Baja Troia cancelled, ending 2024 FIA European Baja Cup

Home » Baja Troia cancelled, ending 2024 FIA European Baja Cup

The 2024 FIA World Baja Cup has come to a rather abrupt end. On Wednesday, the İstanbul Off-Road Kulübü announced the cancellation of the Baja Troia Türkiye due to low entries.

The race was supposed to be the fifth and final round of the season, scheduled for 7–9 November. However, once registration closed on Tuesday, organisers found there were not enough drivers signed up to meet the minimum for the FIA. Wednesday’s news mark the second year in a row that an FIA Baja Cup season finale was cancelled after the World and Middle East Baja Cups’ Jordan Baja was canned in 2023.

ISOFF hopes to have the event back in 2025, where it will be the second race and planned for 15–18 May.

“Our club diligently worked for eight months to prepare for the Baja Troia 2024 race, planned to be held in Çanakkale,” begins a statement from ISOFF. “We conducted numerous meetings with local authorities to ensure a smooth operation for all stages of the race. As part of our meticulous preparations, we secured:

  • 17 vehicles and 75 gendarmerie personnel
  • 6 vehicles and 24 Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) personnel
  • 8 fire trucks, including 6 4×4 vehicles, and 28 firefighters
  • 6 4×4 ambulances, 2 4×2 ambulances, and 19 emergency medical personnel
  • 22 radio communication vehicles
  • A total of 160 hotel room reservations across 3 hotels

“With the support of the Governorship, the Provincial Special Administration, General Directorate of Highways, Provincial Directorate of Youth and Sports, Çanakkale Municipality, Provincial Security Directorate, Provincial Gendarmerie Command, Uludağ Elektrik, Regional Directorate of Forestry, and other institutions, we finalised the assignments and preparations for all teams involved throughout the race.

“However, due to the insufficient number of registered racers to constitute a ‘sporting’ event as per championship requirements, we have, in agreement with TOSFED (Turkish Automobile Sports Federation), concluded that the race cannot take place. Consequently, the FIA has also decided to cancel the event.

“The Baja Troia race will be included in the 2025 FIA calendar and is scheduled for May 15–18. We eagerly await the participation of all racers in the Baja Troia Turkey race in May 2025. We have designed exhilarating and enjoyable stages for your racing pleasure.

“See you on May 15–18, 2025.”

With the season cut short, João Ferreira officially clinches his second European Baja Cup overall title, narrowly holding off Stock champion Fernando Barreiros. Ironically, Turkey’s cancellation gives Ferreira a chance to also secure the Portuguese Cross-Country Championship (CPTT) because it was originally scheduled to take place on the same weekend as the CPTT’s Baja Escuderia Castelo Branco.

Since the European Baja Cup’s formation in 2021, the outright championship has alternated between Krzysztof Hołowczyc and Ferreira, the former winning the inaugural crown and in 2023 while the latter took the 2022 and 2024 titles. With Hołowczyc planning to take a sabbatical from cross-country rally, however, the pattern is unlikely to hold for 2025.

João Dias settled for third overall but won the Challenger championship, while Tomasz Białkowski claimed the production SSV title.

The 2024 EBC began with the Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura in May followed by the Italian Baja, Hungarian Baja, and Baja TT Sharish Gin.

Final 2024 FIA World Baja Cup standings

Overall

Drivers

Rank Driver Points Margin
1 João Ferreira 168 Leader
2 Fernando Barreiros 155 – 13
3 João Dias 142 – 26
4 Tomasz Białkowski 127 – 41
5 Miquel Prat 111 – 57
6 Alexandre Pinto 101 – 67
7 Adam Kus 81 – 87
8 Fidel Castillo Ruiz 75 – 93
T-9 Włodzimierz Grajek 65 – 103
T-9 Yağız Birinci 65 – 103
11 Magdalena Zajac 61 – 107
12 Paulo Rodrigues 58 – 110
13 William Buller 50 – 118
14 Rui Carneiro 44 – 124
15 Fernando Álvarez 43 – 125
16 Francisco Barreto 41 – 127
17 Otávio Leite 39 – 129
18 Rui Serpa 34 – 134
19 Armindo Araújo 32 – 136
20 Benediktas Vanagas 29 – 139
21 Daniel Alonso 25 – 143
22 Rui Farinha 23 – 145

Co-drivers

Rank Co-Driver Points Margin
1 Filipe Palmeiro 168 Leader
2 João Miranda 128 – 40
3 Dariusz Baśkiewicz 127 – 41
4 Antonio Rui Manuel Pereira 115 – 53
5 Bernardo Oliveira 101 – 67
6 Ion Del Cid 82 – 86
7 Marcin Pasek 81 – 87
8 Fausto Mota 75 – 93
9 João Pedro Vitoria Re 74 – 94
T-10 Michał Goleniewski 65 – 103
T-10 Evangelos Sotirchos 65 – 103
12 Błażej Czekan 61 – 107
13 Rui Pita 57 – 111
14 Ola Fløene 44 – 124
15 Xavier Panseri 43 – 125
16 Carlos Duarte 41 – 127
17 Rui Antonio 40 – 128
18 Valter Cardoso 39 – 129
19 Gonçalo Reis 30 – 138
T-20 Daniel Olivera Carreras 29 – 139
T-20 Kuldar Sikk 29 – 139
T-22 Candido Estevez Carrera 25 – 143
T-22 Allan Stirlin 25 – 143
T-22 Jorge Jordão 25 – 143

Teams

Rank Team Points Margin
1 Santag Racing 274 Leader
2 X-raid Mini JCW Team 168 – 106
3 G Rally Team 136 – 138

Ultimate

Drivers

Rank Driver Points Margin
1 João Ferreira 168 Leader
2 Włodzimierz Grajek 65 – 103
3 Magdalena Zajac 61 – 107
4 Francisco Barreto 41 – 127
5 Benediktas Vanagas 29 – 139
6 Daniel Alonso 25 – 143

Co-drivers

Rank Co-Driver Points Margin
1 Filipe Palmeiro 168 Leader
2 Michał Goleniewski 65 – 103
3 Błażej Czekan 61 – 107
4 Carlos Duarte 41 – 127
5 Kuldar Sikk 29 – 139
6 Candido Estevez Carrera 25 – 143

Challenger

Drivers

Rank Driver Points Margin
1 João Dias 142 Leader
2 Alexandre Pinto 101 – 41
3 Adam Kus 81 – 61
4 Paulo Rodrigues 58 – 84
5 Rui Carneiro 44 – 98
6 Fernando Álvarez 43 – 99
7 Otávio Leite 39 – 103
8 Armindo Araújo 32 – 110

Co-drivers

Rank Co-Driver Points Margin
1 João Miranda 128 Leader
2 Bernardo Oliveira 101 – 27
3 Marcin Pasek 81 – 47
4 João Pedro Vitoria Re 74 – 54
5 Ola Fløene 44 – 84
6 Xavier Panseri 43 – 85
7 Valter Cardoso 39 – 89
8 Gonçalo Reis 30 – 98

SSV

Drivers

Rank Driver Points Margin
1 Tomasz Białkowski 127 Leader
2 Miquel Prat 111 – 16
3 Fidel Castillo Ruiz 75 – 52
4 Yağız Birinci 65 – 62
5 William Buller 50 – 77
6 Rui Serpa 34 – 93
7 Rui Farinha 23 – 104

Co-drivers

Rank Co-Driver Points Margin
1 Dariusz Baśkiewicz 127 Leader
2 Ion Del Cid 82 – 45
3 Fausto Mota 75 – 52
4 Evangelos Sotirchos 65 – 62
5 Rui Pita 57 – 70
6 Daniel Carreras 29 – 98
T-7 Allan Stirling 25 – 102
T-7 Jorge Jordão 25 – 102

Stock

Drivers

Rank Driver Points Margin
1 Fernando Barreiros 155 Leader

Co-drivers

Rank Co-Driver Points Margin
1 Antonio Rui Manuel Pereira 155 Leader