Al Maqoodi on the rise, but Al Fahim extends championship lead
while Al Balooshi leads battle of bikes in national Baja rally series
Dubai, UAE, 18 November, 2014: Emiratis Ahmed Al Fahim and Mohammed Al Balooshi have both extended their leads in the overall cars and bikes categories at the half way point in the 2014-15 Emirates Desert Championship, but the pressure is on in the national Baja rally series.
Fahim had to settle for second place in the third round of the championship at the weekend as fellow-UAE driver Ahmad Al Maqoodi powered his Polaris to a second successive cars victory to rise to fourth place overall.
Defending champion Al Fahim increased his overall lead to 8pts over British driver Graeme Rose, but now knows he faces a battle to retain his title, with three more founds to follow.
“This was another big entry and everything points to an exciting second half of the season, with the championship wide open in all the main categories,” said ATCAE and EMSF President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
“We were very grateful to Skydive Dubai for their support in staging this round. We’re now looking to strengthen our working relationship with government and private entities, to make sure the championship has a bright future.”
The two-hour desert short course event, staged at Lasaili with the support of Skydive Dubai, attracted 116 drivers and riders and brought a second consecutive overall bikes win for Britain’s Jake Shipton.
But third place on the day was still good enough to see Al Balooshi reach the half-way point in the season on his KTM holding a three-point advantage over Kuwaiti rider Mohammed Jaffar.
Emirati rider Mohammed Al Shamsi on a Kawaski snatched victory in the quads division from Alex MacFarlane, but second place saw the KTM rider replace the UAE’s Humaid Al Mashghouni as the championship leader.
The Desert Championship is organised by the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE) and the Emirates Motor Sport Federation (EMSF), with TAG Heuer Middle East as the official timekeeper and founding partner.
Emirates Desert Championship, Round 3 results:
CARS
Overall
1. Ahmad Al Maqoodi, Polaris 7 laps
2. Ahmed Al Fahim, Polaris 7 laps +1:09.548
3. Mohammed Gulzar Polaris 7 laps + 7:49.760
4. Michel Fadel, Polaris 6 laps +1 Lp
5. Graeme Rose, Polaris 6laps + 1 Lp
6. Emil Kneisser, Nissan ( C ) 6 laps +1 Lp
Class winners: T1 Vadym Prytuliak, Nissan; T2 Emil Kneisser, Nissan; T3 Michel Fadel, Polaris
BIKES
Overall
1. Jake Shipton, KTM 6 laps
2. Ross Runnalls, Kawasaki 6 laps + 2:36.017
3. Mohammed Al Balooshi, KTM 6laps +7:53.464
4. Mohammed Jaffar, KTM 6laps +9:48.359
5. Mark Grams, Honda 6 laps +11:09.296
6. Mitchel Malpass, Yamaha 6 laps +12:14.955
Quads
1. Mohammed Al Shamsi, Kawasaki 5 laps
2. Alex MacFarlane, KTM 5 laps +24.424
3. Jaco De Lange, Yamaha 4 laps +28:17.865
Class winners: 450CC – Jake Shipton, KTM; Marathon – Chris Dunn, KTM; Masters – Tim Trenker, Husqvarna; Over 450 – Khalid Al Falasi, Yamaha; Ladies Kylie Slowe, KTM.
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.