Yacopini, Oliveras clinch maiden Qatar Baja win

Lusail, Qatar: Toyota s Juan Cruz Yacopini and Dani Oliveras emerged victorious from a gruelling Qatar International Baja for the first time on Saturd...

Lusail, Qatar: Toyota’s Juan Cruz Yacopini and Dani Oliveras emerged victorious from a gruelling Qatar International Baja for the first time on Saturday. The win was also sufficient for the Argentine and his Spanish navigator to confirm overall victory in the Ultimate category in the FIA World Baja Cup.

The X-raid Mini JCW Team duo of Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov began the final day with a lead of 2min 42.4sec but came under pressure from both the FIA World Baja Cup leader Yacopini and Czech veteran Martin Prokop over the last stage.

Yacopini and his Spanish navigator Dani Oliveras went on a charge as the stage progressed. The Toyota Hilux crew grabbed the virtual rally lead before the final run through the dunes and sealed victory over Martin Prokop and Viktor Chytka after Krotov suffered a broken front differential and then stopped completely and retired on the final push through the southern desert.

Yacopini said: “I’m super happy to finish this race. Today’s stage was super tough for us. Yesterday, there was a gap between us and the first car and we knew we had to push really hard. Since the first kilometre we did our best and then we had to manage the race in the dunes at the end. Now we have won the category in the World Cup. We have worked hard for this all year.”

Polish rider Konrad Dabrowski led the motorcycle standings from start-to-finish on his KTM 450 Rally to seal a third victory at the event in four years (2022, 2023 and 2025). He showed an impeccable ability to manage his pace and navigate from the front on the way to a deserved win by 31min 17.0sec.