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© Bob Mullins   

Baja GB

The future of the Baja GB was hanging by a thread as we closed for press on Monday, because the Welsh Assembly Government decided against honouring a gentleman's three-year agreement to cover any financial short falls in the event whilst it became established and was able to attract major sponsors in its own right.

Marches 4x4 Motorsport Management Limited were looking at the sad option of being forced to cancel Britain's premier off-road event after it had reached the prestigious status of the FIA International Cup for Cross-Country Bajas, after five years work by their dedicated team.

Despite officials' discussing the event in detail with both the MSA and its commercial arm, International Motor Sports, no solution could be found to come up with a rescue package for the event, which was partly financed in 2007 by the chairman of the organising committee, Chris Tomley.

This is devastating news for the organisers who have been inundated with requests for regulations from all over Europe and the Middle East and expect record entries. Interest has been intense since they visited the Italian Baja in March. There is a fabulous new location for the HQ and service area and great stages, which have been in place since before Christmas. "We are desperate to find a solution to ensure the retention of this FIA world class event, after all the work that has gone into establishing it," said a disappointed Tomley.

"Wales Rally GB is off the rota in 2010 in favour of Rally Ireland and so this event, running annually, would have been perfect back-up for Wales. We contributed some £400,000-plus to the local economy last year and with a larger event this year, anticipated that doubling in 2008.

"This year we already have many teams who have committed their budgets, are arranging their visas and booking accommodation, including the two leading drivers in the Cup, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Tina Thorner from the BMW X-raid Team and Boris Gadasin of the Russian NART TIME Team.

"Many other countries want to get into the FIA Cup. Last year we joined Italy, Spain and Portugal, making four rounds. Two candidate events also ran and the Hail Saudi Baja and Hungarian Baja came in this year, making six rounds. The Russian Northern Forest Baja ran as a candidate in February and will be in the Cup next year making seven rounds.

"If we drop out, there are plenty waiting to take our place including two more candidate events running this year in Thailand and Cambodia," added Tomley. "The shortfall is between 120k and 150k. If there is anybody out there with passion to support this event, please come forward. The event must be cancelled by the start of next week if no solution can be found."

BAJA GB 2008, September 25th-28th, 2008 Great Britain's fifth round of the 2008 FIA International Cup for Cross-Country Bajas

ENTRIES OPEN FOR NATIONAL 'A' AND BIKE CATEGORIES OF BAJA GB 2008

New centralised service park close to rally HQ in Aberystwyth Bikers and quad riders set to take part in start ceremony and super special

NEWTOWN (Wales): Marches 4x4 Motorsport Management Limited, the organisers of Baja GB 2008, announced today (Monday) that entries have opened for both the National 'A' category rally and the Baja GB for bikes, quads, and the new discipline of sidecars. Event officials are just completing the last paperwork before the main FIA event regulations are finalised. Baja GB 2008 takes place on September 25th-28th.

There will be a hefty discount for competitors keen to tackle the National 'A' section of the four-day event. National 'A' runners will be offered a generous 221 competitive stage miles in a total route of 361 miles for the value-for-money price of £700, the fee reducing to £600 with £100 cash back if the total number of competitors in the category exceeds 20 at the start.

"This is a substantial reduction on the amount charged for the category last year," said chairman of the organising committee Chris Tomley. "There is a lot of interest in this category from British competitors, particularly those who usually take part in hill rallies and the Britpart MSA British Cross-Country Championship (BCCC) and we feel that the high entry fee in 2007 may have put some competitors off taking part. The National 'A' runners will take part in all three competitive days of the rally."

Caerphilly's Hugh Haines and Bamber Bridge-based Dan Lofthouse won the first two Baja GB National 'A' rallies and Tomley is convinced that this year's event will attract the largest entry in the three years of Baja GB history. "There has been a lot of interest from BCCC drivers already."

There will be three groups for production, super production and prototype entrants, sub-divided into 10 classes to cater for nearly all of the 4x4 and 4x2 derivatives that are currently competing in the UK.

Meanwhile, radical changes have been made to the Baja GB Bikes' event. Riders will now be able to take part in the official start ceremony in Aberystwyth and the 10-kilometre super special stage in Tarenig forest on Friday, September 26th. For an entry fee of £225, riders will benefit from their own clerk of the course, Mark Vaughan, and new Baja liaison officer Dave Lucas.

Subject to ACU approval, there will be an exciting new Class E for sidecars - to meet competitors' demand - in addition to Class A for two-stroke bikes, Class B1 for four-stroke bikes up to 450cc, Class B2 for four-stroke machines between 450cc and 620cc, Class B3 for bikes over 620cc and Class D for the increasingly-popular quad category.

"The Baja is a specialist event for the enduro community, but it has been well supported in the last two years, with Cannock's Lee Edmondson and Llanidloes rider Rowan Jones winning the first two events," added Tomley. "Last year several of the bikers complained that they did not feel part of the main international event, so for that reason they will now take part in the start ceremony and the super special and will benefit from their own area of the main service area in Aberystwyth."

Bikes, quads and sidecars will also be able to tackle 221 stage miles in a total route of 361 miles and there will be a camping area within the main rally service park. "Bikers will be at the centre of the action throughout the weekend," added Tomley. "There will be refuelling locations at Sweet Lamb between stages and at Steddfa after the second stage before they return to service."

Rally headquarters and the media and officials' offices will be located at the Park Lodge Hotel in Aberystwyth, with the service park and trade area situated within walking distance of the event headquarters. The ceremonial start and finish will be in Aberystwyth, although there will be a designated spectator area in the Sweet Lamb complex over the weekend, with commentary, catering and toilet facilities and continuous action expected throughout the two days of forest competition.

Every category of the rally will be no further than 300 metres from the main headquarters, where the mobile telephone signal is strong and the re-location to Aberystwyth eliminates the minor problems that affected communications in 2007. A rally show and trade stands will also be location near to the HQ and event officials are working on a corporate hospitality package for VIPs, sponsors and guests who may want to entertain clients during Baja GB weekend.

Cars complying with FIA T1 and T2 regulations will be permitted to enter the main Baja GB, as was the case in 2006 and 2007. Regulations are being finalised and the cost will be £1500 before August 23rd, rising to £1800 afterwards.

For further details about the event in general and for entries for the bike, quad, sidecar and National 'A' categories, contact Wendy Tomley (E-mail: wt@tomleys.co.uk ) on + 44 1686 626641 and for sponsorship, corporate hospitality and marketing opportunities, please contact Angela Perkins (E-mail: angela@bajawales.com ).

Pic captions Caerphilly's Hugh Haines won the inaugural National 'A' category of the Baja GB in 2006.

Bikes will benefit from full rally facilities and 221 stage miles at Baja GB 2008.

BAJA GB 2007, August 17-19th, 2007 Britain's new round of the 2007 FIA International Cup for Cross-Country Bajas

CZECH DRIVER MIROSLAV ZAPLETAL TAKES SHOCK BAJA GB VICTORY

ROWAN WINS MC CLASS

Russian Gadasin extends FIA Baja championship lead with second place; Qatar's Sheikh Hamed Bin Eid Al-Thani clinches Baja T2 title with podium finish; Spaniard Blazquez's Baja title dream ends in Sweet Lamb; Bike win for Welshman Jones on a Yamaha; Dan Lofthouse wins Y Rali Bryn Cymru

BUILTH WELLS (Wales): The Czech crew of Miroslav Zapletal and Miroslav Janacek clinched a shock victory in Baja GB 2007, round three of the FIA International Cup for Cross-Country Bajas, in Builth Wells, mid-Wales, on Sunday.

The Mitsubishi Pajero crew hit the front for the first time after the sixth stage, when defending Baja champion Marc Blazquez stopped with mechanical problems. The Czech came under pressure from FIA Baja Cup leader Boris Gadasin over the closing stages, but held on to take a memorable win in the rain-soaked mid-Wales forests. The result means that runner-up Gadasin is now the favourite to clinch a maiden Baja title in Portugal in October at the wheel of his Overdrive Nissan Navara.

"It was a nice event, but the stages were so very different to what we are used to in mainland Europe and they were very slippery," said Zapletal.

Spaniard Blazquez began the sixth stage on Sunday morning with a 2m 32s outright lead over Zapletal, as the Nissan man continued his push towards a third Baja title in as many years. But the Spaniard's championship dream met an untimely end in the damp Hafren forests, when he stopped with reported transmission trouble and handed the overall lead to Zapletal.

Gadasin duly beat his Czech rival by 14 seconds in the stage, but the Mitsubishi driver maintained a 5m 26s lead over the Russian heading into the final two stages. Slovakia's Josef Sykora, who had spent around 30 minutes in a ditch on Saturday following a navigational error, set the third fastest time in SS6, but eventually stopped with a broken halfshaft in the subsequent Tarenig stage.

The battle for T2 honours had swung in favour of Spaniard Francesco Termens. He trailed Qatar's Sheikh Hamed Bin Eid Al-Thani at the end of the second day, but scorched into third overall and a commanding T2 lead through the sixth stage, where both Italy's Franco Grigoletto and Spaniard Jose-Manual Garcia hit mechanical trouble.

The pendulum swung back into Al-Thani's court in stage seven through Tarenig, when Termens stopped for around 10 minutes with mechanical problems. Gadasin set the fastest time but the Russian could only take 1m 37s out of Zapletal's advantage and the Czech headed into the final Sweet Lamb stage with a 3m 49s lead. Al-Thani moved up to third overall, as Termens slipped behind Dutchman Toni Van Deijne into fifth place.

Those final kilometres through the damp and rutted mid-Wales forests confirmed that Zapletal became the first ever winner of an FIA Baja event in the UK. Gadasin consolidated second overall with the fastest time on the final stage to reduce the Czech's winning margin to 2m 54s, while Qatar's Al-Thani confirmed the T2 title with a superb third place.

"This is a fantastic result for me," said Al-Thani. "It has been a really enjoyable event. My team have done a great job. Now I can go to Portugal, maybe in a T1 car, and try and take a top overall result. But that will not be easy against the competition there."

Van Deijne and Termens completed the top five, Cheptow's Richard Hopkins finished sixth in his Land Rover Discovery and Richard Hayward, from Newport in Gwent, was a distant ninth. Last year's winner Ian Rochelle, from Bridgnorth, had been the first retirement on Friday evening with a broken propshaft.

Llandrindod Wells-based Graham Middleton was the sensation of the opening two days in his Rally Raid F350 and was hoping to head into the final leg 40 seconds behind leader Blazquez. But FIA technical officials carried out a weight check on several cars in Builth Wells on Saturday evening and Middleton's new car was deemed to be substantially underweight. There was no alternative but to exclude the former British national champion from the event.

Dan Lofthouse took a commanding lead into the final day of Y Rali Bryn Cymru and extended his advantage to 30m 03s by winning the sixth stage. He confirmed the win through the final Tarenig stage, as Frazer Williams and Middleton Stoney's Henry Webster completed the podium places.

Llanidloes rider Rowan Jones headed into the final three stages with a commanding 7m 45s advantage over Cannock's Derrick Edmondson in the motorcycle category, with Craig Bounds in third and Daniel Upton a class of his own in the quad field in fourth place. Burntwood's defending champion Lee Edmondson, Bournemouth's Ray Watton, Neath's Nick Plumb, Castletown's Kieran Clotworthy and Ashley Wood had retired on Saturday.

Jones extended his lead to 8m 09s through the penultimate 60.31 km Sweet Lamb stage, as Derrick Edmondson held on to second overall and Bounds clung to third. The Welshman duly confirmed victory in Tarenig, although Edmondson set his first fastest time to reduce the Llanidloes rider's winning margin to 7m 56s.

"I know the area very well, but not the Baja course," said a delighted Jones. "This is my first event of this kind so far. Normally I compete in the British Enduro Championship, so I have never done one of these and did not know what to expect. I will be back next year. It was really enjoyable. Maybe next year it will be a bit more technical, but with the cars here as well, I suppose the organisers must find a happy medium."

Bounds filled the final podium place and Upton was a fine fourth on the leading quad. Seventeen-year-old Yorkshire rookie Naomi Ridley finished her first Baja in 16th position on a Yamaha Raptor.

Baja GB - Positions after leg 3 (unofficial @ 13.40 hrs) 1 Miroslav Zapletal (CZ)/Miroslav Janacek (CZ) Mitsubishi Pajero 5h 42m 50s 2 Boris Gadasin (RU)/Alexander Mironenko (RU) Nissan Navara 5h 45m 44s 3 Hamad Bin Eid Al Thani (QA)/George Saryan (AUS) Mitsubishi Pajero 6h 08m 34s 4 Toni Van Deijne (NL)Wouter Rosegaar (NL) Mitsubishi L200 6h 10m 50s 5 Francesco Termens (E)/Jordi Vilalta (E) Mitsubishi Montero 6h 19m 31s 6 Richard Hopkins (GB)/Gary Toroysan (GB) Land Rover Discovery 6h 23m 23s 7 Zdenek Porizek (CZ)/Premysl Korejz (CZ) Mitsubishi Pajero 6h 34m 05s 8 Vincent Thijs (B)/Johan Bude (B) Mitsubishi Pajero 7h 15m 36s 9 Richard Hayward (GB)/Quin Evans (GB) Bowler Wildcat 16h 06m 32s 10 Piotr Beaupre (PL)/Jacek Lisicki (PL) Bowler Wildcat 200 26h 08m 30s 11 Andrea Spinelli (I)/Monica Buonamano (I) Mitsubishi Pajero 41h 33m 14s

Y Rali Bryn Cymru (National 'A' Rally) - Positions after leg 3: 1 Dan Lofthouse (GB)/Simon Kerfoot (GB) Lofthouse Proto LD4 4h 50m 02s 2 Frazer Williams (GB)/Dave Thomas (GB) QT Special 4600 5h 22m 09s 3 Henry Webster (GB)/Sarah Suter (GB) Land Rover Discovery 5h 22m 40s 4 Mike Moran (GB)/Richard Suter (GB) Bowler Wildcat 100 5h 41m 14s 5 Ben Gott (GB)/Chris Hammond (GB) TMC DB MII 5h 43m 17s 6 Glen McKeith (GB)/Caroline Smith (GB) Land Rover Freelander 6h 11m 09s 7 Richard Corking (GB)/Quentin Baum (GB) Land Rover 3M Special 9h 26m 47s 8 starters, 7 finishers

Baja GB Bikes/Quads* - Positions after leg 3: 1 Rowan Jones (Yamaha 450) 4h 27m 21s 2 Derrick Edmondson (KTM EXC-R) 4h 35m 17s 3 Craig Bounds (BMW X Challenge) 4h 41m 14s 4 Daniel Upton (Bombardier Renegade) 5h 10m 57s* 5 Clive Town (KTM 525 Rallye) 5h 13m 03s 6 Adam Evans (KTM 520 MXC) 5h 17m 04s 7 Lee Walters (BMW 650) 5h 19m 36s 8 Paul Howard (KTM 525 MC) 5h 28m 36s 9 Andrew Barlow (KTM 450 EXC) 5h 29m 34s 10 Steve Holland (KTM Enduro 450) 5h 31m 14s 11 Gordon McPherson (KTM 450 EXC) 5h 32m 07s 12 Chris Bickerton (KTM 525MXC) 5h 40m 28s 13 David Dickinson (KTM 525 XC) 5h 47m 03s 14 Mark Calzoni (Yamaha Raptor) 5h 51m 39s* 15 Lee Peck (KTM) 5h 53m 57s 16 Naomi Ridley (Yamaha Raptor) 6h 03m 24s* 17 Laurence Barber (KTM 525) 6h 16m 45s 18 Paul Blezard (KTM 450) 6h 21m 52s 19 Tony Brooks (Honda XR400R) 6h 34m 56s 20 Neil Tanner (Sherco 4.5i 450) 6h 46m 18s 21 Patsy Quick (KTM 950 Super Enduro) 6h 46m 49s 26 starters, 21 finishers

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