Columna Medica Baja Poland, the seventh round of this year’s FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies, scheduled at the last weekend of August, will begin the final stage of rivalry. In the Spanish Baja Aragon, Nasser Al-Attiyah grabbed fourth win in a row, extending his lead in the overall standings. However, there are still four rounds to the end of the season and plenty of points to take.

The first round of the season, Rally Baja Russia Northern Forest took place at the end of February. The Latvian competitor Maris Neiksans won the event, overtaking Vladimir Vasilev and Andrey Novikov. Polish crew Marek Dąbrowski and Jacek Czachor couldn’t make all out of their start, as their car broke down during second day of the rivalry. At the end of the day, the ORLEN Team crew was classified on 12th place. We were witnessing an outstanding performance by Aron Domżała and Szymon Gospodarczyk though. The Polaris crew won the T3 class and were classified on 7th place overall.

Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the second round in this year’s calendar, was held at the beginning of August. Nasser Al-Attiyah was celebrating his second win in the event, while the next two steps on the podium went to Yazeed Al Rajhi and Mikko Hirvonen. Poland had a strong team in the event, while the best turned out to be Kuba Przygoński (5th) and Dąbrowski (8th). Domżała maintained a good rhythm winning the T3 class once again.

At the end of April the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies moved to Qatar, the scene of third round of the 2016 season – Sealine Cross Country Rally. The local hero Nasser Al-Attiyah won for the second time this year and managed to extend his lead over Saudi Arabian Yazeed Al-Rajhi. The best Polish squad, finishing sixth overall, were Dąbrowski and Czachor. This time Domżała crossed the finish line on third place in T3, while Robin Szustkowski and Jarosław Kazberuk managed to stand on the lowest step of the T2 class podium.

After events in the Middle East desert it was the high time to move back to Europe and the whole grid fought in Italian Baja. The fastest drivers in this event were Al-Attiyah and American Bryce Menzies. The duo fought for the win until very last kilometres of the rally. Finally, the leader of FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies managed to overtake his colleague and stood at the highest step of the podium for the third time in a row, outpacing Vasilev and Dąbrowski. The T3 class rivalry was once again dominated by Domżała (Polaris RZR 1000)

Galaxy of stars appeared during the fifth round of FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies – the Spanish Baja Aragon. The leader of the Cup Nasser Al-Attiyah fought with Nani Roma – the 9-time winner of the event, as well as with Mikko Hirvonen and Carlos Sainz. The driver from Qatar was unbeatable again, overtaking Sainz and Hirvonen. Great performance by Polish crew Marcin Łukaszewski and Magdalena Duhanik was also seen as they finished the difficult debut on 7th place overall. Aron Domżała didn’t manage to fight for the win due to technical issues. The Pole lost second place and had to settle for 4th.

FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies 2016 standings after Baja Aragon:

1.Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) - 180
2.Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU) - 92
3.Władimir Wasiliew (RUS) - 74
4.Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) - 48
5.Marek Dąbrowski (POL) - 40
6.Bryce Menzies (USA) - 34
  Yuriy Sazonov (KAZ) - 34
8.Maris Neiksans (LVA) - 30
9.Aron Domżała (POL) - 28
10.Yasir Seaidan (SAU) - 25