– South Racing’s De Sousa Batista wins FIA T4 category; Pons takes second place
– Two-way T4 title showdown in Dubai for Al-Thefiri and De Sousa Batista
South Racing Can-Am Team’s Fernando Alvarez confirmed the FIA T3 Drivers’ Championship title with a comfortable category win at the three-day Saudi Baja 2022-Hail, round seven of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas.
Victory for Brazil’s Cristiano de Sousa Batista in the FIA T4 section and second place for Eduard Pons means that the South Racing Can-Am Team duo of Meshari Al-Thefiri and de Sousa Batista and will now decide the outcome of the Drivers’ Championship at the final round in Dubai next month. Technical issues om the final day cost Dutchman Kees Koolen his chance of challenging for the title in the UAE. South Racing also confirmed the FIA T4 Teams’ Championship.
Alvarez and French co-driver Xavier Panseri dominated the T3 section across two challenging desert selective sections in the An Nafud desert to the west and northwest of the city of Hail in the north-central region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They guided their Can-Am to a stunning third overall, beaten only by two more powerful T1 category cars.
Alvarez had been given special dispensation by Baja officials to carry out his administration checks on the day of the start after a frantic dash through Europe to reach Hail after travel delays.
The Spaniard said: « It’s a dream come true for me to win a World Championship. The race almost didn’t happen for me due to travel cancellations to get all the way from Argentina to Hail. But, in the end, it was a great race. Thanks to Xavi and the team for a great year and we still look forward to racing in Dubai to finish the championship. »
Dania Akeel teamed up with Uruguay’s Sergio Lafuente in the second of four South Racing Can-Ams entered in T3 and the Saudi finished seventh overall and third in T3. She retained a comfortable second in the Drivers’ Championship behind Alvarez.
Fellow Saudi Mashael Al-Obaidan benefited from the experience of Dutch co-driver Wouter Rosegaar to finish inside the overall top 10 and fifth in T3. She said: « A wonderful rally with some bumpy sections. As usual, the organisers surprised us with great tracks. »
Qatar’s Mohammed Al-Attiyah teamed up with Emirati co-driver Ali Mirza in a South Racing Can-Am but lost considerable time after rolling in stage 1B. He finished seventh in T3 after a good recovery on the final day.
The Qatari said: « Unfortunately, after 10km, we had an accident and we broke the car. We tried to overtake the driver in front while descending a hill, but we landed on the front tyres and rolled over. »
De Sousa Batista was beaten only by Saudi Baja winner Yazeed Al-Rajhi on the final stage and the second fastest time catapulted the Brazilian into a T4-topping finish and fourth overall. He and Fausto Moto finished 3min 22sec in front of Eduard Pons and Mónica Plaza Vasquez in the second of the South Racing Can-Ams.
Last day technical issues cost Kees Koolen and Italian co-driver Paolo Ceci dearly and they slipped back from second in T4 to finish sixth. Meshari Al-Thefiri was unable to extend his lead in the FIA T4 Drivers’ Championship after running into electrical issues with Spanish navigator Oriol Vidal. The Kuwaiti finished seventh in T4.
South Racing Can-Am Team’s Scott Abraham said: « After sealing both T3 and T4 World Championships recently and now being able to win the T3 Baja World Cup with Fernando and the T4 Baja Teams’ Championship, it was another great weekend for South Racing and Can-Am. It was again a strong performance in the T4 category.
« It has been an extremely busy last few months for the South Racing team and will continue through with Dakar preparations, as well as the Baja 1000 project next week and the Dubai International Baja to finally finish off the FIA Baja Championship the same week as loading the Dakar boats! A lot still to do and a big thanks to all the team for making this happen. »
As it happened
The opening Qualifying Stage close to the official start at the Al-Maghawah National Park was reduced from 18km to just 3.91km in length. Seven crews were deemed eligible to tackle both the FIA T3 and T4 sections and the South Racing Can-Am Team were running eight of those cars
De Sousa Batista recorded the second quickest of all the cars to head T4 and take a favourable starting position into the opening selective section towards Jubbah. Alvarez came home in fourth overall to lead T3 from Saleh Al-Saif. Valeiša held sixth overall and was second in the T4 section, followed by Koolen and Al-Thefiri.
The first desert stage was slightly revised to 229.52km, ran to the west and northwest of Hail and was split into two sections of 101.52km and 128.00km by a neutralisation link.
Alvarez started out from seventh on the road and strengthened his grip on the T3 Championship by setting the third quickest time overall and he moved into a similar position in the rankings.
Fernando said: « We did very well and we are happy with third place. The car was perfect. We had no problems and stayed all the time on a good way. »
Pons topped the T4 times and edged 29 seconds clear of Koolen. With Al-Thefiri suffering major time delays with electrical issues, that handed the initiative to De Sousa Batista and Koolen in the three-way fight for the FIA title.
Al-Thefiri said: « We had changed the engine but still suffered in the car with some electrical problem which forced the engine to shut down many times. We managed to restart and pass De Sousa but the problem worsened. »
The final selective section of 183.42km was named after the nearby remote village of Farhaniyah and ran to the west of Hail. Alvarez held on to confirm third overall and the T3 Drivers’ title, but technical issues cost Koolen valuable time in the T4 tussle and the stage win enabled De Sousa Batista to pip Pons to top honours.
The South Racing Can-Am Team receives valuable support for the race programme from Method Wheels, Tensor Tires, Motul, Bell, Jjuan Brake Systems, Lazer and OMP.
The FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas will reach its conclusion at the start of December with the Dubai International Baja.
Saudi Baja 2022-Hail – FIA T3 standings:
1. Fernando Alvarez (ESP)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3, 4hr 47min 55sec
2. Alliyyah Koloc (ARE)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA) Buggyra Can-Am DV21, 4hr 49min 17sec
3. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Sergio Lafuente (URY) South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3, 5hr 03min 42sec
4. Hamed Al-Harbi (SAU)/Dmytro Tsyro (UKR) Can-Am Maverick X3, 5hr 10min 07sec
5. Mashael Al-Obaidan (SAU)/Wouter Rosegaar (NLD) South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3, 5hr 19min 32sec
6. Saleh Al-Saif (SAU)/Tariq Saleh Al-Rammah (SAU) Can-Am Maverick X3, 17hr 04min 07sec
7. Mohammed Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Ali Mirza (ARE) South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 30hr 57min 45sec
Saudi Baja 2022-Hail – FIA T4 standings:
1. Cristiano Batista (BRA)/Fausto Mota (PRT) South Racing Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 4hr 56min 27sec
2. Eduard Pons (ESP)/Mónica Plaza Vasquez (ESP) South Racing Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo, 4hr 59min 49sec
3. Egidijus Valeiša (LTU)/ Mindaugas Varža (LTU) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo, 5hr 04min 10sec
4. Saeed Al-Mouri (SAU)/Ata Al-Hmoud (JOR) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo, 5hr 24min 00sec
5. Camelia Liparoti (ITA)/Taye Perry (DEU) Yamaha YXZ 1000R, 5hr 54min 36sec
6. Kees Koolen (NLD)/Paolo Ceci (ITA) South Racing Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo, 6hr 00min 02sec
7. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KWT)/Oriol Vidal (ESP) South Racing Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo, 55hr 12min 26sec
Neil Perkins,