Mohammed Abu Aisheh.
As the first of the riders and drivers start to arrive at Jordan’s premier Red Sea resort, officials at Jordan Motorsport are putting the finishing touches to what promises to be an enthralling spectacle over the coming days
The on-stage action begins with a short super special stage in Aqaba from 4pm on Thursday afternoon (September 19) and this precedes the official pre-event press conference and ceremonial start in the city centre later in the evening.

Source: Jordan Baja official press release

New Aqaba-based round of FIA Baja World Cup to be staged in Wadi Rum
 
Jordan Motorsport has announced a quality international entry for the forthcoming Jordan Baja, the new seventh round of the 2019 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas. The event will be based in Aqaba and centred around Wadi Rum on September 19th-21st.
Eighteen cars and competitors from 15 nations are entered in the main FIA section of the three-day event (subject to FIA approval). They will be joined by nine motorcycles and quads and a further eight teams in a national category.
The motorcycle event is also being observed as an official candidate event for next year’s FIM Cross-Country Bajas World Cup.
Russian Vladimir Vasilyev, Argentina’s Orlando Terranova and Poland’s Jakub Przygonski are currently embroiled in a three-way battle to determine the outcome of the FIA Drivers’ Championship. All three will be present in the Hashemite Kingdom in a trio of Mini All4 Racings, built by the German X-raid team.
They face competition in the T1 category from Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Khalid A-Qassimi and Saudi Arabia’s Yasir Seaidan.
Russian Fedor Vorobyev has a useful lead in the T3 category in his Can-Am Maverick X3. The winner of the category in both Hungary and Poland recently faces competition from the likes of Italy’s Michele Cinotto and Saudi Arabia’s Saleh Al-Saif.
Sultan Al-Balooshi won the motorcycle category at the Ha’il International Rally in both 2018 and 2019 and he tops the two-wheel category. Ata Al-Hmoud was the runaway winner of the section in last year’s FIA candidate event in southern Jordan and the Jordanian will be aiming for the top step of the podium on his home event.
The Kuwaiti duo of Salem and Fares Al-Thefiri head the national section in their Nissan Patrol.
The super special stage and ceremonial start are scheduled for Thursday (September 19th) in Aqaba City before competitors head into the legendary deserts of Wadi Rum, made famous across the world by a host of Hollywood blockbuster movies.
These include the recent Aladdin, all-time classic Lawrence of Arabia, the latest Star Wars film and numerous cinematic links to the reddish nature of the surface of planet Mars.

To view the updated entry lists, please follow one of the next links: ENTRY LIST AUTO FIA -  ENTRY LIST AUTO NATIONAL - ENTRY LIST MOTO

Source Jordan Baja 

Jordan makes a welcome return to the global motor sporting scene in 2019 by hosting the seventh round of the inaugural FIA World Cup for Cross Country Bajas.

The Jordan Baja is an off-road adventure based out of the Red Sea city of Aqaba and runthrough Jordan southern desert around the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Wadi Rum where Hollywood blockbusters like The Martian, Aladdin and the upcoming Star Wars film have taken advantage of the breathtaking scenery.

The three-day event for cars, motorcycles and quads will take place from September 19-21, and marks Jordan return to the world scene following three thrilling rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship held in 2008, 2010 and 2011.

Aseer Municipality & the Saudi Automobile Motorcycle Federation, organise a rally named Aseer Rally from 31st July – 3rd August 2019.
The event will be run in compliance with the FIA International Sporting Code (and appendices) and the National Sporting Regulations (SAMF) which comply with the FIA regulations

For mobile devices, please use this link: ENTRY LIST

ENTRY LIST

Part of 2019 FIA World Cup for Cross Country Bajas,  the 2019 Jordan Baja will be run from 19th to 21st of September, in the Wadi Rum area, south of Jordan.   The race organized by Jordan Motorsport will also have a national competition for those who do not wish to race against the "top guns" of rally-raid and a motorbike race, disputed according FIM rules.

The race's overall distance will be 807,5km of wich 453 are selective sections, with most of the route being draw in areas with sand.

For those used to a short prologue to warm up men and machines,  Jordan Baja will come as a shock, with the participants facing the race head-on,  the morning of friday 20/9, as they race SS1, the 180km long "Salh Yah" stage.   Still on opposition to the most common pattern , Leg 1 will finish  with a very short 3km stage (SS2 -Aqaba) at the end of the day to "decompress and relax".

On saturday two more stages must be raced, SS3 Qweirah with 90Km and SS4 Wadi Rum with 180.

The program is the same for all categories, with all following the same sequence of stages.

Entries are open and will close definitively on Sunday 1st. The participants that wish to take advantage of the reduced entry fee have only until the 17:00 (local time) of August 1st to make their entry.

Jordan Baja's official website is: http://www.jordanrally.com/

Rally-Raid Network