Organised by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF), the three-day event has attracted a 37-car field with 11 crews registered for the FIA World Baja Cup and 15 concentrating on the regional Baja series. Nine teams are registered in the flagship Ultimate class, in addition to 12 in Challenger, 13 in SSV and three in the Stock category. 

Overdrive Racing’s Dania Akeel has an eight-point lead in the FIA World Baja Cup Drivers’ Championship but the Saudi has already completed her nominated six events. She will be watching from the sidelines as nearest rival, Challenger category leader Mitchel van den Brink, faces off against Francisco Barreto, Lionel Baud, Saood Variawa and Majed Al-Thunayyan for the overall Drivers’ Championship. 

The South Racing Can-Am Team’s Van den Brink has a 60-point cushion over Oman’s Hamed Al-Wahaibi in the Challenger class but the overall Drivers’ Championship standings are much closer. The Dutchman has a seven-point advantage over SVR Toyota’s Barreto – the winner of the recent Baja Portalegre 500 in Portugal – and a further 18-point cushion over the X-Raid Team’s Baud, who has a useful lead in the Master Driver category.  

Variawa has also only scored from four events so far and trails the Dutchman by 33 points, while Stock category favourite Majed Al-Thunayyan has an outside chance of a podium finish and only needs eight points from his last event to overhaul Al-Mashna Al-Shammeri and claim the Stock title. 

Akeel’s navigator Sébastien Delaunay leads the way from Bart van Heun in the Navigators’ Championship but Paulo Fiúza and Lucie Baud are well-placed to mount late challenges. 

In the absence of both Hedda Hosås and Mansour Al-Helai, the door is open for the South Racing Can-Am Team’s Fernando Alvarez to snatch the momentum in the SSV category. He trails the Norwegian youngster by 33 points but is the only SSV driver registered for FIA World Baja Cup points in Qatar. His navigator Xavier Panseri holds a similar position in the Navigators’ Championship: the Frenchman trails the absent Pol Tibau by 33 points. 

Emirati Khalid Al-Jafla and his navigator Andrei Rudnitskiy are also chasing points towards the Ultimate class in Qatar. Local driver Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari currently holds third in the Challenger section and teams up with Oriol Mena, aiming to win his class on home ground. 

Fellow countryman Ahmed Al-Muhannadi is also registered for the FIA World Baja Cup with Emirati navigator Ali Hassan Obaid in an MCE-5 T3M. 

Competition to Al-Thunayyan and Omar Al-Lahim in the Stock category comes from the local Nissan Patrol driver Abdulla Al-Rabban and his Emirati team-mate Ali Ajami.

Qatari legend Al-Attiyah leads the way in the FIA Middle East Baja Cup 

Six-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah has entered this year’s FIA Middle East Baja Cup as a privateer with Frenchman Max Delfino in an Optimus MD Rallye. The Qatari has already claimed maximum points in Saudi Arabia and Jordan this season and will be aiming for a hattrick of wins as he hopes to add the FIA Middle East Baja title to his long list of achievements. 

In the absence of closest rival Yasir Seaidan, Al-Attiyah leads Qatari youngster Mohammed Al-Marri by 44 points. Delfino has a similar advantage over Pole Szymon Gospodarczyk in the Navigators’ Championship. Al-Marri has already secured the Junior Driver title. 

Ahmed Al-Shami and Leonard Cremer are registered for regional series’ points in Qatar in a Chevrolet Corvette. Al-Shami trails Al-Attiyah by 104 points in the Ultimate category but could well overhaul Miroslav Zapletal and snatch second in the championship. 

The door is firmly open for UAE-based Briton David Mabbs to secure a winning double of the Master Driver and Challenger titles. The Can-Am Maverick X3 driver faces Hamad Al-Harbi and Al-Shamy for Master honours and trails the absent Zapletal by 68 points in the Challenger class with his navigator David McBride.

Taking maximum points in Qatar will be a difficult task, however: the event has attracted a strong line-up of local Taurus T3 Max drivers registered for regional points. They include fourth-placed Nouef Al-Sowaidi, Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah, Ahmed Al-Kuwari and the Saudi driver Abdullah Al-Fahad. 

Al-Marri is the strong favourite to win the regional SSV title. The Qatari leads Al-Harbi by 58 points and Maha Al-Hamali and Mohammed Al-Atteya by 60 points.  All four Can-Am Maverick drivers are present in Qatar with their respective navigators, Pierre Delorme, Faisal Al-Suwayh, Michael Metge and Aleksei Kuzmich. 

San Marino-based Camelia Liparoti teams up with Erika Mingozzi in her Yamaha YXZ 1000R and there are a pair of registered Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR entries for Kuwait’s Dhari Al-Dhafeeri and Emirati Nora Al-Jassasi with their navigators, Baptiste Cerrato and Jeannette Kvick. 

Abdullah Al-Shegawi and Ali Mirza are the only crew chasing Stock category honours in the FIA Middle East Baja Cup with a Toyota Prado.

The 2026 edition of the Qatar International Baja offers an extended route and an additional 18% of competitive kilometres. Crews will tackle 541.24km against the clock in a total route of 860.05km. 

A Prologue of 11.12km will be held on Thursday, October 29th to determine the starting orders for the first competition the following morning.  

A gruelling opening day’s action on Friday, October 30th through the deserts of northern and central Qatar will see competitors racing over 336.45 competitive kilometres and spilt into five sections – this will be the longest selective section in the entire FIA World Baja Cup and on a par with stages in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) in terms of difficulty and variety. 

The second selective section on Saturday, October 31st has been split into two parts and runs for 204.79km to allow for an earlier conclusion to the Baja. This route crosses the unique landscapes of southern Qatar and includes a pass through the demanding dunes in the Sealine region in the southeast. 

Qatar International Baja – entry list:

Ultimate

200. Francisco Barreto (POR)/Paulo Fiúza (POR)                                          Toyota Hilux IMT Evo*

201. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA)                                                        X-Raid Mini JCW 3.0d*

202. Saood Variawa (RSA)/Charan Moore (RSA)                                          Toyota Hilux IMT Evo*

203. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Max Delfino (FRA)                              Optimus MD Rallye+

204. Khalid Al-Jafla (UAE)/Andrei Rudnitskiy (LTU)                                      Toyota Hilux Evo*

205. Ahmed Al-Shami (UAE)/Leonard Cremer (RSA)                                   Chevrolet Corvette+

206. Aliiyah Koloc (UAE)/Marcin Pasek (POL)                                                Red-Lined Revo GTR

207. Martin Koloc (CZE)/Hugo Magalhães (POR)                                          Red-Lined Revo V8

208. Fahad Al-Fahad (KSA)/Yasir Al-Khuraif (KSA)                                        Optimus MD Rallye

Challenger

300. Mitchel van den Brink (NED)/Bart van Heun (NED)                           Can-Am Maverick R*

301. Hamed Al-Wahaibi (OMA)/Maciej Giemza (POL)                                Can-Am Maverick R*

302. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Oriol Mena (ESP)                                       Can-Am Maverick R*

303. Ahmed Al-Muhannadi (QAT)/Ali Hassan Obaid (UAE)                       MCE-5 T3M*

304. David Mabbs (UAE)/David McBride (UAE)                                            Can-Am Maverick X3+

305. Abdullah Al-Fahad (KSA)/Mohammed Al-Muakhil (KSA)                   Taurus T3 Max+

306. Nouef Al-Suwaidi (QAT)/Aisvydas Paliukenas (LTU)                           Taurus T3 Max+

307. Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA)                      Taurus T3 Max+

308. Ahmed Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Augusto Sanz (ARG)                                      Taurus T3 Max+

309. Rashid Al-Muhannadi (QAT)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL)                   Taurus T3 Max

310. Mohammed Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Candido Carrera (ESP)                       Taurus T3 Max

311. Evgenii Kudriavtcev (UAE)/Oleg Zaikin (KGZ)                                       Can-Am Maverick X3

SSV

400. Fernando Alvarez (ARG)/Xavier Panseri (FRA)                                     Can-Am Maverick R*

401. Mohammed Al-Marri (QAT)/Pierre Delorme (FRA)                            Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR+

402. Hamad Al-Harbi (KSA)/Faisal Al-Suwayh (KSA)                                    Can-Am Maverick R+

403. Maha Al-Hamali (KSA)/Michael Metge (FRA)                                       Can-Am Maverick R+

404. Mohammed Al-Atteya (QAT)/Aleksei Kuzmich (UAE)                        Can-Am Maverick R+

405. Camelia Liparoti (SMR)/Erika Mingozzi (ITA)                                        Yamaha YXZ 1000R+

406. Dhari Al-Dhafeeri (KUW)/Baptiste Cerrato (QAT)                               Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR+

407. Nora Al-Jassasi (UAE)/Jeannette Kvick (DEN)                                       Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR+

408. Abdulla Al-Khelaifi (QAT)/Abdulaziz Al-Jabri (QAT)                            Yamaha YXZ 1000R 

409. Stefano Marrini (ITA)/Silvio Valentini (ITA)                                           Yamaha YXZ 1000R

410. Farah Zakaria (JOR)/Dolyne Schlink (LBN)                                             Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR

411. Christiano Gabbarrini (ITA)/Erminio Nati (ITA)                                    Yamaha YXZ 1000R

412. Ghanim Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Dmytro Tsyro (UKR)                                    Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR

Stock

500. Majed Al-Thunayyan (KSA)/Omar Al-Lahim (KSA)                              Nissan Patrol*

501. Abdulla Al-Rabban (QAT)/Ali Ajami (UAE)                                             Nissan Patrol*

502. Abdullah Al-Shegawi (KSA)/Ali Mirza (UAE)                                          Toyota Prado+

*denotes registered for FIA World Baja Cup

+denotes registered for FIA Middle East Baja Cup

Timetable of events

Wednesday, October 28

Administration checks, Lusail International Circuit                                       08.00hrs onwards

Scrutineering checks, Lusail International Circuit                                          09.30hrs onwards

Press conference,                Lusail International Circuit                                                18.00hrs

Thursday, October 29

Prologue – 11.12km                                                                                           14.45hrs

Ceremonial start, Lusail International Circuit                                                 18.45hrs 

Friday, October 30

SS1 – 336.45km                                                                                                   09.00hrs (first car)

Saturday, October 31

SS2 – 204.79km                                                                                                   09.30hrs (first car)

Post-event press conference, Lusail International Circuit                                18.15hrs 

Podium ceremony and prize giving, Lusail International Circuit                     19.30hrs

Ends