World Rally-Raid Championship

Baja Troia cancelled, ending 2024 FIA European Baja Cup

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Credit: Yamaha Racing

The 2024 FIA World Baja Cup has come to a rather abrupt end. On Wednesday, the İstanbul Off-Road Kulübü announced the cancellation of the Baja Troia Türkiye due to low entries.

The race was supposed to be the fifth and final round of the season, scheduled for 7–9 November. However, once registration closed on Tuesday, organisers found there were not enough drivers signed up to meet the minimum for the FIA. Wednesday’s news mark the second year in a row that an FIA Baja Cup season finale was cancelled after the World and Middle East Baja Cups’ Jordan Baja was canned in 2023.

ISOFF hopes to have the event back in 2025, where it will be the second race and planned for 15–18 May.

“Our club diligently worked for eight months to prepare for the Baja Troia 2024 race, planned to be held in Çanakkale,” begins a statement from ISOFF. “We conducted numerous meetings with local authorities to ensure a smooth operation for all stages of the race. As part of our meticulous preparations, we secured:

  • 17 vehicles and 75 gendarmerie personnel
  • 6 vehicles and 24 Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) personnel
  • 8 fire trucks, including 6 4×4 vehicles, and 28 firefighters
  • 6 4×4 ambulances, 2 4×2 ambulances, and 19 emergency medical personnel
  • 22 radio communication vehicles
  • A total of 160 hotel room reservations across 3 hotels

“With the support of the Governorship, the Provincial Special Administration, General Directorate of Highways, Provincial Directorate of Youth and Sports, Çanakkale Municipality, Provincial Security Directorate, Provincial Gendarmerie Command, Uludağ Elektrik, Regional Directorate of Forestry, and other institutions, we finalised the assignments and preparations for all teams involved throughout the race.

“However, due to the insufficient number of registered racers to constitute a ‘sporting’ event as per championship requirements, we have, in agreement with TOSFED (Turkish Automobile Sports Federation), concluded that the race cannot take place. Consequently, the FIA has also decided to cancel the event.

“The Baja Troia race will be included in the 2025 FIA calendar and is scheduled for May 15–18. We eagerly await the participation of all racers in the Baja Troia Turkey race in May 2025. We have designed exhilarating and enjoyable stages for your racing pleasure.

“See you on May 15–18, 2025.”

With the season cut short, João Ferreira officially clinches his second European Baja Cup overall title, narrowly holding off Stock champion Fernando Barreiros. Ironically, Turkey’s cancellation gives Ferreira a chance to also secure the Portuguese Cross-Country Championship (CPTT) because it was originally scheduled to take place on the same weekend as the CPTT’s Baja Escuderia Castelo Branco.

Since the European Baja Cup’s formation in 2021, the outright championship has alternated between Krzysztof Hołowczyc and Ferreira, the former winning the inaugural crown and in 2023 while the latter took the 2022 and 2024 titles. With Hołowczyc planning to take a sabbatical from cross-country rally, however, the pattern is unlikely to hold for 2025.

João Dias settled for third overall but won the Challenger championship, while Tomasz Białkowski claimed the production SSV title.

The 2024 EBC began with the Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura in May followed by the Italian Baja, Hungarian Baja, and Baja TT Sharish Gin.

Final 2024 FIA World Baja Cup standings

Overall

Drivers

RankDriverPointsMargin
1João Ferreira168Leader
2Fernando Barreiros155– 13
3João Dias142– 26
4Tomasz Białkowski127– 41
5Miquel Prat111– 57
6Alexandre Pinto101– 67
7Adam Kus81– 87
8Fidel Castillo Ruiz75– 93
T-9Włodzimierz Grajek65– 103
T-9Yağız Birinci65– 103
11Magdalena Zajac61– 107
12Paulo Rodrigues58– 110
13William Buller50– 118
14Rui Carneiro44– 124
15Fernando Álvarez43– 125
16Francisco Barreto41– 127
17Otávio Leite39– 129
18Rui Serpa34– 134
19Armindo Araújo32– 136
20Benediktas Vanagas29– 139
21Daniel Alonso25– 143
22Rui Farinha23– 145

Co-drivers

RankCo-DriverPointsMargin
1Filipe Palmeiro168Leader
2João Miranda128– 40
3Dariusz Baśkiewicz127– 41
4Antonio Rui Manuel Pereira115– 53
5Bernardo Oliveira101– 67
6Ion Del Cid82– 86
7Marcin Pasek81– 87
8Fausto Mota75– 93
9João Pedro Vitoria Re74– 94
T-10Michał Goleniewski65– 103
T-10Evangelos Sotirchos65– 103
12Błażej Czekan61– 107
13Rui Pita57– 111
14Ola Fløene44– 124
15Xavier Panseri43– 125
16Carlos Duarte41– 127
17Rui Antonio40– 128
18Valter Cardoso39– 129
19Gonçalo Reis30– 138
T-20Daniel Olivera Carreras29– 139
T-20Kuldar Sikk29– 139
T-22Candido Estevez Carrera25– 143
T-22Allan Stirlin25– 143
T-22Jorge Jordão25– 143

Teams

RankTeamPointsMargin
1Santag Racing274Leader
2X-raid Mini JCW Team168– 106
3G Rally Team136– 138

Ultimate

Drivers

RankDriverPointsMargin
1João Ferreira168Leader
2Włodzimierz Grajek65– 103
3Magdalena Zajac61– 107
4Francisco Barreto41– 127
5Benediktas Vanagas29– 139
6Daniel Alonso25– 143

Co-drivers

RankCo-DriverPointsMargin
1Filipe Palmeiro168Leader
2Michał Goleniewski65– 103
3Błażej Czekan61– 107
4Carlos Duarte41– 127
5Kuldar Sikk29– 139
6Candido Estevez Carrera25– 143

Challenger

Drivers

RankDriverPointsMargin
1João Dias142Leader
2Alexandre Pinto101– 41
3Adam Kus81– 61
4Paulo Rodrigues58– 84
5Rui Carneiro44– 98
6Fernando Álvarez43– 99
7Otávio Leite39– 103
8Armindo Araújo32– 110

Co-drivers

RankCo-DriverPointsMargin
1João Miranda128Leader
2Bernardo Oliveira101– 27
3Marcin Pasek81– 47
4João Pedro Vitoria Re74– 54
5Ola Fløene44– 84
6Xavier Panseri43– 85
7Valter Cardoso39– 89
8Gonçalo Reis30– 98

SSV

Drivers

RankDriverPointsMargin
1Tomasz Białkowski127Leader
2Miquel Prat111– 16
3Fidel Castillo Ruiz75– 52
4Yağız Birinci65– 62
5William Buller50– 77
6Rui Serpa34– 93
7Rui Farinha23– 104

Co-drivers

RankCo-DriverPointsMargin
1Dariusz Baśkiewicz127Leader
2Ion Del Cid82– 45
3Fausto Mota75– 52
4Evangelos Sotirchos65– 62
5Rui Pita57– 70
6Daniel Carreras29– 98
T-7Allan Stirling25– 102
T-7Jorge Jordão25– 102

Stock

Drivers

RankDriverPointsMargin
1Fernando Barreiros155Leader

Co-drivers

RankCo-DriverPointsMargin
1Antonio Rui Manuel Pereira155Leader
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Justin is not an off-road racer, but he writes about it for The Checkered Flag.
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