Temperatures flirted with 39°C in a heatwave in Badajoz at the weekend and riders also had to contend with dust at Spain’s Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura, round three of the FIM Bajas World Cup.
They faced a 4.3km Prologue on Friday and two 211km loops of special stages on Saturday. The final special stage had to be shortened by half to stay on schedule.
Like a repeat of last year, it was another young Briton who won the Baja in Spain - Ethan Lane! Alex McInnes, the favourite, crashed on the Prologue and had to relinquish his title to his compatriot. In the quad category, Portugal was in the spotlight with victory for Jorge Sampaio.
On the start line of the 4.3 km Prologue at Campo Maior, there were 18 FIM riders – 14 motorcycles and four quads.
Last year's young winner Alex McInnes (KTM) was the first to start without a hitch on the gravel track but the Briton crashed and was taken to hospital, resulting in a maximum time penalty and last place. It was a disastrous start to the race for the Briton. Uninjured and reclassified at the start in 10th position for safety reasons, McInnes came back stronger on Saturday morning and easily won the first stage. Unfortunately, due to his penalty, he remained at the back of the pack in the overall standings.
The incredible Sara Garcia led the provisional standings at the end of the first stage on her Yamaha. But Prologue winner Ethan Lane (KTM) regained the lead and won the shortened second stage.
Sara Garcia, nevertheless, finished in a very respectable second overall, followed by Paulo Cardoso (Kove), Abdulhalim Al-Mogheera (KTM), and Mohammed Al-Balooshi (Husqvarna).
There was bad luck for Hungarian rider Richard Hodola, who fractured his toe in the first stage.
Victory fell to Portuguese rider Jorge Sampaio in the quad category. He finished ahead of Ahmed Al-Jaber and Abdulaziz Al-Atawi. Hani Al-Noumesi experienced mechanical problems and started the second loop outside his time limit. Matteo Bottino (Kove) won the Trail category.
Sara Garcia topped the standings in the Women's category, ahead of Joanna Modrzewska. Ethan Lane also won the Juniors, the Briton finishing ahead of McInnes and Antonio Feliciano.
Paulo Cardoso was the top Veteran and completed the event ahead of Mohammed Al-Balooshi and Joanna Modrzewska.
Results are available on SPORTITY: code BEXT26BIKE.