Two cruise ships dock at Doha port, welcome FIFA World Cup fans on board

·         MSC World Europa cruise ship naming held in Qatar

·         Ready to host World Cup fans, second ship of the MSC group MSC Poesia arrives, third one MSC Opera likely to check into Doha in the coming days

·         Floating hotels are one of several facilities provided by the State of Qatar for fans of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, offering multiple booking and accommodation options throughout the tournament, including apartments, villas, fan villages and usual hotels.

·         A stunning live entertainment performances and a spectacular fireworks display against the stunning Doha skyline marked cruise ship MSC World Europa naming ceremony at the revamped Doha Port on Sunday

·         22-deck Europa has 2,626 cabins, designed with the highest standards of security and safety, is a modern floating hotel and can accommodate 6,700 guests

·         MSC Poesia houses 1,265 cabins, three swimming pools, a spa and wellness center, cinema, poolside, tennis and basketball courts, in addition to four dining options, 15 coffee shops and event venues.

 

Armstrong Vaz

Doha, Qatar: Two cruise ships belonging to MSC Cruises, the world’s third largest cruise brand, which will host the World Cup fans in Qatar have arrived in Qatar.

The second floating hotel, MSC Poesia, docked in Doha Port on Monday morning to join MSC World Europa, which arrived in Doha Thursday, to offer a luxurious hospitality experience to fans of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 during the 29-day period from November 20 to December 18.

The cruise ship MSC Poesia is a modern 4-star floating hotel offers luxurious services to World Cup fans with a variety of room options ranging from traditional cabins overlooking the sea to rooms with balconies and luxury suites, in addition to multiple dining possibilities and programs and entertainment for all ages.

MSC Poesia houses 1,265 cabins, three swimming pools, a spa and wellness center, cinema, poolside, tennis and basketball courts, in addition to four dining options, 15 coffee shops and event venues.

Floating hotels are one of several facilities provided by the State of Qatar for fans of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, offering multiple booking and accommodation options throughout the tournament, including apartments, villas, fan villages and usual hotels.

All together three cruise ships will host fans during the football showpiece event with MSC Opera likely to check into Doha in the coming days.

On Sunday an outstanding array of stunning live entertainment performances and a spectacular fireworks display against the stunning Doha skyline marked cruise ship MSC World Europa naming ceremony at the revamped Doha Port.

The event featured a traditional maritime ceremony at Doha Port with Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, sister of Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani  The Emir of Qatar, cutting the ribbon and officially announcing the name of the cruise ship at a glittering ceremony which was attended by Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive and Qatar Tourism Chairman Akbar Al Baker, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy Secretary-General HE Hassan Al Thawadi, MSC Cruises executive chairman Pierfrancesco Vago, Master of the Vessel Captain Marco Massa, and several guests.

The ship’s naming ceremony turned out to be a glamorous and star-studded event took place at Doha’s brand new Grand Cruise Terminal, a state-of-the-art 24,000 square metres facility that will handle up to 28,000 passengers a day and has the capacity to host two mega-cruise ships a day.

The cruise ships will offer a unique hospitality experience to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 fans.

The 22-deck ship with 2,626 cabins, designed with the highest standards of security and safety, is a modern floating hotel and can accommodate 6,700 guests and the FIFA World Cup fans will be the ship’s first paying customers and will benefit from one of the most technologically advanced cruise liners in its class.

MSC World Europa is the most innovative and environmentally advanced cruise ship in the MSC Cruises fleet. On top of ground-breaking advances in reduction of emissions and energy efficiency, the LNG-powered ship paves the way toward the uptake of carbon-neutral synthetic and other alternative fuels as soon as they are available at scale.

MSC World Europa is an ultramodern urban metropolis at sea offering a veritable world of experiences while setting a new standard for the cruise industry.

Hosted by comedian, producer and entrepreneur Hamad Al Amari, event guests were treated to performances by local artists, a cutting-edge video-mapping projection onto the ship's hull, and a huge drone show. International singer-songwriter Matteo Bocelli, presented his solo work for the first time ever in Doha, provided the grand finale performance. His new album is due in early 2023 via Capitol Records.

How the teams qualified for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup

 

How the teams qualified for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup

Media Release

The biggest ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in history will include more teams and more matches than ever before.

For the first time, 20 nations will take to the stage and battle for world glory in the United States and West Indies across 55 matches and four weeks of thrilling action.

You may be familiar with the teams but here is a refresher on how they got here.

The hosts

West Indies and USA earned automatic entry as the host nations, with the latter set to play in the tournament for the first time.

Two-time winners West Indies will host the competition for the second time after staging the 2010 showpiece which saw England beat Australia in the final.

Just as in 2010, the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, will host this year’s final.

Top eight from 2022

The top eight teams from the last ICC Men’s T20 World Cup all ensured automatic qualification to the tournament’s ninth edition.

In Australia, England recorded their second triumph as Ben Stokes steered his side to victory with the bat after Player of the Tournament Sam Curran helped restrict runners-up Pakistan to 137 in the final.

Beaten semi-finalists India and New Zealand also secured entry for 2024. India will be looking to build on their 50-over triumph last year while the Black Caps will be hoping to add their name to the trophy for the first time.

The sides which finished third and fourth in the Super 12 groups also achieved qualification. Those four teams are former winners Australia and Sri Lanka, two-time semi-finalists South Africa, and Netherlands, who achieved their best T20 World Cup finish last time round.

Team rankings

Afghanistan and Bangladesh are included due to their status as the next two highest teams in the T20I rankings.

The Tigers came close to a couple of shock victories last time out and will be hoping to build on that, while the likes of Rashid Khan and Qais Ahmad will be tapping into their experiences in the US franchise tournament, Major League Cricket, to aid their team’s cause.

The qualifiers

The remaining eight spots were determined by regional qualifiers with Ireland and Scotland coming through the European section.

Scotland hosted the regional finals in July 2023 and powered through the group stages unbeaten, joined by Ireland thanks in no small part to a crucial seven run victory over Italy.

The East Asia-Pacific qualifiers took place at the same time and Papua New Guinea also recorded a perfect run to reach their second T20 World Cup.

Canada emerged from the Americas qualifier, sneaking past Bermuda on net run rate to reach the main event for the first time.

Nepal and Oman qualified in Asia, defeating UAE and Bahrain respectively in the last four before sharing a thrilling final which Oman claimed after a Super Over.

The final country to secure their place in the 20-team line-up was Uganda. The Cricket Cranes usurped regional powerhouse Zimbabwe for their first-ever T20I win over a full-member team en route to their first T20 World Cup.

Namibia were the other side to qualify from the Africa Qualifier, having previously played in the 2021 and 2022 editions.

Goans fans experience Arabic culture during World Cup

 

Goans fans experience Arabic culture during World Cup

World Cup fans immerse in Qatari dress with Thobe, Ghutra, and Igal

BY ARMSTRONG VAZ

Doha, Qatar:  Vasco-based Vishal Agapurkar always wanted to slip into the traditional Arabic dress as and when the opportunity came his way. After waiting for a few years, the World Cup in Qatar presented him with the perfect platform to try out a few things from cuisine to the local dresses.

Taking the adage, a step further, Vishal and his friends all Portugal supporters bought a Ghutra and Igal at Souq Waqif with traditional colours of green and red, a popular traditional market and after some expert help from the shop assistants managed to wear the Ghutra and Igal, the headgear which along with Thobe, the long full garment is one of the traditional dress of men in the Arabic world especially in the Middle East countries.

The Ghutra worn on the head is tied around the head, the cap is known as the Kahfiyah, and the Ighal is draped over the Ghutra. Igal is to prevent the Ghutra from blowing away in the wind. Igal is a thick ring of cotton. A thread or string is tied around it. Igal, meaning rope, is part of the traditional Arab headdress. Igal is used above the head-dress called Ghutra and above the cap called Kafiyah.

“All Igals are almost identical. The main difference will be in the yarn used. Nylon, cotton or goat and camel hair. The best Igal is made of sheep hair. Most of them are imported from Turkey, Brazil and other countries. But the finest sheep's hair comes from England,” said one Bangladeshi shop assistant working at a shop selling traditional dress.

Shops in and around Qatar are not selling Kahfiyah and a Qatari shop owner explains why they are not selling it.

“The Kahfiyah is a cap which is worn by people who wear the headgear for a long period time as it helps in absorbing the sweat,” explains, Khalifa Abdul Hakim Al Naimi, owner of an Ghutra Mundo enterprise which sells the traditional headgear at five different locations during the world Cup.

 Naimi and his shop support staff have been helping thousands of fans to have the uniqueness of the Arabic world and helping them to move into the traditional gear.

Traditional belief is that the headscarf helps to ward off the heat from the desert sun and also protects from the dust.

“The head gear was used by our ancestors to protect us Arabs from the heat of the sun and from the wind, and also from the dust. I'm trying to mix the Arabic culture and customs and teach the World Cup fans something about Qatar,” said Al Naimi.

“It's (the head gear) part of our culture, but we are blending it with the countries that are competing in the World Cup. So for Brazil the Ghutra, Igal and Thob match the colors, so yellow, blue and green represent Brazil. and also we have the Brazilian flag, but it's usually plain without any names or without any letters. We have Portugal, Morocco, Mexico.”

“We have different colors for all different flags. South Korea, Brazil, Senegal, Ghana, Uruguay, Portugal, Denmark, Serbia, all teams which are competing in the FIFA 22 Qatar World Cup.”

Explaining further he says: “We have plain clothes just like what I am wearing which is white, so we don't want to put any names on the Thobe.”

 Al Nuami says the original Arabic culture and dress is kept intact by generations.

“Besides the white Thobe we have different coloured Thobe. We wear colorful tubes in winter as well. In the winter, you can also see the black Thobe, the brown Thope and the gray top stripes. But it's usually plain without any names or without any letters. So that's what we try to do. So yellow and blue and yellow and green represent Brazil. We have. Even heard him represent Portugal, representing Morocco, Mexico united with the corresponding battle.”

The Qatari through his enterprise is helping many people to have a firsthand experience of Qatar culture and traditions and the head gear and one of them. 

Just like Vishal, many Indians and other nationalities are making a mad rush to Souq Wafiq metro station shop trying to buy World Cup memorabilia.  

Nasser and Dabrowski confirm car and motorcycle wins at the Qatar International Baja

 

Nasser and Dabrowski confirm car and motorcycle wins at the Qatar International Baja

Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thefiri and Frenchman Jeremie Warnia win T3 and T4 sections

 

 LUSAIL (Qatar): Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel clinched victory in the car category in their Toyota GR DKR Hilux, while Polish KTM rider Konrad Dabrowski stayed clear of late trouble to defend his motorcycle title at the end of a punishing Qatar International Baja on Saturday.

Al-Attiyah controlled proceedings through the demanding last stage to take the day’s win by 10min 18sec from Chinese rival Guoyu Zhang and that was sufficient for the Qatari to finish 16min 21.6sec ahead of Overdrive Racing team-mates, Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov, in their Toyota Hilux. Zhang and his Spanish co-driver Oriol Mena rounded off the podium places in their Baic ORC BJ40,

Al-Attiyah said: “It was a good Baja. The first day I had a small margin and the second day I pushed a lot. I thank Jean-Marc (Fortin) from Overdrive Racing for bringing me a new car and thanks to Qatar Airways for flying this car over very swiftly so that I was able to compete here. I am very glad to win here again on my home race. I always want to compete in every international event in Qatar and it’s great to bounce back with a win after my big crash in Abu Dhabi.”

Runner-up Krotov added: “After 35km, I had to stop and change the tyres. After that we lost a little power and didn’t have a big speed. One turbo was not working. But the race was good and I enjoyed the stages.”

Competitors tackled 224.96km on the final day and the route was split into four sections of 33.73km, 28.51km, 43.23km and 113.20km by three non-competitive transfer zones.

Overdrive Racing’s Juan Cruz Yacopini and Daniel Oliveras moved up to fourth overall on the final stage in the third of four Toyotas.

The experienced Meshari Al-Thefiri began the day second in T3 behind his usual co-driver Nasser Al-Kuwari and the Kuwaiti delivered a solid stage performance to set the fastest time and sneak through to win the FIA T3 category for lightweight prototype machines on his first race with a new MCE-5 T3M and Oriol Vidal looking after the navigation. Al-Thefiri also finished fifth overall.

He said: “We managed to finish. It’s so difficult with the road book to know if you are out of the route. It is not easy. The car was very good. We caught Nasser (Al-Kuwari) about 20km from the start, so I managed my pace then and I knew what my advantage was. I am very happy that this is the first win for the MCE-5. Hard luck to Nasser.”

With Nasser Al-Kuwari and French co-driver François Cazalet dropping precious minutes on the stage with the lack of brakes and puncturs, that opened the door for the Qatari’s brother Abdulaziz to snatch second place in the category in his QMMF Rally Team Can-Am. On his debut in this type of motor sport, the former winner of the Qatar International Rally also finished in an excellent sixth in the general classification. Nasser came home in seventh and third in T3.

“From the first 20km, we had one flat tyre and we changed it,” said Nasser Al-Kuwari. “Then we catch Meshari and we had another flat tyre. We changed it. We catch him again and try to pass him and then we had a third one. Then we had no chance to win and we just tried to get the car to the finish. We also had brake issues. But I am happy with my performance.”

Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari said: “Very happy to finish second. I would love to have won T3 but it is not easy after the delay with the puncture on the first day. Unlucky for Nasser to come with the third puncture. I took it safely. I wanted to do all the mileage. I want to transfer to this kind of rallies. I prefer this type of rallies. You don’t have to drive every week.”

The French crew of Jeremie Warnia and Loic Minaudier managed to overhaul Brazil’s Cristiano de Sousa Batista and Portuguese co-driver Fausto Moto to secure a narrow victory in the FIA T4 category in their Polaris RXR 1000 R. They finished eighth overall and beat their Can-Am rivals by 2min 10sec on the final day to secure a winning margin of just 30.3 seconds.

Seventeen minutes of time penalties for missing route waypoints had pushed Pau Navarro down the T4 rankings after the third stage in his FN Speed Team Can-Am. He climbed back to third on the final day.

Saudi Arabia’s Khalid Al-Feraihi and French co-driver Sébastien Delaunay boosted their FIA Middle East Baja Cup title aspirations with valuable points for finishing 11th overall in their Nissan Patrol behind the 10th-placed Ronan Chabot in his Overdrive Toyota.

Krzysztof Holowczyc (Mini JCR Rally Plus) and Ahmed Al-Shegawi (Can-Am) retired on Friday after their mechanical issues.

Dabrowski retains motorcycle title

 

 Konrad Dabrowski retained his motorcycle title in Qatar with a polished performance that saw his win every stage on his KTM. The Pole won Saturday’s last stage by 6min 49sec to record a winning margin over Great Britain’s Robert Wallace of 31min 04.8sec. He also claimed the honours of finishing as the first FIM Junior.

Dabrowski said: “Qatar is very lucky for us. A second win here in a row. I like to come here because it is great experience and I can improve my navigation and my riding. I was sick today on the stage after spending a night in the air conditioning. It was so difficult just to ride the bike on the second part of the stage. I am very tired but happy to win this race. I was super tired when I finished but it’s a great feeling to win.”

With Martin Chalmers dropped out of contention on the final morning, the battle for the final place on the podium swung in favour of the Dutch female racer Mirjam Pol. The KTM rider climbed from eighth to third to finish as the top Women. She edged out Andrew Houlihan for the last podium place by just 66.4 seconds, although the Australian had the consolation of winning the Veterans’ class and finishing a fine fourth.

A delighted Pol said: “When you start eighth overall and you finish third it is a big surprise. I had all the route waypoints and when I arrived I only saw two lines and that’s when I realised I had achieved a very good result.”

Emirati Mohammed Al-Ramani climbed to fifth at the expense of sixth-place Canadian Jonathan Finn. Mohammed Al-Balooshi was the championship leader after the opening round in Saudi Arabia and the Emirati reached the finish in eighth.

Several riders were handed time back overnight by FIM officials for delays on Friday helping at the scene of other competitors’ accidents. Oran O’Kelly received a credit of 53 minutes and Alex McInnes and Simon Marcic were also handed time back. McInnes went on to finish 10th overall after setting the second quickest time behind Dabrowski on the final stage. Marcic came home in third place on the day and finished 14th.

 Emirati Sultan Al-Balooshi did not restart after his problems on Friday. Arnoud Dom was the unofficial winner of the quad category after Haitham Al-Tuwaijri  and Abdulaziz Al-Ahli failed to finish. Mansoor Al-Suwaidi finished second.

2023 Qatar International Baja – Positions after stage 4 (unofficial @ 15.45hrs):

FIA - Cars (Top 16 only)

1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Mathieu Baumel (AND) Toyota GR DKR Hilux                                       4hr 51min 49.7sec*

2. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (ISR) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                                                         5hr 08min 11.3sec*

3. Guoyu Zhang (CHN)/Oriol Mena (ESP) Baic ORC BJ40                                                                                     5hr 11min 00.6sec*

4. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                                                         5hr 23min 50.9sec*

5. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KWT)/Oriol Vidal (ESP) MCE-5 T3M (T3)                                                                            5hr 30min 32.4sec*

6. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Alexei Kuzmich (ARE) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3)                                            5hr 38min 05.3sec+

7. Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT)/François Cazalet (FRA) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3)                                            5hr 42min 23.3sec+

8. Jeremie Warnia (FRA)/Loic Minaudier (FRA) Polaris RZR 1000 R (T4)                                                  5hr 45min 51.5sec*

9. Cristiano de Sousa Batista (BRA)/Fausto Mota (PRT) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo (T4)                             5hr 46min 21.8sec*

 

10. Ronan Chabot (FRA)/Gilles Pillot (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                                                                             5hr 47min 36.5sec*

11. Khalid Al-Feraihi (SAU)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Nissan Pick-Up                                                                       5hr 56min 24.7sec+

12. Otavio Sousa (BRA)/João Ferreira (PRT) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3)                                                                     5hr 59min 07.7sec*

13. Fernando Alvarez (ESP)/Xavier Panseri (FRA)   Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3)                                            5hr 59min 39.7sec*

14. Pau Navarro (ESP)/Gonçalo Reis (PRT) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo (T4)                                                        6hr 02min 01.5sec*

15. Ahmed Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Manuel Luchesse (QAT) Yamaha YXZ 1000 R (T4)                                                       6hr 07min 26.6sec+

16. Adel Abdulla (QAT)/Marc Serra (QAT) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3)                                                                             6hr 11min 45.9sec+

T1 unless stated

*denotes registered for FIA World Cup

 denotes registered for FIA Middle East Cup

 

2023 Qatar International Baja - positions after stage 3 (unofficial):

FIM – Bikes (top 16 only)

1. Konrad Dabrowski (POL) KTM 450 Rally                                                     7hr 22min 09.3sec

2. Robert Wallace (GBR) KTM 450 RFR                                                            7hr 53min 14.1sec

3. Mirjam Pol (NLD) KTM                                                                                   8hr 43min 18.1sec

4. Andrew Houlihan (AUS) Husqvarna FR                                                       8hr 44min 24.5sec

5. Marwan Al-Rahmani (ARE) KTM 450 Rally                                                 8hr 46min 07.6sec

6. Jonathan Finn (CAN) Honda CRF 450 RL                                                     8hr 47min 47.5sec

7. Cesare Zacchetti (ITA) KTM EXC 350F                                                         8hr 49min 09.5sec

8. Mohammed Al-Balooshi (ARE) KTM 450 Rally Replica                                9hr 04min 24.8sec

9. Abdullah Al-Shatti (KWT) Husqvarna 450 Rally                                         9hr 10min 08.2sec

10. Alex McInnes (GBR) Husqvarna FE450                                                     9hr 10min 56.0sec

11. Ola Floene (NOR) KTM 450 Rally                                                                9hr 12min 54.5sec

12. Abdullah Lanjawi (ARE) Husqvarna FE450                                               9hr 13min 09.9sec

13. Mishal Al-Ghuneim (SAU) KTM 450 Rally                                                 9hr 15min 00.1sec

14. Simon Marcic (SVN) Husqvarna 450 Rally Replica                                  9hr 15min 42.8sec

15. Oran O’Kelly (IRL) KTM 450 Rally                                                               9hr 30min 09.2sec

16. Ehab Al-Hakeem (LBN) Yamaha WR 450F                                                10hr 12min 08.3sec

 

 

 

FIM – Quads

1. Arnoud Dom (BEL) Suzuki LTR 450                                                              10hr 36min 34.8sec

2. Mansoor Al-Suwaidi (ARE) Yamaha YFZ 450R                                           10hr 50min 29.7sec

3. Hani Al-Noumesi (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700                                             13hr 07min 17.6sec

Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah fights back to lead the Qatar International Baja

 

Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah fights back to lead the Qatar International Baja

 ·       Young Pole Konrad Dabrowski increased his motorcycle lead with canny ride

·       Qatar’s Nasser Al-Kuwari and Brazil’s Cristiano De Sousa top T3 and T4 standings

 

 

LUSAIL (Qatar): Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel lost the lead to Polish rivals Krzysztof Holowczyc and Lukasz Kurzeja on the longer first stage of the Qatar International Baja on Friday morning and then battled back to set the fastest time on the next one to lead by 2min 33.8sec at the end of the day.

Ar the wheel of their borrowed Toyota Hilux, the defending champions now head into the final day with a slim cushion over their team-mates, Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov, who hold second place in their Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux, despite two flat tyres.

Al-Attiyah said: “The first stage was not easy because the road book was not really clear but we make two mistakes that cost 10 minutes. On the next two sections we pushed and are quite happy.”

Krotov added: “Today was good. No problems with navigation. My co-driver did a good job. Two punctures cost us time.”

With Holowczyc reportedly stopped in the second stage of the day with cooling issues on his Mini JCW Rally Plus, that opened the door for the Chinese driver Guoyu Zhang and his Spanish co-driver Oriol Mena to climb into third place with their Baic ORC BJ40, despite one flat tyre.

The day’s action featured three competitive sections of 117.29km, 46.05km and 70.53km for the cars and a similar distance for the motorcycles and quads with the FIM entrants tackling the shorter two sections first.

Nasser Al-Kuwari is better known as an esteemed international co-driver but the Qatari has excelled so far this weekend in the driving seat and has carved out a 4min 02.1sec lead over his usual driving partner Meshari Al-Thefiri in the FIA T3 category for lightweight prototype machines after the Kuwaiti suffered navigational issues. Along with French co-driver François Cazalet, the QMMF Rally Team’s Can-Am driver now holds a lofty fourth in the overall standings.

 Nasser Al-Kuwari said: “I am very happy with the result today. You have two options. Is the route okay or not and we followed the right route. We both did a great job. I was careful with the rocks and I kept my speed. My co-driver is one of the best and I trust him and we are happy to lead the T3.”

 Al-Thefiri and Oriol Vidal are sixth overall and second in the T3 section with their new MCE-5 T3M and seventh-placed Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and his co-driver Alexei Kuzmich hold third in T3 in the second of the QMMF Rally Team Can-Ams. 

 Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari said: “I am very happy with my first day ever in this kind of rally. It was good experience. The first time in my life in cross-country. A lot of things to see in the stage, cars passing you, different terrain, sometimes sandy, sometimes gravel. My co-driver did a fantastic job.”

 Al-Thefiri added: “We were lost and we saw three ways and we tested them all and then we catch the right way after six minutes. I push more. My first time here and a new car for me. I see this car last year in Dubai and we decided to drive the T3M this time.”

Brazil’s Cristiano de Sousa Batista and Portuguese co-driver Fausto Moto continue to lead the FIA T4 section in their South Racing Can-Am and hold 10th overall. French rival Jeremie Warnia is second in the class and 11th, while young Pau Navarro is classified in third with his FN Speed Team Can-Am. Italian racer Pietro Cinotto incurred time penalties for breaking the power steering on the Prologue and is out of contention for the podium.

 Overdrive Racing’s Juan Cruz Yacopini holds fifth place in his Toyota Hilux and Saudi Arabia’s Khalid Al-Feraihi is on course for useful FIA Middle East Baja Cup points. Despite stopping to assist at the scene of an accident involving Khalid Al-Muhannadi and Pedro Santos, the Saudi holds eighth overall. The time lost at the scene of the incident was handed back to the Nissan driver after the stage.

 

 

 

Dabrowski in control in the motorcycles

Konrad Dabrowski extended his lead in the motorcycle category to 18min 57.6sec after another dominant stage win on his KTM. The talented young Polish Junior rider, who is following in his father Marek’s footsteps, won the day’s stage by 14min 43.2sec from Great Britain’s Robert Wallace, who retained second overall.

 Dabrowski said: “I started ninth after winning the Prologue and that was a good starting position for today. My plan was to catch the leaders and to gain as much time as possible and I was actually able to do it before the refuel. By then I knew that the result would be very good. After the second half I opened all the way and it was a really nice day.”

 Martin Chalmers claimed third on the day and the Aussie holds a similar position in the overall rankings, with Canadian rival Jonathan Finn in fourth and fellow Australian Andrew Houlihan riding strongly to come home in fifth and first in the Veterans category.

Emirati Abdullah Al-Lanjawi and Saudi Arabia’s Mishal Al-Ghunei were classified in sixth and seventh and eighth-placed Mirjam Pol continued to lead the Women’s category. Ireland’s Oran O’Kelly stopped to assist South Africa’s Michael Anderson, who crashed his KTM on the stage.

The experienced Saudi rider Haitham Al-Tuwaijri topped the quads in the unofficial results from the overnight-leader Emirati Abdulaziz Al-Ahli.

 

Saturday

Cars tackle one stage of 224.96km that has been split into four sections of 33.73km, 28.51km, 43.23km and 113.20km by three non-competitive transfer zones. The first vehicle is due in stage at 10.40hrs.

Motorcycles tackle the same route with the first rider going live at the earlier time of 08.45hrs.

 

 2023 Qatar International Baja – Positions after stage 3 (unofficial @ 15.40hrs):

FIA - Cars (Top 16 only)

 

1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Mathieu Baumel (AND) Toyota GR DKR Hilux                                       2he 23min 33.4sec*

2. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (ISR) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                                                         2hr 26min 07.2sec*

3. Guoyu Zhang (CHN)/Oriol Mena (ESP) Baic ORC BJ40                                                                                     2hr 30min 26.3sec*

4. Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT)/François Cazalet (FRA) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3)                                            2hr 39min 11.3sec+

5. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                                                         2hr 40min 10.0sec*

6. Meshari Al-Thefiri (KWT)/Oriol Vidal (ESP) MCE-5 T3M (T3)                                                                            2hr 43min 13.4sec*

7. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Alexei Kuzmich (ARE) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3)                                            2hr 49min 22.8sec+

8. Khalid Al-Feraihi (SAU)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA) Nissan Pick-Up                                                                             2hr 54min 57.3sec+

9. Otavio Sousa (BRA)/João Ferreira (PRT) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3)                                                                             2hr 55min 40.2sec*

10. Cristiano de Sousa Batista (BRA)/Fausto Mota (PRT) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo (T4)                             2hr 56min 05.6sec*

11. Jeremie Warnia (FRA)/Loic Minaudier (FRA) Polaris RZR 1000 R (T4)                                                  2hr 57min 45.8sec*

12. Nouef Hassan Al-Suwaidi (QAT)/Aisvydas Paliukenas (LTU) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3)                                    2hr 57min 55.3sec+

13. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Laurent Lichtleuchter (FRA) Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3)                                            2hr 58min 02.1sec*

14. Hector Diego Martinez (ESP)/Sergio Lafuente (URY) South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 (T3)              3hr 00min 05.5sec*

15. Pau Navarro (ESP)/Gonçalo Reis (PRT) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo (T4)                                                        3hr 00min 37.3sec*

16. Ronan Chabot (FRA)/Gilles Pillot (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                                                                             3hr 00min 49.7sec*

 

T1 unless stated

*denotes registered for FIA World Cup

+ denotes registered for FIA Middle East Cup

 

 2023 Qatar International Baja - positions after stage 2 (unofficial):

FIM – Bikes (top 15 only)

1. Konrad Dabrowski (POL) KTM 450 Rally                                                     4hr 05min 14.3sec

2. Robert Wallace (GBR) KTM 450 RFR                                                            4hr 24min 11.9sec

3. Martin Chalmers (AUS) Beta 430 RR                                                           4hr 45min 48.3sec

4. Jonathan Finn (CAN) Honda CRF 450 RL                                                     4hr 56min 55.9sec

5. Andrew Houlihan (AUS) Husqvarna FR                                                       4hr 58min 04.4sec

6. Abdullah Lanjawi (ARE) Husqvarna FE450                                                 4hr 59min 40.7sec

7. Mishal Al-Ghuneim (SAU) KTM 450 Rally                                                   5hr 00min 53.1sec

8. Mirjam Pol (NLD) KTM                                                                                   5hr 01min 11.3sec

9. Cesare Zacchetti (ITA) KTM EXC 350F                                                         5hr 02min 20.0sec

10. Marwan Al-Rahmani (ARE) KTM 450 Rally                                               5hr 05min 10.0sec

11. Ola Floene (NOR) KTM 450 Rally                                                                5hr 05min 37.2sec

12. Abdullah Al-Shatti (KWT) Husqvarna 450 Rally                                       5hr 28min 16.3sec

13. Mohammed Al-Balooshi (ARE) KTM 450 Rally Replica                                5hr 35min 51.6sec

14. Ehab Al-Hakeem (LBN)  Yamaha WR 450F                                               5hr 48min 48.9sec

15. Jaco Anderson (ZAF) KTM 450 EXC                                                            5hr 51min 21.0sec

 

 

 

FIM – Quads

1. Haitham Al-Tuwaijri (SAU) Yamaha Raptor 700                                        4hr 46min 26.8sec

2. Abdulaziz Al-Ahli (ARE) Yamaha Raptor 700                                              5hr 01min 56.8sec

3. Mansoor Al-Suwaidi (ARE) Yamaha YFZ 450R                                           6hr 02min 32.8sec

4. Arnoud Dom (BEL) Suzuki LTR 450                                                              6hr 09min 03.4sec