Dubai Baja: Al-Attiyah wins stage 1, Van den Brink second

Nasser Al-Attiyah took command of the Dubai International Baja on Saturday by winning the first major special stage in the Al Qudra dunes. Behind the Qatari, Mitchel van den Brink produced the second-best performance of the day and has shaken up the FIA World Baja Cup.

Al-Attiyah sets the pace

Having skipped the prologue, Al-Attiyah (Optimus MD Rallye, with Frenchman Max Delfino) opened the road on Saturday and finished the stage in 02:41:59.9. The stage, about 177 km of timed running for the cars, tested crews with changing sand, steep dune climbs and demanding navigation.

The car stage result:

• 1. Nasser Al-Attiyah / Max Delfino (Optimus MD Rallye): 02:41:59.9
• 2. Mitchel van den Brink / Bart van Heun (Can-Am Maverick R): +5 min 16.7 s
• 3. Mansour Al-Helei / Khalid Al Kendi (Can-Am Maverick R): +8 min 39.8 s
• 4. Francisco Barreto / Paulo Fiúza (Toyota Hilux IMT Evo): +10 min 33.2 s
• 5. Sergei Remennik (Taurus T3 Max): +12 min 32.2 s

The title fight flips

Francisco Barreto, who started the weekend with a 23-point lead, saw the dunes turn against him. Van den Brink took 5 min 16.5 s out of him. Saood Variawa, the third contender, stopped halfway through the stage with a mechanical problem and is out of the fight; he now turns his attention to the Dakar. Van den Brink believes he is champion in the Challenger class after this stage but is going for the overall win. Barreto calls Sunday a last fight in which everything remains open.

In the SSV class, Al-Helei won the stage in front of his home crowd. The standings leader, Fernando Alvarez Castellano, is absent from the stage result.

Bikes: McInnes pulls clear

Among the bikes, Alex McInnes (KTM 450 RFR) set the fastest time in 02:38:54.5, ahead of Ethan Lane (Yamaha YZF 450) at 3 min 17.2 s and Toni Mulec (KTM 450 Rally) at 8 min 0.6 s. Overall he leads Lane by 3 min 17.9 s. His rival in the FIM Bajas World Cup, Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera, who trailed him by two points, lost almost half an hour and is seventh. Seven of the 34 entered riders did not finish, among them title holder Mohammed Al-Balooshi. In the quads, Abdulaziz Ahli, winner in Dubai in each of the previous four years, also dropped out.

Sunday decides it

The final stage, 179 km long, is run around Al Faqa'a, with the first car away at 09:45 local time. In the bike class, McInnes can clinch the FIM Bajas World Cup title in Dubai. The podium ceremony is scheduled for 20:00 at Dubai Festival City Mall.

The editorial team