This year’s event has attracted a 19-car field with a dozen crews registered for the FIA World Baja Cup and six competing for FIA European Baja Cup points. There are eight cars in the Ultimate category, three in Challenger, six in SSV and two in Stock. Only one driver is not registered for either FIA series.

Saudi Arabia’s Dania Akeel leads the FIA World Cup and the Ultimate section by five points after two rounds from the absent Jordan Baja-winning South African Saood Variawa. She heads the field with French navigator Sébastien Delaunay in the solitary Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux.

Her World Cup rivals chasing Ultimate honours are the father and daughter duo of Lionel and Lucie Baud and Emirati Khalid Al-Jafla (Toyota) with his navigator Andrei Rudnitski. Baud enjoyed a strong run at the last event in Jordan to lead after day one before finishing third in his diesel-engined X-Raid Mini JCW Rally.

The other five Ultimate crews are chasing points in the FIA European Baja Cup. Portugal’s Maria Gameiro and her navigator Rosa Romero currently top the Ultimate standings in the European series after the opening round in Cuenca, Spain. Gameiro is also fourth in the Drivers’ Championship and will be hoping to capitalise on the absence of the leading three drivers in the points’ standings.

Gameiro’s closest rival Jose Rogeira has not made the trip to Greece, but the X-raid Mini driver faces competition from the Lithuanian Gurtam Toyota GR Baltics duo of Benediktas Vanagas and Aisvydas Paliukenas in a Toyota Hilux and the Polish pairing of Magdalena Zając and Błażek Czekan in a Proxcars TME Rally Team Toyota. Vanagas suffered an early retirement at the opening round but Zając holds third in the points’ standings.

Czech Karol Trneny (Ford F-150) and Romanian Costel Casuneanu (Mini) are also chasing Ultimate points in the FIA European Baja Cup.

Three-horse race for Challenge honours

Three crews will battle it out for supremacy in the Challenger category. Omani veteran Hamed Al-Wahaibi took maximum points from the opening two rounds of the FIA World Baja Cup and the Taurus Evo Max driver holds a 17-point cushion over Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, also in a Taurus.

Al-Wahaibi again teams up with Pole Maciej Giemza, while Al-Kuwari will be partnered by Max Delfino for the first time this season. Al-Wahaibi currently holds third in the overall Drivers’ Championship and is also the leading Master driver.

The Dutch crew of Mitchel van den Brink and Bart Heun crew a South Racing Can-Am Maverick R. They are yet to score a point in the championship, but have the pace to upstage their series rivals over demanding Greek terrain that reaches high altitudes in the Vitsi area of western Macedonia over sinuous twisty mountain tracks and through dense beech forests.

Alvarez and Panseri top SSV field

Fernando Alvarez and his French navigator Xavier Panseri head the six-strong SSV section with four crews chasing FIA World Cup points and just one team opting for the European series.

The Argentina-based driver currently holds a 19-point lead over young Norwegian girl Hedda Hosås in the rankings and is equal fourth with Al-Kuwari in the overall Drivers’ Championship. Alvarez picked up maximum points in Saudi Arabia but his R-X Sport rival won the category in Jordan with Spaniard Pol Tibau. Hosås is also the leading Junior driver in the FIA World Baja Cup.

The Polish duo of Tomasz Bialkowski and Dariusz Baskiewicz hold third in the rankings in their Polaris RXR Pro R and are also present in northern Greece. Young Emirati Mansour Al-Helai (R-X Sport Can-Am) is fifth in the championship and teams up with Khalid Al-Kendi in the fourth car.

Murat Kapanoğlu and Aleksandr Trendafilov (Can-Am) are the sole entrants in the FIA European Baja Cup. Turkey’s Yağiz Birinci and Ugur Tepe (Can-Am) make up the numbers but are not chasing Baja points.

Barreiros goes head-to-head with Al-Shammeri in Stock

Portugal’s Fernando Barreiros (Isuzu) and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Mashna Al-Shammeri (Nissan) are the only two entrants in the Stock category for series production cross-country machines.

Barreiros and José Sa Pires picked up 43 points apiece for winning the Stock section at the Baja TT Cuenca last month, while Al-Shammeri trails the absent Majed Al-Thunayyan by 21 points after the first two rounds of the FIA World Baja Cup.

Organised by the Attica Motorsport Club, in conjunction with the Greek Automobile Club West Attica and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sport, the 13th event of its kind is again based out of the western Macedonian town of Argos Orestiko. In a compact route of 802.05km, 550.03km (subject to final route checks) will be timed against the clock.

A Prologue of 6.17km will determine the starting order on Friday (June 5th) afternoon. Crews will then tackle two demanding stages, repeated twice, on Saturday and Sunday.

The opening Vitsi stage runs for 162.95km from 08.50hrs on Saturday morning and is repeated in the afternoon. A shortened Grammos special of 108.98km brings the action to a close with passes through the stage on Sunday morning and afternoon before the finish in Argos Orestiko.

13th Baja Greece – entry list:

Ultimate

200. Dania Akeel (KSA)/Sébastian Delaunay (FRA)                                    Toyota Hilux Evo*

201. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA)                                                     X-Raid Mini JCW 3.0d*

202. Khalid Al-Jafla (UAE)/Andrei Rudnitskiy (LTU)                                    Toyota Hilux Evo*

203. Benediktas Vanagas (LTU)/Aisvydas Paliukenas (LTU)                     Toyota Hilux+

204. Maria Gameiro (POR)/Rosa Romero (ESP)                                          Mini JCW Rally 3.0d+

205. Karol Trneny (CZE)/Vaclav Pritzl (CZE)                                                 Ford F-150 Evo+

206. Costel Casuneanu (ROU)/Itu Sergiu (ROU)                                         Mini R60 CC+

207. Magdalena Zając (POL)/Błażek Czekan (POL)                                     Toyota Hilux+                                              

Challenger

300. Mitchel van den Brink (NED)/Bart Heun (NED)                                  Can-Am Maverick R*

301. Hamed Al-Wahaibi (OMA)/Maciek Giemza (POL)                             Taurus Evo Max*

302. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Max Delfino (FRA)                                   Taurus Evo Max*

SSV

400. Fernando Alvarez (ARG)/Xavier Panseri (FRA)                                   Can-Am Maverick R*

401. Hedda Hosås (NOR)/Pol Tibau (ESP)                                                    Can-Am Maverick R*

402. Tomasz Bialkowski (POL)/Dariusz Baskiewicz (POL)                          Polaris RXR Pro R*

403. Mansour Al-Helai (UAE)/Khalid Al-Kendi (UAE)                                 Can-Am Maverick R*

404. Murat Kapanoğlu (BGR)/Aleksandr Trendafilov (BGR)                     Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR+

405. Yağiz Birinci (TUR)/Ugur Tepe (TUR)                                                    Can-Am Maverick R

Stock

500. Fernando Barreiros (POR)/Jose Sa Pires (POR)                                  Isuzu D-Max*

501. Al-Mashna Al-Shammeri (KSA)/Abdullah Al-Shammeri (KSA)         Nissan Patrol*                           

*denotes registered for FIA World Baja Cup

+denotes registered for FIA European Baja Cup

Timetable of events

Wednesday, June 3

Organisers’ press conference                                                 18.00-19.00hrs, Baja HQ

Thursday, June 4

Administration checks                                                               09.00-20.00hrs, Baja Secretariat

Scrutineering checks                                                                  10.00-21.00hrs, Service Park

Friday, June 5

Shakedown - Votani                                                                    10.00-14.00hrs

Competitors’ photo shoot                                                        16.00-16.10hrs, Service Park

Pre-event press conference                                                    16.20-17.00hrs, Service Park

Prologue – 6.17km                                                                      18.20hrs - first car

Ceremonial start                                                                          21.00hrs onwards, Argos Orestiko podium

Saturday, June 6

SS1 (Vitsi I – 162.95km)                                                             08.50hrs – first car

SS2 (Vitsi II – 162.95km)                                                            15.05hrs – first car

Sunday, June 7

SS3 (Grammos I – 108.98km)                                                  09.10hrs – first car

SS5 (Grammos II – 108.98km)                                                14.50hrs – first car

Post-event press conference                                                  20.30hrs, Argos Orestiko podium

Podium ceremony                                                                       21.00hrs, Argos Orestiko podium