Nasser Al-Attiyah scores maiden win with Prodrive at Dubai International Baja

Nasser Al-Attiyah did not need long to get used to his new ride in the Prodrive Hunter, and was already a race winner in just his second start for the team.

His début with Prodrive at the Baja Portalegre 500, just two weeks after clinching the World Rally-Raid Championship in his final race for Toyota, was overshadowed by a penalty and lost time to a damaged windshield wiper in the mud of Portugal that relegated him to fifth. The Dubai International Baja, on the other hand, presented wide-open dunes akin to most rounds on the W2RC calendar like the Dakar Rally that gave him a chance to showcase the Hunter’s potential as he won the first two stages before being edged out by Yazeed Al-Rajhi in Stage #3.

Like in the W2RC, Al-Attiyah beat Al-Rajhi for the overall win by over five minutes. The victory also put the bow atop a dominant campaign in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas, where Al-Attiyah never finished worse than second in his four Bajas for Toyota and had twice as many points as João Ferreira entering the finale in Dubai. It is his second Bajas title after 2008, while he became the first driver to win a World Cup with two different manufacturers as well as the first to complete the triple crown of a World Cup, World Championship, and Dakar Rally in the same year.

“We really enjoyed being in the car as we worked hard to make a good result for the team too,” said Al-Attiyah. “We learned a lot for the next step, the Dakar. Thank you to the team who got the car here and who have engineered it for us to take this win. It’s a great start to take this victory and get ready for Dakar and think we can make it in Saudi Arabia to win the Dakar in January.”

Ferreira won the T4 class in his first Baja in a Can-Am Maverick for South Racing ahead of European Cup T4 regular Amerigo Ventura. The former, who normally races Bajas in a Mini and intends to continue doing so for the 2024 Portuguese Cross-Country Championship, also won on début in the W2RC’s T4 class at the Rallye du Maroc in October.

Another João Ferreira (full name João Filipe Ferreira Miranda) was also victorious as he called the shots for Otávio Sousa Leite to win the T3 class in both the Dubai Baja and the World Cup. Mshari Al-Thefiri had led Sousa by twenty points going into the finale but was plagued by mechanical issues that forced him to retire and surrender the championship.

Sousa Leite’s father Cristiano de Sousa Batista finished second to him in Dubai, having already clinched the T4 World Cup with a dominant season as he won four races in a row.

“We came into the event with low expectations of becoming the champion. Turns out, all the bad luck throughout the year turned in our favour in this last race,” said Sousa Leite. “We won yesterday’s stage and today my dad secured another victory. Now, we are World Champions.”

Seth Quintero ran his first race as Al-Attiyah’s successor at Toyota Gazoo Racing. Despite the big shoes he had to fill and finishing at the bottom of the leaderboard due to a mechanical issue, he looked like a natural in the Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+ with a run that included finishing less than a minute behind Al-Attiyah in Stage #2.

Aliyyah Koloc, the 2022 Middle East Cup for Cross-Country Bajas champion, finished tenth in a Red-Lined REVO T1+, marking her first time running an international rally in the top subcategory. The race had started on a bizarre note for Koloc as logistical issues resulted in a delay while shipping her REVO from South Africa to Dubai; according to father and Buggyra Racing principal Martin Koloc, both ships that they tried to move the vehicle on were delayed for two and three weeks each. The start was intended to provide her with more seat time ahead of her first Dakar in the Ultimate class.

“I think I need to be a bit more aggressive with it,” said Koloc. “For now, I feel I’m being too gentle, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Both events I have done so far with this car, here in Dubai and in South Africa, have definitely helped me grow as a driver, so I’m pleased about that, although we need to drive more in the desert to get more out of the car.”

The FIA’s Middle East Cup and FIM Bajas World Cup also concluded their seasons in Dubai, which became the final race for all three series following the cancellation of the Jordan Baja in response to the war in Gaza. The race was also the last for the World and Middle East Cups under their Cross-Country Bajas identities as they will be rebranded to the World Baja Cup and Middle East Baja Cup for 2024. The European Cup, the other Bajas series under FIA sanction, wrapped up its calendar in October.

Overall winners

Class	Number	Competitor	Team	Time
T1	200	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Nasser Racing	5:22:52.3
T2	220	Ibrahim Nasser Almuhna	Ibrahim Nasser Almuhna	23:09:30.5
T3	301	Otávio Sousa Leite	South Racing Can-Am	6:04:05.5
T4	400	João Ferreira	South Racing Can-Am	5:48:48.1
450cc	2	Mohammed Al-Balooshi	MX Ride Dubai	5:42:25.3
Quad	105	Abdulaziz Ahli	Abdulaziz Ahli	6:34:23.1
FIM Junior	76	Jean-Loup Lepan	DUUST Diverse Racing	5:53:53
FIM Veteran	50	Richard Brewer	Richard Brewer	6:23:38.5
FIM Woman	20	Esther Merino	Esther Merino	9:03:52.5

Final FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas standings

World Cup

Drivers

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	Nasser Al-Attiyah	187	Leader
2	Yazeed Al-Rajhi	115	– 72
3	João Ferreira	104	– 83
4	Juan Cruz Yacopini	98	– 89
5	Krzysztof Hołowczyc	75	– 112
6	Otávio Sousa Leite	62	– 125
7	Cristiano de Sousa Batista	61	– 126
8	Mshari Al-Thefiri	51	– 136
9	Michał Małuszyński	41	– 146
10	Dania Akeel	34	– 153
11	Lucas Moraes	33	– 154
12	Denis Krotov	31	– 156
T-13	Fernando Alvarez Castellano	28	– 159
T-13	Jeremie Warnia	28	– 159
15	Guoyu Zhang	27	– 160
16	João Dias	26	– 161
17	Ronan Chabot	23	– 164
18	Vaidotas Žala	22	– 165
T-19	Armindo Araújo	20	– 167
T-19	Amerigo Ventura	20	– 167
T-21	Saleh Al-Saif	19	– 168
T-21	Włodzimierz Grajek	19	– 168
T-23	Pau Navarro	17	– 170
T-23	Adam Thomelius	17	– 170
T-25	Tiago Reis	16	– 171
T-25	Kees Koolen	16	– 171
27	Ricardo Ramilo	15	– 172
T-28	Nani Roma	14	– 173
T-28	Mattias Ekström	14	– 173
T-30	Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari	13	– 174
T-30	Nasser Al-Kuwari	13	– 174
32	Miguel Barbosa	11	– 176
T-33	Egidijus Valeiša	9	– 178
T-33	Seth Quintero	9	– 178
T-35	Rokas Baciuška	8	– 179
T-35	Santiago Navarro	8	– 179
T-37	Francisco Barreto	7	– 180
T-37	Pedro Carvalho	7	– 180
T-37	Andrea Lafarja	7	– 180
T-37	Miroslav Zapletal	7	– 180
T-41	Stefano Marrini	6	– 181
T-41	Francisco Javier Rodriguez Hernandez	6	– 181
T-41	Gareth Woolridge	6	– 181
T-44	Michele Cinotto	5	– 182
T-44	Guillaume de Mévius	5	– 182
T-44	Alexandre Re	5	– 182
T-44	Magdalena Zajac	5	– 182
T-48	Tomas Mickus	4	– 183
T-48	Paulo Rodrigues	4	– 183
T-48	Aleksander Szustkowski	4	– 183
T-51	Lionel Baud	3	– 184
T-51	Nuno Madeira	3	– 184
T-51	Piotr Otko	3	– 184
T-51	Ronald Schoolderman	3	– 184
T-55	František Brutovský	2	– 185
T-55	Sebastián Halpern	2	– 185
T-55	Csaba Miklós	2	– 185
T-55	Romain Dumas	2	– 185

Co-drivers

Rank	Co-Driver	Points	Margin
1	Mathieu Baumel	187	Leader
2	Timo Gottschalk	115	– 72
3	Filipe Palmeiro	104	– 83
4	Dani Oliveiras	98	– 89
5	João Filipe Ferreira Miranda	79	– 108
6	Łukasz Kurzeja	75	– 112
7	Oriol Vidal	59	– 128
8	Fuasto Mota	53	– 134
T-9	Kaique Bentivoglio	33	– 154
T-9	Julita Maluszinska	33	– 154
T-9	Paulo Fiuza	33	– 154
12	François Cazalet	32	– 155
13	Konstantin Zhiltsov	31	– 156
T-14	Xavier Panseri	28	– 159
T-14	Loïc Minaudier	28	– 159
16	Oriol Mena	27	– 160
T-17	Gilles Pillot	23	– 164
T-17	Taye Perry	23	– 164
T-19	Luis Ramalho	20	– 167
T-19	Mirko Brun	20	– 167
T-21	Nasser Al-Kuwari	19	– 168
T-21	Dominik Jazik	19	– 168
23	Oskar Andersson	17	– 170
T-24	Valter Cardoso	16	– 171
T-24	Wouter Rosegaar	16	– 171
26	Alex Haro Bravo	14	– 173
T-27	Alexei Kuzmich	13	– 174
T-27	Michael Metge	13	– 174
29	Laurent Lichtleuchter	11	– 176
T-30	Dmytro Tsyro	9	– 178
T-30	Mindaugas Varža	9	– 178
T-30	Dennis Zenz	9	– 178
T-33	Szymon Gospodarczyk	8	– 179
T-33	Robleto Nicoletti	8	– 179
T-33	Adrien Metge	8	– 179
T-36	Hector Garcia Chavez	7	– 180
T-36	Romeu Martins	7	– 180
T-36	Carlos Silva	7	– 180
T-36	Marek Sýkora	7	– 180
T-40	Boyd Dreyer	6	– 181
T-40	Yoni Luis Pérez Curbelo	6	– 181
T-40	Silvio Valentini	6	– 181
T-43	Jakub Brzezinski	5	– 182
T-43	Maurizio Dominella	5	– 182
T-43	João Pedro Re	5	– 182
T-46	Miguel Antonio	4	– 183
T-46	Gonçalo Reis	4	– 183
T-46	Darius Leskauskas	4	– 183
T-46	Andrei Rudnitski	4	– 183
T-46	Robin Szustkowski	3	– 184
T-51	Lucie Baud	3	– 184
T-51	José Janela	3	– 184
T-51	Karolina Otko	3	– 184
T-51	Pedro Re	3	– 184
T-51	Makeren Salomons	3	– 184
T-56	Bernardo Graue	2	– 185
T-56	Petr Hauptmann	2	– 185
T-56	Albert Horn	2	– 185
T-56	Marc Solà Terradellas	2	– 185
T-56	Max Delfino	2	– 185

Teams

Rank	Team	Points	Margin
1	Overdrive Racing	237	Leader
2	South Racing Can-Am	177	– 60
3	X-raid Mini JCW Team	165	– 72
4	GRallyTeam	61	– 176
5	FN Speed Team	59	– 178
6	Sports Racing Technologies	49	– 188

T3

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	Otávio Sousa Leite	148	Leader
2	Mshari Al-Thefiri	129	– 19
3	Dania Akeel	104	– 44
4	Fernando Alvarez Castellano	89	– 59
5	João Dias	69	– 79
6	Kees Koolen	59	– 89
7	Armindo Araújo	51	– 97
8	Guillaume de Mévius	40	– 108
9	Saleh Al-Saif	38	– 110
T-10	Cristiano de Sousa Batista	33	– 115
T-10	Egidijus Valeiša	33	– 115
12	Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari	32	– 116
13	Adam Thomelius	27	– 121
14	Nasser Al-Kuwari	25	– 123
T-15	João Monteiro	24	– 124
T-15	Mattias Ekström	24	– 124
T-17	Andrea Lafarja	19	– 129
T-17	Hector Diego Joaquin Martinez	19	– 129
T-19	Tomas Mickus	18	– 130
T-19	Santiago Navarro	18	– 130
21	Erik Van Loon	17	– 131
T-22	Pedro Carvalho	16	– 132
T-22	Paulo Rodrigues	16	– 132
T-24	Lionel Baud	14	– 134
T-24	Piotr Otko	14	– 134
26	Csaba Miklós	12	– 136
T-27	Rashia Jima Al-Muhannadi	11	– 137
T-27	Alexandre Re	11	– 137
T-29	Andrea Castagnera	9	– 139
T-29	Laia Sanz	9	– 139
31	Anja Van Loon	8	– 140
T-32	Ahmad Al-Muhannadi	7	– 141
T-32	Filipe Cameirinha	7	– 141
T-32	Miklos Trebitsch	7	– 141
T-35	Benjamin Favre	6	– 142
T-35	Edgar Reis	6	– 142
T-37	Jean-Luc Ceccaldi	5	– 143
T-37	Laurent Poletti	5	– 143
T-39	Nelson Beiro	4	– 144
T-39	Christophe Cresp	4	– 144
T-41	Jedidia Favre	3	– 145
T-41	Daniel Silva	3	– 145
T-41	Mitch Guthrie	3	– 145
T-44	Romain Locmane	2	– 146
T-44	Pedro Ruivo	2	– 146

T4

Drivers

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	Cristiano de Sousa Batista	192	Leader
2	Jérémie Warnia	132	– 60
3	Ricardo Ramilo	104	– 88
4	Pau Navarro	95	– 97
5	Amerigo Ventura	67	– 125
6	Stefano Marrini	58	– 134
7	João Ferreira	40	– 152
8	Francisco Javier Rodriguez Hernandez	39	– 153
9	Alexander Josef Toril Boquoi	35	– 157
10	Sean Haran	33	– 159
11	Luis Henderson	32	– 160
12	Michele Cinotto	24	– 168
13	Eduard Pons	23	– 169
T-14	Dario de Lorenzo	22	– 170
T-14	João Paula	22	– 170
16	Aleksander Szustkowski	19	– 173
17	Krzysztof Wicentowicz	17	– 175
18	Patrycja Brochocka	15	– 177
T-19	Federico Mogni	13	– 179
T-19	Pietro Cinotto	13	– 179
21	Carlos Vento Sanchez	12	– 180
22	Adrien Choblet	9	– 183
23	Rebecca Busi	8	– 184
24	Heathcliff Zingraf	3	– 189
25	Jean-Luc Ceccaldi	2	– 190

Teams

Rank	Team	Points	Margin
1	South Racing Can-Am	195	Leader
2	FN Speed Team	97	– 98

Final FIA Middle East Cup for Cross-Country Bajas standings

Middle East Cup

Drivers

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	Khaled Ahmed Alferaihi	74	Leader
2	Hamad Nasser Alharbi	45	– 29
3	Salem Aldhafeeri	41	– 33
4	Yasir Seaidan	40	– 34
5	Ahmed Alkuwari	38	– 36
6	Aliyyah Koloc	35	– 39
7	Atif Alzarouni	34	– 40
8	Ibrahim Nasser Al-Muhna	33	– 41
9	Ahmed Abdullah Al-Shegawi	28	– 46
10	Maha Mohammed Hamali	27	– 47
11	Adel Abdulla	25	– 49
T-12	Abdullah Ahmed Alshegawi	23	– 51
T-12	Mohammed Almeer	23	– 51
14	Josef Macháček	20	– 54
15	Mario Franco	19	– 55
16	Nouef Hassan Al-Sowaidi	15	– 59
17	Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi	13	– 61
18	Saeed Almouri	11	– 63
19	Mohammed An Al-Atteya	5	– 69
20	Abdulla Al-Rabban	4	– 70

Co-drivers

Rank	Co-Driver	Points	Margin
1	Sébastien Delaunay	74	Leader
2	Dmytro Tsyro	64	– 10
3	Marc Serra Jové	45	– 29
4	Alexey Kuzmich	40	– 34
5	Manuel Luchesse	38	– 36
6	Riaan Greyling	35	– 39
7	Patrick McMurren	34	– 40
8	Ali Hasan Obaid	26	– 48
9	Waleed Saleh Alshegawi	23	– 51
10	Osama Alsanad	22	– 52
11	David Schovánek	20	– 54
12	Rui Franco	19	– 55
T-13	Arif Bin Mohammed	15	– 59
T-13	Aisvydas Paliukėnas	15	– 59
15	Abdulaziz Al-Jabri	13	– 61
16	Marcin Pasek	13	– 61
17	Annie Seel	12	– 62
T-18	Tariq Saleh Al-Rammah	11	– 63
T-18	Ata Al-Hmoud	11	– 63
20	Omar Abdulleh Al-Lahim	8	– 66
21	Taye Perry	6	– 68
22	Ali Mirza	5	– 69
23	Tamer Alhijazeen	4	– 70

Teams

Rank	Team	Points	Margin
1	Shegawi Racing	77	Leader
2	Buggyra ZM Racing	47	– 30
T-3	Saudi Border Guard	45	– 32
T-3	QMMF Racing Team	45	– 32
T-5	Race World Team	30	– 47
T-5	Quaddy Racing	30	– 47
7	Dark Horse	25	– 52
8	Sports Racing Technologies	20	– 57

T2

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	Ibrahim Nasser Al-Muhna	108	Leader
2	Ahmed Abdullah Al-Shegawi	73	– 35
3	Majed Abdulrahman Al-Thunayyan	26	– 82

T3

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	Hamad Nasser Alharbi	53	Leader
2	Yasir Seaidan	40	– 13
3	Abel Abdulla	39	– 14
4	Josef Macháček	35	– 18
5	Mohammed Almeer	32	– 21
6	Abdullah Ahmed Alshegawi	26	– 27
7	Mario Franco	25	– 28
8	Nouef Hassan Al-Sowaidi	21	– 32

T4

Drivers

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	Salem Aldhafeeri	102	Leader
2	Maha Mohammed Hamali	81	– 21
3	Ahmed Fahad Alkuwari	57	– 45
4	Atif Alzarouni	40	– 62
5	Saeed Almouri	28	– 74
6	Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi	23	– 79
7	Mohammed An Al-Atteya	22	– 80

Teams

Rank	Team	Points	Margin
1	Quaddy Racing	50	Leader
2	Dark Horse	47	– 3
3	Sports Racing Technologies	25	– 25