In his first race since suffering a serious crash six months ago, Mohammed Balooshi reached the podium to finish third in the first round of the Emirates Desert Championship.
The fourth season of the UAE’s national Baja rally championship for cars, buggies, motorcycles and quads kicked-off on Friday, with the opening round held in Dubai.
For the motorcycles, Balooshi was only beaten by winner Sam Sunderland and Ross Runnalls, who crossed in second. Only provisional results came out on Friday with official ones set to be revealed today.
“I’m quite happy and pleased with the outcome because there were around 95 riders, so it was a big turnout,” Balooshi said. It was the Emirati’s first competitive race since a crash at April’s Sealine Cross-Country Rally left him injured with a fractured knee and concussion.
Speaking to Sport360 in September, Balooshi revealed he had made the local Emirates Desert Championship a priority this season after coming up short with second place finishes overall in the past two years.
Although he has plenty of work left to do to reach his goal, Balooshi said when asked if he’s heading in the right direction: “The podium proves it and I think I’m only going to get better during the season because when you don’t race for that long, you’re not as sharp. I’ve been training four months now flatout, but races are different. There’s still a lot more room to improve and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m more hungry for it now.”
It would be natural for Balooshi to be lacking physically following a lengthy layoff, but the 37-year-old believes all the hard work he put in during his recovery process is paying instant dividends.
“My fitness was good, I was pleased with that. This summer I really worked my butt off and I was happy with my progress,” he said. “My fitness was exactly how I left it before the injury. So I’m 100 per cent back. I think I’m only race rusty, but I think it will get better for round two. Now I know what I need to focus on and how much work I need to put in to improve.
“It’s good. I’m very stoked and happy about this comeback.”
Balooshi will return to the dunes for the second round of the competition, held on Friday, November 11.
The Emirates Desert Championship is organised by the Emirates Motor Sport Federation (EMSF), with the support of the Automobile & Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE). It comprises of five rounds, scheduled from now until February next year.