– Fifth place overall for the Baud family
– Valuable points for the FIA World Baja Cup
Lionel and Lucie Baud secured fifth place overall and third place in the Ultimate category at the Qatar International Baja, the penultimate round of the FIA World Baja Cup.
The father-daughter duo got off to an unlucky start at the event. Shortly after the start of the prologue, they suffered a puncture. They decided not to stop and instead completed the remaining eight kilometres or so on three wheels. Although they lost a few minutes, stopping would probably have cost them even more time.
As a result, they started the first special stage from 26th position. Lionel and Lucie Baud were undeterred by the previous day’s setback and produced an impressive recovery drive. After more than 300 kilometres, they recorded the fourth-fastest time, despite a navigation error. They completed the second and final special stage a day later in fifth place.
Thanks to this strong result, Lionel Baud has improved his position to third place in the overall FIA World Baja Cup standings. He is now second in the Ultimate category. However, the final round of the FIA World Baja Cup, the Baja Dubai, will take place next weekend. The final championship standings, both overall and in the individual categories, will be confirmed after this event.
Statement
Lionel Baud (MINI JCW Rally 3.0i): « We have completed the Qatar Baja with a very good result and, above all, an incredible amount of enjoyment behind the wheel! Things couldn’t have started much worse: a puncture during the prologue meant we had to start the first stage from 26th position. Yesterday, we then produced a fantastic recovery drive, fighting our way up from 26th to fourth and overtaking numerous competitors in the dust. It was an intense day, although a navigation error cost us a lot of time and certainly prevented us from achieving an even better result.
« Today, everything went perfectly! We completed a very strong stage and crossed the finish line just 13 minutes behind Nasser Al-Attiyah. We should therefore finish fifth overall and third in the Ultimate category, securing valuable points for the World Cup! Beyond the result itself, what I will remember most is the exceptional feeling behind the wheel. The car was fantastic to drive, I was able to push hard and had an enormous amount of fun.
« A huge compliment to Lucie, who did an excellent job navigating in sometimes particularly difficult conditions, especially with so many overtaking manoeuvres. Many thanks also to the entire X-raid team for their fantastic work. The car performed flawlessly and allowed us to fight right at the front.
« Following Portugal, this Baja has once again confirmed that we have the pace to compete with the best. That is extremely encouraging for the races ahead!
« A great adventure, plenty of emotions and, above all, a huge motivation to keep fighting at the front! »
Overall standings
1. N. Al-Attiyah / M. Delfino – MD – 5h 12m 54s
2. F. Barreto / P. Fiuza – Toyota – 5h 42m 03s
3. A. Al-Kuwari / O. Mena – Can-Am – 5h 51m 32s
4. K. Al-Attiya / S. Duple – Taurus – 5h 58m 59s
5. L. Baud / L. Baud – MINI JCW Rally 3.0i – 6h 00m 38s…
Stefanie Szlapka,