International teams have arrived in the Red Sea city of Aqaba for this weekend’s Jordan Baja, the second rounds of the FIA World and Middle East Baja Cups and the FIM Bajas World and Asia Cups.
A new service park is located in a scenic area in close proximity to the Hyatt Regency Aqaba Ayla Resort, surrounded to the north by majestic mountains and by the azure blue waters of the Red Sea to the south.
The area was a hive of activity on Tuesday with engineers and technicians refettling motorcycles and cars after the recent round of the various Baja championships in Saudi Arabia and crews making their final preparations for the three-day event being hosted by Jordan Motorsport.
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah followed up a sensational sixth victory at the Dakar Rally with victory at the first round of the FIA Middle East Baja Cup two weeks ago. He has opted to take part in four regional Bajas this year in an Optimus Buggy prepared and run by MD Sport and the Qatari stunned his rivals by claiming a last stage victory in Saudi Arabia to lead the regional Baja Cup.
Al-Attiyah is a multi-time winner of the Jordan Rally but has never competed in the Jordan Baja, although he did visit the event in 2025 in his role as team manager under the Nasser Racing Team banner. Belgian Fabian Lurquin returns as his navigator for this event – Max Delfino partnered Al-Attiyah to success in Ha’il recently – and the duo are confident that they can challenge for the win. Al-Attiyah also confirmed today that he will return to W2RC action next month with the Dacia Sandriders team to compete in the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal.
The Qatari said: « I’m happy to be here in Jordan. I like the terrain, it’s very similar to Dakar stages. I was here with my team last year to support them and decided to come this year after winning in Ha’il. It will be nice to carry on for the Middle East Baja Cup. I actually did a Baja event in Jordan way back in 1989 at the very start of my career.
« Jordan Baja is a really difficult event. We have good experience and we try for the first time with the Buggy. We will push and try to win this race. The terrain is similar to Al-Ula and Neom in Saudi Arabia. It’ a nice landscape. »
The Trebur-based X-raid team is running a single diesel-engined Mini JCW Rally Plus for the French father and son duo of Lionel and Lucie Baud in Jordan. Baud has now registered for the FIA World Baja Cup after missing the opening round in Saudi Arabia.
The German team runs the management of Tobias Quandt this weekend and will be aiming for a third victory at the event since it joined the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas in September 2019.
Poland’s Jakub Przygonski teamed up with German navigator Timo Gottschalk to win that event in a Mini All4 Racing and, following the cancellation of the 2020 Baja through global travel restrictions, X-raid returned in 2021 to take the winners’ laurels with Yasir Seaidan and Alexey Kuzmich in a Mini JCW Rally.
While Mohammed Al-Balooshi has dominated the motorcycle category with five victories in as many starts, no driver has ever taken two wins on Jordan’s round of the Baja series.
Two defending class champions have returned, however, to try and win their categories for a second time. Fresh from winning last weekend’s Qatar International Rally, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari arrives in Aqaba aiming to retain his Challenger title. The Qatari teamed up with Oriol Mena last year to finish second overall and win his category in a Taurus T3 Max. He returns in the latest version of the side-by-side machine with support from the QMMF and Frenchman Stéphane Duplé as his navigator.
Fellow countryman Abdullah Al-Rabban topped the standings in Jordan and also won the Stock category for series-production cross-country machines in the FIA Middle East Baja Cup in 2025 with a Nissan Patrol and navigator Ali Al-Ajmi.
The pair are registered for the FIA World Baja Cup on this occasion and face competition from defending champion Majed Al-Thunayyan, who won the Stock section in Jordan in 2024. Abdullah Al-Shegawi, Ahmad Al-Muhannadi, Al-Mashna Al-Shammeri and Fernando Barreiros are also chasing Stock honours at the rear of the FIA field.
The 2026 Jordan Baja is sponsored by Zain Jordan, Markazia Toyota Gazoo Racing, KUMHO tire, Ayla, the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), Hala and Bliss FM.
Administration checks and technical scrutineering will take place at rally headquarters and within the Ayla service park tomorrow (Wednesday).
Neil Perkins,