Mirjam in Qatar for her first race FIM Baja World Cup 2023

After Mirjam finished her attendance at the Motorbeurs Utrecht with a good feeling, she received a message revealing that the format of the FIM Baja World Cup 2023 has changed. This year's World Cup will consist of a series of eight races. The bajas are divided between the Gulf states and Europe. The competition kicked off in early February with the Saudi Baja. It was only after that first match that the amended regulations were announced.

This made that Mirjam had to switch and react real quick because the registration for the second race, the Qatar International Baja in Qatar, was about to close!

The Qatar International Baja will be held from Thursday 16 March to Saturday 18 March 2023.

On the Podium!

Mirjam: "Wow! I don't actually know what I'm seeing! That's absolutely cool; I just finished third general! I'm on the podium tonight among the guys, and certainly not the least of the riders. What a reward for hard work today, say. I had a garland of drivers chasing me all day. It was a really tough day today but I still managed to move ahead 5 places in the general standings! I didn't realise it at first at all until I was congratulated by everyone here, other riders, senior Qatar officials, everyone came to congratulate me and shake hands!"

Without assistance but not alone
Who would have guessed that? To register at the very last minute, not having the preparation she would like to have, no assistance and riding a bike that is not hers. Mirjam: "How incredibly grateful I am to Gerard! I was allowed to ride his bike, he was already waiting for me with the bike on a trailer behind the car when I arrived here in Qatar. He advised and supported me as much as he possibly could. I may not have had official assistance but his help made me feel quite professional."

Mirjam Pol Qatar International Baja 2023 - friday

Nobody said it was easy, and for sure it's NOT but... if you commit to something you get pretty far, it turns out. A good a fortnight ago, Mirjam didn't even know about participating in the Qatar Baja, but today she shows that she can manage just fine on her own during the Baja in Qatar ánd at the finish line of the first real competition day she also gives her borrowed bike a check-up!

"Well, especially with a bike that is not yours, you are particularly careful and you take good care of it. Because I have no assistance, I just do it myself. So the bike has been serviced and is back in the Parc fermé. I am this Baja, so to speak, a malle moto rider 2.0, haha", Mirjam laughs when we speak to her.
And she does have reason to laugh, because it went quite well today. She does notice that the bike lacks just a bit of speed compared to the rally bikes she rides: "But the difference remains manageable because the terrain requires considerable navigation skills and that is definitely my plus point. Even if it is difficult to figure out afterwards whether you made it to get all the waypoints."

The official results are not there yet but the provisional standings show a very nice result for Mirjam; according to the not yet confirmed results list, Mirjam finished this stage ninth (!). This puts her in the top ten in the general classification after today, ninth as well! And that is something she had hoped for but certainly did not expect. "Even though, I think some things are going to change. By helping crashed competitors and so on, I think some competitors might still get time back but we'll see.
I am happy with how it went today, and that is the most important thing," Mirjam ends her story.

Mirjam Pol Qatar International Baja 2023 - wednesday

Mirjam completed the administrative and technical scrutineering today. Having managed to register just in time, she had to move quickly to get everything done for this second round in the FIM Bajas World Cup 2023. And she did it! She is in the bivouac of the Qatar International Baja with a motorbike and a start number!

As many as 50 motorbikes and quad riders were ready to complete the administrative and technical inspections. That field of participants included four junior riders, 14 veterans and four women. As defender of the world title, Mirjam rides with start number 25.
On Thursday, participants will explore the 9 kilometers long prologue. In the afternoon, the starting signal will be given and everyone, prior to the ceremonial part of the Qatar Baja, riding the prologue will determine the starting order for the very first real kilometres on Friday. In total, over two days, some 850 kilometres of course await them.
On Saturday evening, it will be clear which of them gets to put the full 25 race points behind their names.

But it is not that far yet, there are still some small technical wrinkles to be ironed out. Mirjam is already focused on what awaits her in the coming days, because, as she described it herself, "I understand that the stages will be driven on different types of desert terrain and that we will have to stay extremely focused to avoid the pitfalls, but especially not to miss any waypoints or get lost, as navigation does not seem to be peanuts!"

FIM Baja calender

As the season progresses, after the Baja in Qatar, two more races are scheduled in Spain after which there will be a summer break. The season starts again in August with the Hungarian Baja. This is followed by three more races, one in Portugal, and in November the Baja series closes with races in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. According to the updated calendar, the winner of the 2023 FIM Baja World Cup will be determined as follows: If between seven and 10 races are held, only a rider's best six finishes will count towards the final standings. If six or fewer events are held, all scores will count. Of course, there may still be changes.