Jordan Motorsport (JM) has announced a quality international entry for the forthcoming Jordan Baja, the new seventh round of the 2019 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas. The event will be based in Aqaba and centered around Wadi Rum from Sept. 19-21. Eighteen cars and competitors from 15 nations are entered in the main FIA section of the three-day event (subject to FIA approval). They will be joined by nine motorcycles and quads and a further eight teams in a national category. The motorcycle event is also being observed as an official candidate event for next year's FIM Cross-Country Bajas World Cup. Russian Vladimir Vasilyev, Argentina's Orlando Terranova and Poland's Jakub Przygonski are currently embroiled in a three-way battle to determine the outcome of the FIA Drivers' Championship. All three will be present in the Hashemite Kingdom in a trio of Mini All4 Racings, built by the German X-raid team. They face competition in the T1 category from Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi and Saudi Arabia's Yasir Seaidan. Russian Fedor Vorobyev has a useful lead in the T3 category in his Can-Am Maverick X3. The winner of the category in both Hungary and Poland recently faces competition from the likes of Italy's Michele Cinotto and Saudi Arabia's Saleh Al-Saif. Sultan Al-Balooshi won the motorcycle category at the Ha'il International Rally in both 2018 and 2019 and he tops the two-wheel category. Ata Al-Hmoud was the runaway winner of the section in last year's FIA candidate event in southern Jordan and the Jordanian will be aiming for the top step of the podium on his home event. The Kuwaiti duo of Salem and Fares Al-Thefiri head the national section in their Nissan Patrol. The super special stage and ceremonial start are scheduled for Thursday (Sept. 19) in Aqaba City before competitors head into the legendary deserts of Wadi Rum, made famous across the world by a host of Hollywood blockbuster movies. These include the recent Aladdin, all-time classic Lawrence of Arabia, the latest Star Wars film and numerous cinematic links to the reddish nature of the surface of planet Mars. — SG
