Following the epic landscape and the spectacular success of the Hatta stage on Friday the crews of Dubai International Baja turned their attention to the more familiar, if no less daunting challenges of the dunes in Al Qudra Desert on Al-Futtaim Toyota Stage 2.
The crews faced 195km of timed stages with 164km of road section for a total of 359km of driving and riding on another hot day in the desert with temperatures above 30 degrees celsius.
Continuing his winning form from Hatta on Friday, Brazil’s Lucas Moraes took victory on day two for Toyota Gazoo Racing in his Toyota Hilux co driven by Armand Monleon. The duo carries a 6m05s advantage into the final day.
His nearest rival is reigning champion Nasser Al Attiyah whose hopes of securing a 13th victory in Dubai’s famous international rally are still very much alive after a strong day in the familiar dunes of Al Qudra at the wheel of his Nasser Racing Taurus T3 buggy with Pablo Moreno in the co driver’s seat.
Portuguese pairing Joao Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro are in a podium position ahead of the final day, just over eight and a half minutes in arrears in their X-Raid Mini JCW Team Mini.
Rounding out the top five are Ferreira’s X-Raid Mini tram-mate Denis Krotov of Kyrgyzstan and Frenchman Ronan Chabot (Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux) with the leading five cars covered by just 10m13s.
Speaking after the stage Lucas Moraes was delighted with his day in the desert, having revelled in a battle with team mate Seth Quintero and his co-driver Dennis Zenz before the latter crew hit suspension and fuel problems and were forced to retire towards the end of the day when it looked like they might be on course for stage honours.
“It was a really nice race,” said Moraes. “My first year that I did (here) was ’22 and the dunes were much more choppy and up and down. This time round it was much fun and you could carry a lot more momentum.
“Seth (Quintero) and I, we were flying. We were passing each other and having fun. Unfortunately they had some problems towards the end because the win would have been for him”
“We’re looking forward to tomorrow and it was nice to bring a stage win for the team who deliver amazing cars so, yeah, keep going.”
Prologue winner Konrad Dabrowski continued his fine form on his first baja rally of the season as he claimed victory on day two among the motorcyclists. The 23-year-old Polish rider will have his sights set higher than just the Junior Class victory after steering his Duust Rally Team KTM 450 to fastest time.
Local star Mohammed Al Balooshi was just 4m46.7s behind in second on his MX Ride Dubai Yamaha 450YZF but the reigning world champion is primed to challenge for a second successive and third career Dubai International Baja victory.
Dubai-based Briton Alex McInnes is very much in the hunt for overall honours in third place overnight with 8m08.6 to make up on day three while UAE’s Sultan Alblooshi and fellow countryman Hamdan Alali round out the top five.
Leading Quad rider on the Yamaha Raptors on day was the UAE’s Abdulaziz Ahli comfortably ahead of Saudi’s Abdulaziz Al Atawi.
The crews now turn their attention to the challenges of Zayed and Rashid Stage 3.
The third and final stage celebrates the moment on 18th February 1968 when His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the then Ruler of Abu Dhabi met Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai on the border between Abu Dhabi and Dubai to agree on uniting their respective emirates, the starting point for the vision to unite the seven emirates of UAE.
Zayed and Rashid Stage 3 begins at 7am (Sunday 1st December) with the first crews expected to complete the selective sections from 10.45am onwards, after which the teams will return to the Service Park in Dubai Festival Mall where they will be on view to spectators throughout the day.
As on Saturday, there are 195km of timed ‘special stage’ action in Al Qudra Desert on Stage 3 with 164km of road section for a total 359km of driving and riding to and from Dubai Festival City on the final day of action after which the champions of Dubai International Baja will be crowned.
At that point they will have put 867km of driving and riding under their wheels across three days of the most challenging and exhilarating international baja rallying.
The final event interviews, podium ceremony and prize giving will get under way from 18:30 at Dubai Festival City, a final opportunity for fans to salute the drivers and riders at the end of another classic edition of Dubai International Baja.
After Saturday’s Al-Futtaim Toyota Stage 2, Jacques Brent, Managing Director – Toyota and Lexus, Al-Futtaim Motors was a happy to reflect on another great day’s rallying in Al Qudra.
“It’s always competitive so you never know how it’s going to turn out but we’re sure that we have the right competitors and the right products being Toyotas and hopefully we’ll get away with a win.
“It’s a good a good opportunity for us to showcase our products in a competitive format. You know Toyota has been synonymous with racing for more than 50 years of involvement. Dubai Baja obviously suits the products that we have, things like LandCruiser and Hilux, especially the Hilux which features really well in an event like this. Toyota is hopeful for a Toyota victory.”
Now in its eighth edition under the Baja format, the event draws top competitors from around the globe to tackle the challenging dunes of Dubai.
Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and organized by the Emirates Motorsport Organization (EMSO) in collaboration with the Dubai Sports Council, the Baja is supported by Official Automotive Partner Al-Futtaim Toyota, Energy Partner ENOC, and the strategic collaboration of the Dubai Government and its entities, including the Dubai Police, RTA and Dubai Municipality.
