The battle for honours in the Emirates Desert Championship is heating up as the national Baja rally series enters the second half of the 2014-15 seasons, with Ahmad Fahim and Mohammed Al Balooshi under pressure in the race for the cars and bikes titles.

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The UAE’s defending cars champion, Al Fahim, goes into Friday’s fourth of six rounds, the first to be staged in the Emirate of Umm Al Quwain, holding a ten-point lead in his Polaris RZR100 ahead of British driver Graeme Rose.

Briton Chris Jackson (Can Am Maverick), Emirati Ahmad Al Maqoudi (Polaris) and Lebanese driver Emil Kneisser (Nissan Patrol) are tightly grouped in the chasing pack and will all be in action this weekend.

It promises to be a fiercely competitive tussle for championship points, and the same applies to the bikes category where Al Balooshi, the UAE’s multiple Arab moto cross champion, will look to build on the three-point lead he holds over Kuwaiti rider Mohammed Jaffar.

ATCUAE President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said: “We’re especially happy to see so many Emirati competitors not only taking part but also leading from the front. At the same time, the fact that we have 21 nationalities represented this weekend shows how the championship is uniting the rallying community here.”

The fourth round is another short course event, with the bikes and quads running on one loop and the cars and buggies competing on another at the same time. All must complete as many laps as fast as possible over a window of approximately two hours.