Buggyra ZM Racing closed the FIA Qatar International Baja with a strong result for team principal Martin Koloc, who finished fourth in the Ultimate category. His daughter Aliyyah Koloc was classified eighth after a clutch failure on the final stage.
-- The Qatar Baja was the penultimate round of both the FIA World Baja Cup and the FIA Middle East Baja Cup, and ran from 28 to 31 October over 552.36 competitive kilometers.
The team had only a few days to prepare after the Yecheng Rally in China, and it has even less time before the final round, the Dubai International Baja, which starts on November 5. Both Red-Lined Revo cars must be rebuilt in the meantime.
Martin, returning to competition for the first time since Baja Poland at the end of August, raced the non-turbo Red-Lined Revo T1+ with new Portuguese co-driver Hugo Magalhães. Aliyyah and co-driver Marcin Pasek drove the turbo Red-Lined Revo GTR. Both cars faced a field that included six-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah, who took the overall victory.
A bootcamp before the start
Aliyyah and Marcin arrived straight after three consecutive rallies in China, switching from the JJ3 they race there back to the Revo. “The team has just come from China after one month, so they didn’t have even a day to rest before the Qatar Baja. It’s like an incredible bootcamp for them,” said Martin before the start. He was also candid about his own preparation. “I am a bit rusty, since I have not been driving the car in the past two months.” He and Hugo met for the first time just before the event and ran a short shakedown. “The feeling was good, we are happy, and once the challenge has been accepted, let’s go bold on it,” said Hugo.
A strong start in a demanding desert
The 11.12-kilometer prologue put both cars in the top five of the Ultimate category, with Martin just 0.6 seconds ahead of Aliyyah. Qatar’s navigation then proved as tough as expected, with temperatures around 40 degrees outside and much hotter in the car. “There are a lot of junctions in the open desert. You have to stay on the road, be really, really accurate and don’t miss the junctions,” Marcin explained.
Navigation cost Aliyyah and Marcin dearly in the 336.45-kilometer Stage 1. Two missed waypoints at the start cost two minutes each, and a third miss around kilometer 158 was worse. “We went a little bit to the left, and the two waypoints were close to each other. So we validated the next waypoint, not the one we should have, and that’s a 15-minute penalty, unfortunately,” said Marcin.
Martin and Hugo find their rhythm
Martin and Hugo grew into the race as it went on. “The communication between us has been constantly improving, and we are understanding each other better and better,” Martin said. They were fourth in the Ultimate category on Stage 1 and third on Stage 2, making them fourth in the final Ultimate standings, 55 minutes 8.7 seconds behind Al-Attiyah. “Obviously, with the V8 engine, we have been lacking power, but apart from that, I think we do have good pace,” Martin said. “We are able to compete with the big boys and with the fastest competitors.”
Clutch trouble for Aliyyah impeded a better result
Aliyyah and Marcin had good pace on the final stage. “We checked the split times to kilometer 80, and we were in the top 4 overall,” said Marcin. Then the clutch failed. “We tried to repair it, but it was impossible on the stage. So we decided to retire the car because going into the dunes without a clutch is not a good idea.”
Aliyyah summed up the weekend for the family. “My father had a really good race, a really strong performance. As to my race, I know we can compete in a good position, but unfortunately we didn’t have a good result in the end, which is disappointing.”
Next stop Dubai
“Both of the cars are working pretty well. We have the pace,” Martin said. “Aliyyah is showing steady pace, it is just unfortunate that she couldn’t show a better result due to a technical issue.” Hugo was already looking ahead. “Now it’s time to focus on our next race in Dubai. The team has a lot of work to do to rebuild the cars, but I’m sure that they’re going to do a really great job.”
The Dubai International Baja will start with a short prologue of 4.80 kilometers. Stage 1 on November 7, with 177.24 kilometers, will take place in the Al-Qudra desert and its notorious rolling sand dunes. Stage 2 on November 8 will include 179.56 competitive kilometers. Of the 701.10-kilometer total route, 361.60 kilometers will be timed. Buggyra ZM Racing heads to Dubai hoping for a clean run. “Hopefully we can have a good rally,” Aliyyah concluded.
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