Overdrive Racing’s Dania Akeel and her French navigator Sébastien Delaunay maintained their challenge for 2026 FIA World Baja Cup honours with a hard-earned second place at the Aqaba-based Jordan Baja.
The Jameel Motorsport-backed duo were second quickest through the final stage in the awe-inspiring deserts of Wadi Rum and managed to overhaul overnight leader Lionel Baud to secure the runner-up spot and valuable points behind winner Saood Variawa.
« I am super happy with how it went, » said Akeel. « It really was a challenging and tough rally that had so many different types of terrain. It was a fantastic race. I got a message from Yazeed (Al-Rajhi) congratulating me on the result. Last year, my goal was to be on the podium and we had an issue on the first stage.
« I was very conservative yesterday to rewrite the memory and we had a good stage today. The races in Jordan are on a high level and it makes you drive better. Sébastien did a great job with the navigation. »
Action got underway near the village of Rahmeh, 53km north of Aqaba, with a desert Prologue of 12.78km. The stage crossed twisty and rocky desert and Akeel settled into seventh position.
The outcome was used to determine the starting order for the first desert stage of 225.71km that started and finished in the ancient Nabataean trading post of Humaymeh. The Saudi was sixth on the road for the stage.
The special started with a sinuous climb along very difficult tracks into the mountains with rocky terrain and difficult navigation. Akeel was the pace-setter and the quickest driver through several of the early checkpoints before technical sections gave way to faster open desert. She brought the Toyota to the finish in third place.
« It was very challenging and technical, » said Akeel. « The terrain was tricky. I kept my mind more on the conservative side with a lot of caution. I didn’t rely too much on the dangers in the road book. It’s really tricky terrain here. It was very challenging in a good way. »
The second stage concluded the weekend’s action and ran on a different course through Wadi Rum for 195.38km. Akeel started out behind stage one winner Lionel Baud and Dakar winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah.
She had a fast pace from the outset, managed to pass Baud and reached the finish in second overall, 3min 51.8sec behind the winner, to put her in a strong position to challenge for FIA World Baja Cup honours this season.
There is now a four-month lay-off before the FIA World Baja Cup resumes with Baja Greece on June 4th-7th.
2026 Jordan Baja – result (unofficial):
1. Saood Variawa (RSA)/François Cazalet (FRA) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo, 4hr 41min 37.3sec*
2. Dania Akeel (KSA)/Sébastian Delaunay (FRA) Toyota Hilux Evo, 4hr 45min 29.1sec*
3. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA) X-Raid Mini JCW Rally Plus 3.0d, 4hr 46min 16.1sec*
4. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Max Delfino (FRA) MD Optimus Rallye, 4hr 47min 16.1sec+
5. Yasir Seaidan (KSA)/Xavier Flick (FRA) Taurus Evo Max, 5hr 04min 54.9sec+
6. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Michal Goleniewski (POL) Ford F-150, 5hr 05min 35.9sec+
7. Hamed Al-Wahaibi (OMA)/Maciej Giemza (POL) Can-Am Maverick R, 5hr 10min 34.4sec*
8. Hedda Hosås (NOR)/Pol Tibau (ESP) Can-Am Maverick R, 5hr 11min 02.6sec*
9. Mohammed Al-Marri (QAT)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Can-Am Maverick R, 5hr 12min 24.8sec+
10. Fernando Alvarez (ARG)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Can-Am Maverick R, 5hr 21min 20.4sec*…