Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah
Lusail: Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah has entered the Qatar International Baja at the last minute to further boost a massive international entry of cars, motorcycles and quads for this weekend’s three-day event that is based out of the Lusail International Circuit, north of Doha.
Competitors from a staggering 33 countries will tackle the fifth round of the FIM Bajas World Cup and crucial counting rounds of the FIA World and Middle East Baja Cups.
Al Attiyah has teamed up with Spaniard Pablo Moreno for the first time - the usual co-driver for his Dacia team-mate Cristina Gutiérrez - and will drive a Nasser Racing Team Taurus T3 Max in the Challenger category.
His knowledge of the desert, coupled with the competitive pace of such lightweight prototype cross-country vehicles, could well see the multiple winner of the event start as one of the favourites for yet another win on home sand.
Al Attiyah’s record in the Qatar desert is second to none: he won the inaugural event way back in 2004 with Didier Le Gal in a Chevrolet Pro Truck, repeated that success the following year in a BMW X5 with Alain Guehennec and then stormed to victory in the 2011 Baja with Lucas Cruz in a SAM Mercedes 35CC when the event returned to the calendar as an official FIA candidate.
Between 2012 and 2020, the event ran to a longer format as a round of the FIA Cross-Country Rallies World Cup and Al Attiyah was victorious in 2012, 2014-2017 and 2019-2020, taking five wins with Toyota and two with the X-Raid Mini team.
A shorter format event ran as a round of the FIA Middle East Cup for Cross-Country Bajas in 2022 and Al Attiyah was again on the top step of the podium – a feat he repeated last season when the event was included in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas.
“It was not the plan to do this but the event is special to me,” said Al Attiyah, who will test the car today.
Driving the Taurus will be a new challenge for me here before we switch attention to our final preparations for a first Dakar with Dacia.
“I try to be with the Nasser Racing team to manage these things. I had an extra car in Spain at my camp there and the Federation (QMMF) gave me the chance to compete. I win many times and maybe we try to win. Why not? The Qatar Baja always has a big surprise. It doesn’t always mean a T1+ wins. Look at what happened at Portalegre in Portugal recently. This year, Challenger beat the T1+. It will not be easy to fight but I am trying to get a better set-up for the future for my clients.
“Pablo is with our Dacia team. My usual co-driver Edouard (Boulanger) is having an operation to remove the metal from his back. It’s a good time for this for him to recover before the Dakar. I talk with Dacia and Prodrive and we agreed to take Pablo. He knows the cars well and it’s good experience for him in Qatar as well.”
Meanwhile, the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) is also fielding a five-car team with three of the five crews registered for the FIA Middle East Baja Cup.
Al Attiyah’s brother Khalifa has entered the Baja with Brazilian navigator Enzo Bozzano, the recently-crowned FIA Middle East rally champion Abdulaziz Al Kuwari teams up with his brother Nasser and Nouef Al Sowaidi and Lithuanian co-driver Aisvydas Paliukenas crew the third Taurus T3 Max registered for the regional series.
Rashid and Ahmad Al Muhannadi also drive T3 Max machines with Poland’s Szymon Gospodarczyk and Tamer Al Hijazdeen working as their respective co-drivers.
Qatari Ahmed Al Kuwari is running one of the latest Yamaha YXZ 1000R models under the Quaddy Racing banner with Manuel Lucchese and will be aiming to maintain his lead in the overall FIA Middle East Baja Cup.
Abdulah Al Rabban is challenging for Stock category success in a Nissan Patrol, while Mohammed Al Atteya and Abdullah Al Khelaifi drive a pair of Can-Ams in the SSV class.
QMMF officials have made very minor tweaks to the demanding desert route with the opening stage on Friday slightly increased to 246.41km and the second stage through the south of the country on Saturday also upped to 251.10km for a total competitive distance of 497.51km.
Action gets underway with a timed Prologue stage of 9.9km starting at 13.45hrs for the motorcycles tomorrow.
