Sheikh Rashid presents trophies at fourth round of Emirates Desert Championship in Umm Al Quwain

Al Maqoodi piles pressure on Al Fahim as British rider, UAE quads star also grab third wins in a row

Dubai, UAE, 19 January, 2015: After a third cars victory in a row, Ahmad Al Maqoodi has increased the pressure on defending champion Ahmed Al Fahim in the Emirates Desert Championship, while British rider Jake Shipton has grabbed a share of the lead in the race for the bikes title.

Al Maqoodi powered his Polaris buggy to success in the fourth round of the national Baja rally series which attracted 94 competitors on its first venture into the Emirate of Umm Al Quwain at the weekend.

Pushed into third place by fellow-Emirati Khalid Al Jafla, Al Fahim saw his championship lead reduced to just seven points over Al Maqoodi, and the pair look set for a fascinating tussle with two more rounds to follow on February 13 and March 6.

Shipton completed a hat-trick of bikes wins ahead of German Mark Grams and South African Sean Gaugain in the other two podium places, and moved level on points with Emirati rider Mohammed Al Balooshi who finished just outside the top ten on the day.

Second place for Grams moved him to fourth place in the championship on the shoulder of Kuwaiti rider Mohammed Jaffar who also slipped outside the top ten in the two-hour short course event.

But with just five points now separating the top four the battle for the bikes crown is wide open, although the race for the quads title now looks to be between Emirati riders Mohammed Al Shamsi and Humaid Al Mashghouni.

Like Al Fahim and Shipton, Al Shamsi made it three wins in succession on Friday to take an eight-point championship advantage, although first round winner Al Mashghouni still has his fellow-countryman firmly in his sights.

Round four of the Emirates Desert Championship was held under the patronage of the Crown Prince of Umm Al Quwain, H.H.Sheikh Rashid bin Saud bin Rashid Al Mua'lla, who joined Mohammed Ben Sulayem President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE, to present the trophies.

“We are very grateful to Sheikh Rashid for all the support we have been given in Umm Al Quwain to make the event possible, and for his personal encouragement,” said Sulayem. “We will be back here in the near future, and our plan is to take the championship into other Emirates as we continue.”

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.

Emirates Desert Championship Round 4 results:

Cars
1. Ahmad Al Maqoodi
2. Khalid Al Jafla
3. Ahmed Al Fahim
4. Mohammed Gulzar
5. Graeme Rose
6. Chris Jackson

Bikes
1. Jake Shipton
2. Mark Grams
3. Sean Gaugain
4. Sultan Al Balooshi
5. Michael Malpass
6. Steve Blackney

Quads
1. Mohammed Al Shamsi
2. Humaid Al Mashghouni
3. Abdulla Nasser Al Ali
4. Patrick Gersch
5. Sultan Al Masood
6. Mansoor Al Suwaidi
CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS AFTER 4 ROUNDS

Cars overall

1. Ahmed Al Fahim (UAE)          82
2. Ahmad Al Maqoodi (UAE)       75
3. Graeme Rose (GB)                68
4. Chris Jackson (GB)                66
5. Emil Kneisser (LEB)               63
6. Mohammed Gulzar                 58
                                        
Class leaders
T1 -  Ian Barker, Vadym Prytuliak (joint); T2 - Emil Kneisser; T3 - Michel Fadel; National - Ahmed Al Fahim.

Bikes overall
1. Mohammed Al Balooshi         75
1. Jake Shipton                         75
3. Mohammed Jaffar                  71
4. Mark Grams                          70
5. Saeed Al Shenqiti                  56
6. Mark Ackerman                     50

Quads

1. Mohammed Al Shamsi            75
2. Humaid Al Mashghouni            67
3. Alex MacFarlane                     59
4. Jaco De Lange                        51
5. Colin Wilken                           40
6. Sebastian Husseini                 36

Class leaders

450cc - Mohammed Al Balooshi; Over 450 - Khalid Al Falasi; Marathon - Chris Dunn; Masters - Tim Trenker; Ladies – Sune Schaffler.