Sports

AMMAN — Jazira host Lebanon’s Ahed on Tuesday in Leg 1 of the final stage of the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup West Asia zone.

Jazira reached the zone’s final in dramatic fashion. After losing Leg 1 of the semis 3-0 to Syria’s Jeish they reversed their fortunes winning Leg 2 of the semis 4-0 to qualify.

Similarly, Lebanon’s Ahed eliminated Wihdat beating them 1-0 and drawing 0-0 to reach the final of the second-tier Asian club competition. Leg 2 of the West Asia zone final will be played in Beirut on October 1 with the winner advancing to play the East Asia champ AFC Cup final set for November 2.

During this year’s AFC Cup, Jazira eliminated titleholders Kuwait Club in Group B to advance while Wihdat had ended Round 1 atop Group A as the top teams from the three competing west Asian groups (Wihdat, Jazira and Ahed) in addition to the best second placed team (Jeish) moved to the semifinal round of the zone with the winner advancing to the eventual competition final.

In the past 2017/18 season, Jazira lost in the AFC Cup West Asia zone final and failed to reach the continent’s final won by the Iraqi Air Force Club for three consecutive seasons, while Faisali had bowed out earlier in the event’s semifinals. 

This season, Jazira came second in the league as Faisali won the Jordan Cup title and combined it with the Jordan Professional Football League crown. Wihdat finished third in the league and beat previous Jordan Cup champs Jazira to win the 36th Jordan Super Cup. 

After losing their chance to win the league both teams were hoping to make up for their results and have a shot at the AFC Cup crown. 

It’s been over 12 years since Jordanian teams won the AFC Cup. Faisali won in 2005 and 2006, and Shabab Urdun won in 2007. Other Jordanian teams participating in previous editions include Ramtha, Hussein, That Ras and Ahli. Kuwait Club and the Iraqi Air Force Club are AFC Cup record winners having been crowned champs three times each.

The AFC Champions League the continents’ leading competition — saw reigning Jordan League champs Wihdat eliminated in the preliminary round by Kuwait Club. Jordanian teams have never before made it past the ACL preliminary round. In the 2017/18 edition, Faisali were knocked out, while Wihdat were knocked out in 2017, 2016 and 2015, and Shabab Urdun in 2014.

MADRID — Barcelona threw on their stars of the present and the future on Saturday but neither Lionel Messi nor Ansu Fati could save them from a dismal 2-0 defeat away at Granada. 

Messi was still not deemed fit enough to start at Los Carmenes while Fati, the 16-year-old who has lit up La Liga in recent weeks, also began the game on the bench. 

But while both came on at half-time with Barca trailing to Ramon Azeez’s opener, it was Granada that scored again, Alvaro Vadillo converting a penalty after Arturo Vidal was found guilty of a handball. 

Barcelona have now won only two of their opening five league games and none away from Camp Nou, this their second loss already, just one fewer than the three they suffered during the entirety of last season. 

With seven points on the board, this is their worst start to a season since 1994.

“Obviously I am worried,” said coach Ernesto Valverde. “Because we are not getting good results and when that happens in two or three games, it means we are not playing well.”

Instead, Granada go top of the table after capitalising on Atletico Madrid’s goalless draw at home to Celta Vigo a few hours before. 

They will stay there until Sunday, when Sevilla, Real Madrid or Athletic Bilbao could overtake them. 

Barcelona are sixth, grasping onto the consolation of Messi’s second substitute appearance in five days that now suggests he has finally recovered from the niggling calf injury sustained at the start of August. 

Their problems though are unlikely to be solved simply by their captain’s return. 

Junior Firpo’s error two minutes into his first start for the club gifted Granada their opening goal and set the tone for a chaotic night in defence. 

And up front, Antoine Griezmann was quiet again, with little in any of the combinations to suggest Ernesto Valverde has yet worked out who will form his best attacking trio and in what positions.

“In the end, the coach is responsible and I feel responsible,” Valverde said. “I always think you can win or lose but at least you have to deserve to win when you lose, and today it hasn’t been like that.”

Firpo’s mistake came early, as he shaped to play a long ball over the top back to his goalkeeper. Instead, the lively Roberto Soldado stole possession and slipped in Antonio Puertas. 

With Firpo on the floor, Gerard Pique scrambled across but Puertas’ shot only looped up off the defender to the back post where Azeez headed in. 

Granada seemed hungrier than Barca and their dominance persuaded Valverde to make two changes at half-time, Messi and Fati replacing Carles Perez and Firpo. 

Messi won a free-kick 30 yards out, but hit it straight at the wall while Marc-Andre ter Stegen fumbled a cross and had to react quickly to claw it back off his own line. 

Any hopes of a Barca comeback were dashed in the 66th minute as Vidal handballed at the end of a scramble in the box and Vadillo made no mistake with the spot-kick. 

One break saw Messi supply Fati but the teenager took too long and then Messi tried himself but his shot was straight at the goalkeeper. In the end, Granada were comfortable winners. 

Atletico could have returned to the top of La Liga but were frustrated by a determined Celta Vigo. 

After coming from two goals down to salvage a point against Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday, Atletico failed to sustain the momentum in a match of few chances at the Wanda Metropolitano. 

Diego Simeone’s side won their opening three league games but are now two without a victory, following last weekend’s shock defeat away at Real Sociedad. 

This latest setback leaves Simeone with familiar questions to answer about his side’s attacking threat. 

Neither summer signing Joao Felix nor Morata, or their partner Diego Costa, could conjur up the decisive opening, with full-backs Renan Lodi and Kieran Trippier by far the team’s most creative outlets.

Atletico drop to third in the table while Celta climb to 14th.

AMMAN — Poland’s Jakub Przygonski and German co-driver Timo Gottschalk overcame the hurdle of being first on the road and avoided trouble to secure victory in the Jordan Baja by a winning margin of 3min 50sec on Saturday, according to the Jordan Baja Media Service.

The Mini All4 Racing driver held off a determined challenge from Argentina’s Orlando Terranova over the fourth selective section through Wadi Rum to keep his hopes of winning the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas well and truly alive.

Terranova managed to pass series leader Vladimir Vasilyev to claim second position, but his Russian rival maintains a one-point series lead to take to the final round in Portugal after rounding off the podium places. Mini All4 Racings filled the top three positions on the first ever FIA cross-country championship podium in the Hashemite Kingdom.

Przygonski said: “We were pushing. Tricky navigation, but the stage was good for us. We enjoyed the terrain here — stones, sand and camel grass. It is a good place to make the race. It would be nice to come back. This is a great result and keeps us in the frame for the championship.”

His frustrated Argentine rival said: “I think we were very close to Kuba [Przygonski] but, in one stupid place on the road, I turn and I hit on the front. One kilometre more and I had a puncture and I stopped. After that, I started thinking about the points. It was a very nice race. We had punctures and some problems with the navigation.”

Unofficially, the win gives Przygonski 30 valuable points to take his tally to 109, while second place lifts Terranova to 111 and Vasilyev now has 112 points to take to the Portugal showdown.

Abu Dhabi Racing’s Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi finished fourth overall in his Peugeot 3008 DXR and Saudi Arabia’s Yasir Seaidan rounded off the top five in his Mini All4 Racing, despite finishing the stage on a rear-left puncture. But the Saudi failed to clock into Parc Ferme and relinquished his finishing position.

Russia’s Fedor Vorobyev dominated the duel with Italy’s Michele Cinotto for T3 Trophy honours and duly finished fifth overall behind the four Minis and the Peugeot.

The Can-Am driver began the final stage 1hr 02min 16sec in front of the Italian and romped home to claim the win and extend his series lead to 22 points heading to the final round. Saudi Arabia’s Saleh Al-Saif was a distant third in T3.

Hungary’s Balazs Szalay reached the finish in sixth overall in his Opel Grandland X and Mohammed Al Twijri moved up to seventh at the expense of Cinotto and ninth-placed Guy Bitton.

Romania’s Claudiu Barbu was the last FIA car in the stage in his frantic bid to reach the finish and continue his quest to upstage Latvia’s Aldis Vilcans in the fight for T2 honours in the category for series production cross-country vehicles. Unfortunately he retired and gifted the title to his rival. Saudi Arabia’s Muneef Al Salmani was forced to take the road section back to Aqaba and retired.

Dubai’s Mohammed Al Balooshi started the final morning with a massive advantage on two-wheels and the KTM 450 Rally rider secured an emphatic victory by the margin of 1hr 15min 36sec with another stage win in a time of 2hr 45min 17sec. 

A delighted Balooshi said: “It was great. From the beginning it was full gas. We rode the reverse of yesterday, so there was not much navigation, just checking every now and then. I really enjoyed the terrain. It was really amazing. I feel like it was a good investment on my part to come here because, in four months time, we race Dakar. This should be very similar to the Dakar. Now we celebrate my birthday. It was on Friday!”

Kuwait’s Abdullah Al Shatti and Al Balooshi ‘s brother Sultan were locked in a tense tussle for second place throughout the final stage. Only 48 seconds separated them at the start of the day but Al-Shatti held on to claim the runner-up position on his KTM after a frantic duel with his Emirati rival. Jordan’s Abdullah Abu Aisheh and Abdullah Bosmaf finished fourth and fifth.

The 2019 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas concludes with the Baja Portalegre in Portugal at the end of October.

AMMAN — Jordan is readying to host Singapore on October 5 amid its busy training agenda and matches of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Qatar and 2023 Asian Cup in China.

Over the weekend, the Kingdom went up one spot to 98th in the latest FIFA World Rankings which came after Jordan won its first Asian qualifier and lost a friendly this month. Jordan will resume qualifiers and host Nepal and Kuwait on October 10 and 15 before playing Australia on November 14 and Taiwan on November 19. The qualifiers will then halt until March 31.

The national team lost a 2-0 lead to go down 4-2 to Paraguay in Amman in a friendly. The match came after they returned from Taiwan where they beat their host 2-1 in the first match of the World Cup and Asian Cup Group B qualifiers alongside Australia, Kuwait and Nepal.

The Kingdom also played a friendly during a training camp in Malaysia where it beat the host 1-0.  The match against Paraguay, who reached the World Cup eight times, was the most high profile friendly set in the training agenda. The guest team had the best World Cup in 2010 when it was knocked out of the quarterfinals. They are currently 40th in FIFA rankings. Paraguay, were twice Copa America champs in 1953 and 1979 and reached the final in 2011 but lost to Uruguay.

Once among the Asia top 10, Jordan is now 15th in the continent but still lags behind relatively uncompetitive Asian teams compared to their best FIFA ranking of 37th in 2004. Jordan trails Iran (23), Japan (31), South Korea (37), Australia (44), Qatar (62), the UAE (66), China (68), Saudi Arabia (70), Iraq (79), Oman (84), Syria (85), Uzbekistan (88), Lebanon (94) and Kyrgyzstan (97).

Belgium is in top spot with World Cup champ France in second spot followed by, Brazil, England, Portugal, Uruguay, Spain, Croatia, Columbia, Argentina. Tunisia is the top-ranked Arab team at 29th, followed by Morocco 39th, Egypt 49th, Qatar 62nd.

During summer Jordan played at the 9th West Asian Championship later won by Bahrain. It was the fourth time for Jordan in the final, finishing runner-up three times but never winning the title. Jordan’s best finish at WAFF Championship was runner-up in 2002, 2008 and 2014. Iran won the title for the fourth time in 2008. Iraq won the title once in 2002, Kuwait in 2010, Syria in 2012, Qatar in 2014 and Bahrain in 2019.

After elimination from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, playing in the Asian finals became Jordan’s focus but that ambition ended in the Round of 16. Since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1972, Jordan reached the Asian Championship four times: the highlight was at the 13th Asian Cup in 2004, when it lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA ranking. They also reached the Asian Cup in 2011 and 2015 and 2019.

The national team’s best peak performance was in 2013 when the team was on the verge of qualifying to the 2014 World Cup for the first time and advanced to play then World’s 6th ranked Uruguay in an intercontinental qualifying tie. The Kingdom had never reached that far in World Cup qualifying since taking part in qualifiers. Round 3 had been the furthest Jordan reached in the past seven times in the qualifiers since 1986.

AMMAN — Poland’s Jakub Przygonski and German co-driver Timo Gottschalk edged into a slender advantage of 3.6 seconds after a narrow and dusty opening of super special stage of the Jordan Baja on the outskirts of Aqaba on Thursday afternoon, according to the Jordan Baja Media Service.

Competitors from 17 nations lined up at the start of the opening competitive section and Przygonski clocked a time of 2 min 50.6sec in his Mini All4 Racing. Orlando Terranova was still suffering the effects of jetlag after a long journey from Mendoza, but the Argentine still managed to beat fourth-placed title rival Vladimir Vasilyev by 4.7 seconds and held second place, with Saudi Arabia’s Yasir Seaidan in third in the last of the quartet of Minis.

Abu Dhabi Racing’s Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi guided his two-wheel drive Peugeot 3008 DXR through the tight stage into fifth position.

In a change to the more traditional opening day timetable for Baja-type events, the ceremonial start for the seventh round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas adjacent to the shores of the Red Sea followed the three-kilometre stage in downtown Aqaba.

Russia’s Fedor Vorobyev and Italy’s Michele Cinotto are locked in a two-way tussle for T3 Trophy honours this season. Cinotto drew first blood with a time 3.6 seconds faster than his rival on the super special and held sixth overall in his Polaris.

Romania’s Claudiu Barbu overcame logistical hurdles before the start to continue his challenge for honours in the FIA T2 category for series production cross-country vehicles. The Nissan Navara will lock horns with Saudi Arabia’s Muneef Al Salmani for showroom honours this weekend.

Balazs Szalay and László Bunkoczi are tackling the event in an Opel Grandland X that was built by Szalay’s Opel Dakar Team in his native Hungary. The crew finished the super special in 10th place after spending Wednesday with various international media on a trip to Petra and Wadi Rum.

In addition to working in the classic car business with Mercedes and Porsche brands, the company was integral in the design and production of Dakar-inspired Mars Rovers for the Hollywood movie The Martian.  Several of Szalay’s mechanics worked on location in Wadi Rum during the shooting of the film and one of the Mars Rovers is on display at the Royal Automobile Museum in Amman.

The Jordan National Baja ran at the rear of the field and Palestine’s Mahmoud Al Maabda clocked the fastest time on the super special to hold a 3.1-second lead over Jordan’s Hamzeh Tymour at the night halt.

Ata Al Hmoud is the defending champion in the motorcycle category, but the Jordanian will have his work cut out to retain the title. He began his defence with a fourth-placed time of 3min 39.8sec on a stage where the early unofficial advantage on two-wheels went to fellow Jordanian Abdullah Boshmaf before results were verified and potential penalties were applied.

Abdullah Al Aishah was an unofficial second and Emirati rider Sultan Al Balooshi came in third of the eight riders on his Kawasaki KX 450F.

On Friday, cars open a new chapter in Jordan Motorsport history with the first of two daunting selective sections through Wadi Rum from 8:42am. Crews will tackle the challenging and varied Salhiyah 211km section through sandy and rocky terrain before a remote service at Disi. After a regroup, action continues with the second 79.77km Disi selective, with the first car due at 2:32pm.

The first of the motorcycles will start Salhiyah at 7:48am and Disi from 1:38pm, but cars entered in the Jordan National Baja will follow their FIA counterparts before a night halt in Aqaba.

AMMAN — Three gladiators of world cross-country rallying will lock horns and battle it out for FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas at this weekend’s Jordan Baja, starting in the stunning Red Sea resort of Aqaba on Thursday, according to the Jordan Baja Media Service.

No outright wins, but a series of consistent finishes, have given Russia’s Vladimir Vasilyev a slender six-point advantage in the title race after six of eight rounds.

With a best result of the season being second place at the Italian Baja in June, Vasilyev’s and co-driver Konstantin Zhiltsov’s success has come on the back of the reliability of a VRT Rally Team Toyota Hilux, prepared by Overdrive Racing.

In Jordan, however, the crew will switch to one of four older specification X-Raid Minis entered in the FIA category, with both the Russian’s title rivals also running in the same Germany-based team. Because of logistical issues to transport cars and equipment to the Red Sea in a short time frame, the X-raid Minis were shipped to Jordan before Baja Poland and will not return until after the Rally of Morocco.

Argentina’s Orlando Terranova is the man in form. The Mendoza driver stormed into title contention with three successive wins in Italy, Spain, and Hungary this summer and has amassed 90 points to trail Vasilyev by six. A power steering issue cost the former series leader another potential podium at the last event in Poland.

Poland’s Jakub Przygonski is the defending champion in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies and has bounced back into contention to win the Bajas series with second place in Baja Poland at the start of the month. The former enduro rider also won the Dubai International Baja in March and now has an outside chance of securing the title. He trails Vasilyev by 17 points and Terranova by 11.

Thirty points are on offer to the winner in Jordan, with 21 for second, 16 for third and 12 for fourth, so the permutations are endless and it is very likely that the outcome will go down to the final round in Portugal in October.

Victory for Vasilyev on Saturday evening in Aqaba would give the Russian another giant step towards another FIA World Cup title to add to the FIA Cross-Country Rallies success he achieved in 2014, but a win for either Terranova or Przygonski would throw the race wide open. There are several outcomes to take to the final round if Przygonski prevails and his rivals hit trouble.

Two other drivers may have a say in the outcome as well. A fourth of the older specification Mini All4 Racings will be driven by Yasir Seaidan. The Saudi has the pace to win the event outright and will be using the stunning desert terrain in Wadi Rum as a perfect shakedown for the Dakar Rally that takes place in his homeland in 2020.

Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi is no stranger to rallying in Jordan. He won the Jordanian round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) in 2007 and has been on the MERC podium five times. The decision to tackle the Baja will see the Abu Dhabi Racing star crossing Wadi Rum competitively for the first time. The Emirati carried out a test session with French co-driver Xavier Panseri on Tuesday.

“It was a fine day where we tried to find the right balance for the car,” said Khalid. “The terrain is completely different to the last rally a few months ago in Abu Dhabi. It is less sandy, with more fast tracks, lots of canyons and wadis, which requires a different type of driving. We had to make a couple of changes and hope they will work well for the rally.”

His Peugeot 3008 DXR is a proven winner on desert terrain in the hands of the French works team: the two-wheel drive car won on its Dakar competition debut in 2017 with Stéphane Peterhansel at the wheel and Carlos Sainz made it two in a row for Team Peugeot Total the following year. 

Overdrive Racing is a Belgian car preparations team and had hoped to team up with Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa to run a car for the Dakar-winning Qatari Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah in Jordan. However, since news broke that double FIA Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso has joined the line-up and is carrying out preparations an assault at the Dakar Rally in January 2020, Toyota’s plans changed.

T3 category front-runner Fedor Vorobyev lies fifth in the Drivers’ Championship points standings, but will be more focused on confirming a first T3 title than challenging the leading quintet in Jordan.

There are two entries in the T2 category for series production cross-country vehicles. Claudiu Barbu drives a Nissan Navara and Saudi Arabia’s Muneef Al Salmani will be out for showroom class glory in a Nissan Patrol. A win for Barbu would give the Romanian an outside chance of stopping Latvia’s Aldis Vilcans from sealing the T2 title in Portugal. They are currently separated by 43 points with a maximum 50 available to Barbu for two wins.

The Hungarian duo of Balazs Szalay and Laszio Bunkoczi will experience their first taste of the deserts of southern Jordan in an Opel Grandland X. Guy Britton, meanwhile, has made a late switch from a T3 Can-Am to drive a Mitsubishi Pajero at the rear of the field.

Meshari Al Thefiri leads the privateer GCC entry. A regular competitor and defending champion in the MERC 2 (Group N) category, Al-Thefiri teams up with Qatari navigator Nasser Al Kuwari to tackle the event in a Nissan Patrol. The Saudi contingent consists of Ha’il International Rally regulars Motab and Majeed Al-Shammeri and Mohammed Al Twijri.

There is also a National Rally category and a motorcycle section running behind the main FIA event.

In a compact route of 762.68km, 504.62km will be timed against the clock pending any last minute amendments.

Jordan takes another giant step into FIA motor sporting history when it is first ever round of the Baja series gets underway with a short super special stage close to the centre of Aqaba from 4pm.

This will determine the starting order for the first of the longer selective sections through Wadi Rum on Friday morning and precedes the official pre-event press conference on the start podium and the ceremonial start from 7pm onwards.

AMMAN — If Ata Al Hmoud is to retain his Jordan Baja crown in the motorcycle category, the Jordanian rider will need to be fully focused and mentally prepared when the Kingdom’s exciting new addition to the global cross-country rallying calendar gets under way in Aqaba on Thursday afternoon, according to the Jordan Baja Media Service. 

The Beta 480 rider was in a class of his own at the inaugural event that was observed as a candidate for inclusion in this year’s FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas last September. That performance was all the more surprising considering that the former rally co-driver had only tackled one event on two wheels in Greece before his first foray into timed competition in Wadi Rum.

Hmoud won all four stages last year to secure a winning margin of 3hrs 51min 51sec over Hamza Al Zawahreh. But that time difference will probably never be repeated now that several new formidable rivals lie on the horizon and the future of the sport on two-wheel looks bright in Jordan with the news that this weekend’s event is being observed for possible future inclusion in the FIM Cross-Country Bajas World Cup.

Zawahreh returns again this year to try and step up a place on the podium on his Kawasaki, but the two Jordanian riders face a stern test from two Kuwaiti and two Emirati racers.

Sultan Al Balooshi could well be the favourite to claim the win on two wheels. The UAE rider has won the motorcycle section at the Ha’il International Rally for the last two seasons in Saudi Arabia and is also an integral member of the UAE off-road motorcycle community.

He finished fifth in the FIM category at this year’s Dubai International Baja but, like his brother Mohammed Al Balooshi — who is entered on a KTM 450 Rally in Jordan — the Emirati enjoyed mixed fortunes at Rally TT do Pinhal in Portugal. Mohammed Al Balooshi was the winner of the 2018 Dubai International Baja and carries out extensive motocross training in the UAE under the MX Academy banner.

These four riders may not have it all their own way, however, and Kuwait’s Abdullah Al Shatti will be pushing hard for the win. The 34-year-old took part in the Dakar for the first time in January and has tackled numerous races and Bajas in the Gulf. A brand ambassador for Kawasaki in the Middle East, he joined Balooshi’s MX Academy in Dubai last year, but retired from the Dakar after three stages when lying 65th overall. He will ride a KTM 450 Rally in Jordan.

Mohammed Meshari Jaffar had been hoping for success over some of the most stunning desert terrain on the planet, as the Jordan Baja winds its way through spectacular moonscapes and Martian-type sandy terrain.

The Kuwaiti motocross rider began his career in 2007 and won his first regional championship in the UAE in 2011. He was also the 2014 Bahrain MX2 and Kuwait MX1 and MX2 champion. This season he finished fourth at the Dubai International Baja, but will not now be taking part this weekend.

Further competition in the two-wheel category comes from Abdullah Bosmaf’s KTM EXC 500, the Yamaha WR 450F of Saif Al Abbadi and a late KTM EXC 500F entry for Jordan’s Mohammed Abu Aisheh.

As the first of the riders and drivers start to arrive at Jordan’s premier Red Sea resort, officials at Jordan Motorsport are putting the finishing touches to what promises to be an enthralling spectacle over the coming days.

The action begins with a super special stage in Aqaba from 4pm on Thursday and this precedes the pre-event press conference and ceremonial start in the city centre later in the evening.

AMMAN — Fedor Vorobyev and Michele Cinotto will kick up the dust and try and survive punishing heat in the deserts of Wadi Rum, when they go head-to-head in the battle to secure T3 Trophy honours in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas at this weekend’s Jordan Baja, according to the Jordan Baja Media Service.

Vorobyev holds the advantage heading into the desert showdown. Driving his Zavidovo Racing Team Can-Am Maverick X3, the Russian has amassed 107 points from the first six rounds of a series that concludes with this event in Jordan and a finale in Portugal in October.

Vorobyev and co-driver Kirill Shubin claimed maximum points for three T3 victories in Italy, Hungary and Poland, finished second in Dubai and had points-scoring finishes in Russia and Spain.

Those back-to-back victories in Hungary and Poland in August and early September were a killer-blow to third title rival Santiago Navarro of Spain, but Italy’s Michele Cinotto finished fourth in Hungary, second in Poland and has managed to hang on to Vorobyev’s coat-tails.

He now trails the Russian by 15 points, the Polaris RXR 1000 Turbo driver’s cause helped no end by a good start to the season that saw him leading the way in the middle of the summer. Cinotto won Baja Russia through the frozen forests of Russia’s Republic of Karelia in February and added a third in Italy to a pair of fourth places in Dubai and Hungary and fifth in Spain.

Victory in Jordan would confirm the T3 title for Vorobyev, but a top finish for Cinotto would guarantee that the title duel went down to the wire in Portugal next month. Twenty-five points are on offer for the winner, with 18 for second, 15 for third and 12 for fourth.

Competition for the title rivals will come from Saudi Arabia’s Saleh Al Saif and privateer Guy Bitton. Saif is more than capable of winning the category outright across deserts that are very similar to those found just south of the border in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Can-Am Maverick X3 driver led the Ha’il International Rally outright on one occasion and finished eighth overall in 2018.

T3 is a category for series production cars that conform to certain specific FIA technical regulations, most notably a minimum weight limit of 900kg and a maximum permitted engine cylinder capacity of 1050 millilitres, although a production turbo is permitted.

Vorobyev’s Can-Am Maverick X3, for example, is built by South Racing and is powered by a Rotax ACE turbo-charged engine and fitted with a fuel tank with a maximum capacity of 130 litres.

Teams will carry out final preparations and any necessary testing on Wednesday before the on-stage action begins with a short super special stage in Aqaba from 4pm on Thursday afternoon. Crews can expect outside temperatures in excess of 40ºC in Wadi Rum over the weekend.