Local Emerati Red Bull Yamaha star Mohammed Al Balooshi clinched his second FIM Baja World Cup title with a dominating performance in the second 170km leg of the Dubai International.
Al Balooshi, who set up his title with a win in the opening leg on Saturday, won the final day by an impressive 10:37.3s from Kuwaiti Abdulla Alshatti with France’s Jean Loup Lepan of France just 50 seconds further back in third.
With series leader David Megre of Portugal in fifth, Al Balooshi was crowned World Cup Champion for the second time after a dominating display in front of his home crowd.
His win did not come without controversy with a protest lodged after a refuelling incident, but sanity prevailed and Al Balooshi was cleared of any wrongdoing.
“Today was the last day of the last round and the last stage of the World Cup Championship and I’m really happy to finish it on a high note,” said Al Balooshi.
“We had a few situations with the timings and the FIA granted me my time back. I’m really happy to win the World Cup in my country and winning the Dubai International Baja is really the icing on the cake.
“Since 2018, I’ve been really trying to recapture this moment again and every time I fell short.
“I couldn’t be more happy to win it, finally in my home country.”
Al Balooshi led the riders into action carrying a 1:50s lead into the final day of the season.
Despite the disadvantage of being first on the road and having to navigate a path through the dunes, Al Balooshi was at home on the challenging terrain.
For a second day in a row, Megre struggled on the unforgiving dunes.
There was further glory for local riders in the Quads where overnight leader Abdulaziz Ahli stamped his authority over Kevin Giroud to secure back-to-back successes on his home event.
Giroud’s second place just over four minutes behind Ahli was enough for the Frenchman to take the world title.
In the cars, Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah secured his second success in the event in its current Baja format, from ENOC Leg 2 winner Yazeed Al Rajhi.
The car season concluded with Yazeed Al Rajhi winning the second leg from overnight leader Al-Attiya by 2:16.3s.
That was enough for Al-Attiyah to take the overall victory, his 12th success in the history of the event, with two victories since the beginning of the Bajas era and 10 previous victories under rally format, reinforcing his authority over the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Bajas.
“It was a really great run. We won the last race and the World Cup and we are so happy,” said Al-Attiyah, who is a five-time Dakar champion.
“Thanks to the organisation and the teams. It’s an amazing win”
The Dubai International Baja takes place under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and chairman of the Dubai Executive Council.
In cooperation with Automotive partner Al Futtaim Toyota, Dubai Festival City, Energy Partner ENOC, and Al Ain Water. The rally is also supported by the Dubai Government and its entities Dubai Police, RTA, Dubai Sports Council, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Customs, Dubai Civil Defense, Wild Affairs Region Department, Dubai Media and Dubai Sport TV.
The seventh edition of this desert classic event kicked off in Festival City in Dubai on Friday, with the evening prologue stage offering spectators a chance to see all of the competitors in action ahead of Saturday and Sunday’s cross-country legs.
