- Three months – four Bajas across Europe
Following three desert rallies that all were won by the MINI ALL4 Racing built by X-raid, the season now is continued with several short Bajas. And the Italian Baja, which takes place not far from Venice, will represent the start into this part of the season. In the coming months, it will be followed by events in Spain, Hungary and Poland. Afterwards, the calendar will take the competitors back to the desert. The Italian Baja will be raced by the pairing Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Mathieu Baumel (FRA) in a MINI ALL4 Racing.
Al-Attiyah won the rallies in Qatar and Egypt in superior style and the Bajas, usually contested on tight tracks resembling WRC special stages, also suit the driver from Qatar well. After all, he and his co-driver Baumel are competing in the WRC2 and the Middle East Rally Championship when not racing the MINI ALL4 Racing. The Italian Baja will be kicked off on Friday with an 11.8-kilometre prologue, while on Saturday and Sunday, the competitors will have to race two special stages each: 101-kilometre special stages in the morning and 202-kilometre special stages in the afternoon.
The duration of a Baja usually amounts to just two or three days and the total mileage to less than 1000 kilometres. Other than in the long rallies, the mechanics’ time for working on the cars is short and limited. Furthermore, only two mechanics and one engineer are allowed to work on a car. Afterwards, the cars are taken to the Parc Fermé which is not allowed to be entered by the teams.
