Lusail, Qatar: Saudi Arabian driver Dania Akeel and her French navigator Stephane Duple delivered a stunning performance to lead the car category after a dramatic day’s action at the Qatar International Baja on Friday.

The Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux crew won the opening stage and then ceded time to their main rivals through the second one but did enough to take a lead of 92.9 seconds into the night halt. 

As a result, they lead all the crews in the FIA Middle East Baja Cup. 

Akeel said: “That’s it! This is our first stage win overall. I had a great time. Stéphane was amazing. The cap was changing. The stage was fast, twisty, rocky and a really nice sector by the sea. That was really steep for the first time. That was really good training. We are in a perfect position for tomorrow. It’s going to be a really fun ride.”

Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov hold second and lead the FIA World Baja Cup crews in their new petrol-engined X-Raid Mini JCW Rally 3.0i, while the Portuguese pairing of João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro are third overall and lead the SSV section in a Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR.

Krotov’s X-Raid team manager Tobias Quandt said: “It was a nice day for us for testing. Our engine is still in development but we are on a pretty good level. It’s a nice fight and a nice race. Denis had one puncture on the first stage but he did a good job and we are super happy to have him back in the team.”

Ferreira said: “The stages were very fast. It was very difficult navigation. I have never seen anything like this. It is very difficult to see the tracks and the junctions. We finish without any problems and Filipe did an amazing job from the navigation side. We are third and leading SSV. We are very happy.”

João Dias came home in fourth place in the second of the Santag Racing Can-Ams in the SSV section and Saudi Arabia’s Mooaz Hariri moved ahead of Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal to snatch fifth in his Can-Am. 

Khalid Al Jafla leads the Challenger section in his eighth-placed Taurus T3 Max.

Kuwait’s Abdullah Al Shatti (Kawasaki) and Saudi Arabia’s Hani Al Noumesi topped the motorcycle and quad times after the second stage of the FIM event where several riders missed vital route waypoints with the tricky navigation across the deceptive desert terrain. 

FIA entrants tackled a pair of 123.91km and 122.50km special stages on the northwestern side of Qatar, while the motorcycle and quad riders competed over just one special of 256.42km. 

Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah started the opening stage 10thon the road behind his brother Khalifa.Krotov was first out with the burden on co-driver Konstantin Zhiltsov to master the tricky navigation from the front of the field.

Both Mohammed Al Atteya and FIA Middle East Baja Cup leader Ahmed Al Kuwari stopped for several costly minutes early in the first stage. 

Al Atteya returned to the stage start and later retired, as Abdullah Al Rabban was also delayed and Ibrahim Al Muhanna (engine), Camelia Liparoti and Stefano Marrini (three punctures) fell by the wayside.

Krotov stopped to change a puncturenear the end of the opening stage north of the Tamim Airbase and to the east of the Khawzan Roadand the delay undid all his hard work. 

He carded a target time of 1hr 22min 06.1sec but the stoppage was costly and Akeel beat him by 5min 36.6sec. 

Akeel, Krotov and Ferreira duly claimed the quickest times to take the leading three places in the Baja.Challenger front-runner Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah slotted into fourth ahead of his brother Khalifa. 

Akeel’s stage win meant a female driver led the Baja for the first time in history 

Stage two covered the tracks that the bikers had taken on the first half of their stage in the morning but the north-westerly wind had intensified. 

Krotov began to pass the tailenders from the motorcycle race on the run north and he eventually stopped the clocks in 1hr 09min 24.7sec to win the stage and reduce Akeel’s overnight lead to 1min 32.9sec.

The run north along the coast proved costly for the host nation’s hopes of victory: both Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah (loss of engine oil) and his brother Khalifa (broken engine) were sidelined, Ahmad Al Mohannadi damaged the rear right-hand corner of his Taurus in an accident but Abdulaziz Al Kuwari overcame hefty delays with electrical woesand fuel pressure issues to finish over 90 minutes behind his rivals. 

Khalifa Saleh Al Attiyah will not restart on Saturday. 

Dutchman Erik van Loon is tackling the Baja in the latest Can-Am Maverick R that will be eligible under the 2025 FIA technical regulations. 

He is running in an Experimental class and is not classified in the rankings but stopped before the end of the second stage.

Stage one quad winner Abdulaziz Ahli and biker Makis Rees-Stavros were given stage-opening duties in the FIM section but the Briton soon passed the Emirati and was out alone on the stage. 

He stayed out in front until he was hunted down by Pedro Bianchi Prata and the duo rode close together as the stage wound its way along the west coast. 

Mishal Al Ghuneim badly lost his way along the perimeter of Tamim and returned to the stage start and then on to Lusail. 

Stavros lost ground as the stage progressed and Alex McInnes and James Hillier took up the pursuit of Prata. 

McInnes then stopped briefly and Hillier began to attack the Portuguese to the halfway refuelling stop with Megre well-placed to challenge on the second half of the stage. 

Croatian Yamaha rider Muhamed Plicanic retired on the run up the west coast. 

Hillier broke clear after the restart and led the stage from Prata, Megre and Rees-Stavros but the leading quartet all back-tracked to find a route waypoint and McInnes took up the reins at the front of the field and led the way to the finish. 

Several riders stayed behind to offer support to Qatar’s Mohamed Al Thani who crashed heavily on the run south to the finish. 

He was taken to hospital for medical checks after the accident.

The midfield riders had the distinct advantage of being able to follow the tracks of their rivals. 

Al Shatti duly earned the stage win to take a comfortable lead into the final day. 

Saudi rider Badr Al Hamdan and Qatar-based Australian Martin Chalmers initially came home in second and third but were heavily penalised for route deviations.

Pole Filip Grot and Slovenian Gregor Mikl climbed to second and third in the unofficial timings. 

FIM title contender Mohammed Al Balooshi was classified in fifth and held the advantage over his Portuguese rivals Prata and David Megre. 

Abdulaziz Al Shayban ground to a halt on the run north along the coast and quad Prologue winner Ahli was sidelined on the run south to the finish with mechanical problems. 

Haitham Al Tuwaijri then crashed out of contention near the stage finish and required medical treatment. 

That paved the way for Al Noumesi to snatch the quad lead from Abdulaziz Al Atawi.

Saturday’s action will feature a special stage of 251.10km that winds its way through the southern Qatar deserts and includes a section of dunes near Sealine and the Inland Sea.