UAE pair face pressure in Emirates Desert Championship

Al Fahim, Al Balooshi lead the way as national Baja rally series moves into Umm Al Quwain

Dubai, UAE, 15 January, 2015: The battle for honours in the Emirates Desert Championship is hotting up as the national Baja rally series enters the second half of the 2014-15 season, with Ahmad Fahim and Mohammed Al Balooshi under pressure in the race for the cars and bikes titles.

The UAE’s defending cars champion, Al Fahim, goes into tomorrow’s fourth of six rounds, the first to be staged in the Emirate of Umm Al Quwain, holding a ten-point lead in his Polaris RZR100 from British driver Graeme Rose in another Polaris buggy.

Briton Chris Jackson (Can Am Maverick), Emirati Ahmad Al Maqoudi (Polaris) and Lebanese driver Emil Kneisser (Nissan Patrol) are tightly grouped in the chasing pack and all are in action in the latest round of the series which has a Friday 9am start in the Falaj Al Moalla area.

It promises to be a fiercely competitive tussle for championship points, and the same applies to the bikes category where Al Balooshi, the UAE’s multiple Arab moto cross champion, will look to build on the fragile three-point lead he holds over Kuwaiti rider Mohammed Jaffar.

The top two must also be aware of the threat from the next four riders in the standings, Britain’s Jake Shipton, the winner of the previous two rounds, German Mark Grams, South African Ross Runnalls and Emirati rider Saeed Al Shenqiti.

Another Emirati rider, Humaid Al Mashghouni, will be hoping to close the gap on leader Alex MacFarlane in the quads division in an overall starting line-up expected to climb above 100 competitors on four and two wheels for the third round in a row.

The fourth round of the Emirates Desert Championship is being held under the patronage of the Crown Prince of Umm Al Quwain, H.H.Sheikh Rashid bin Saud bin Rashid Al Mua'lla.

The national series is organised by the ATCUAE and the Emirates Motor Sport Federation, with TAG Heuer Middle East as the official timekeeper and founding partner.

ATCUAE President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said: “We are very happy to be taking the championship into Umm Al Quwain for the first time, and are extremely grateful to Sheikh Rashid for making this possible.

“We’re especially happy to see so many Emirati competitors not only taking part but also leading from the front. At the same time, the fact that we have 21 nationalities represented this weekend shows how the championship is uniting the rallying community here.”

The fourth round is another short course event, with the bikes and quads running on one loop and the cars and buggies competing on another at the same time. All must complete as many laps as fast as possible over a window of approximately two hours.

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS AFTER 3 ROUNDS

Cars overall

1. Ahmed Al Fahim (UAE)        62pts
2. Graeme Rose (GB)            52
3. Chris Jackson (GB)            51
4. Ahmad Al Maqoodi (UAE)    50
5. Emil Kneisser (LEB)        49
6. Mohammed Gulzar            40

Class leaders
T1 -  Ian Barker, Vadym Prytuliak (joint); T2 - Emil Kneisser; T3 - Michel Fadel; National - Ahmed Al Fahim.

Bikes overall

1. Mohammed Al Balooshi    65pts
2. Mohammed Jaffar             62
3. Jake Shipton                    50
4. Mark Grams                     48
5. Ross Runnalls                  43
6. Saeed Al Shenqiti             42
= Mark Ackerman                 42

Quads

1. Alex MacFarlane              59
2. Humaid Al Mashghouni     45
3. Jaco De Lange                 38
4. Sebastian Husseini           36
5. Colin Mercer                     33
6. Colin Wilken                     28
7. Mohammed Al Shamsi      25

Class leaders

450cc - Mohammed Al Balooshi; Over 450 - Khalid Al Falasi; Marathon - Chris Dunn; Masters - Tim Trenker; Ladies - Kylie Slowe.