Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura
FIM Bajas World Cup, round 3
April 14th-16th, 2023
After 890km, including 500km of selective sections, Portuguese rider David Megre won the Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura, round three of the FIM Bajas World Cup. He finished the Spanish event ahead of the leading Veteran Pedro Bianchi Prata and the Spaniard Sara Garcia, who became the second woman to reach the podium this year.
In the quad category, Kevin Giroud - the younger brother of Dakar winner Alexandre Giroud – claimed victory.
On Friday, Pedro Bianchi Prata won the 6km Prologue, which was used to establish the starting order for the following morning’s first stage. Competitors set off in foggy conditions on Saturday morning and had to cover more than 500km, including 338km against the clock on gravel roads that were often very rutted and damaged after the passage of numerous cars and SSVs.
David Megre (Kawasaki) was classified fourth in the morning after an electrical problem, but he made up the time in the afternoon and crossed the finish line in the lead, ahead of Bianchi Prata (Honda), female riders Sara Garcia (Yamaha) and Mirjam Pol (Husqvarna) and Australian veteran Andrew Houlihan.
Junior rider Jonathan Finn started the morning strongly but made a small mistake, crashed, broke his rear brake lever and made a hole in the clutch cover. After making emergency repairs, the Canadian finished day one in 12th and went on to finish 10th. Sultan Al-Balooshi, the brother of sixth-placed Mohammed Al-Balooshi, also had mechanical problems and was forced to retire.
In quads, Junior Kevin Giroud moved into the lead from Toni Vingut and topped the standings on the opening day.
Sunday’s action was shorter with just 155km, but dust was prevalent and there were numerous stones on the tracks. Riders needed to keep their concentration to avoid making mistakes. There were no big changes at the end of the day, except for Giroud who had mechanical problems but still managed to keep the lead of the race.
At the finish of the Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura, David Megre confirmed his supremacy ahead of Bianchi Prata and Sara Garcia, while Mirjam Pol finished less than two minutes behind the Spaniard. Houlihan finished fifth.
Giroud won the quad category by 13 seconds ahead from Saudi rival Haitham Al-Tuwaijri. Toni Vingut was a distant third but Hani Al-Noumesi retired.
The Women's category was, of course, won by Sara Garcia, who finished ahead of Mirjam Pol, Esther Merino and Sarah Khuraibet.
Kevin Giroud also won the Junior category by finishing ahead of Jonathan Finn, while Bianchi Prata won the Veteran’s section from Houlihan and Vingut.
FIM Communications