Ahmad Al Fahim gave an early indi­cation that he is determined to hold on to his cars title in the Emirates Desert Championship, while fel­low-UAE competitors Mohammed Al Balooshi and Humaid Al Mash­ghouni also made a flying start to the new season.

Al Fahim, the defending cham­pion, took an immediate lead in the national Baja rally series with a convincing cars victory in the open­ing round of the 2014-15 season which featured a record 100 start­ers on four and two wheels.

Driving his familiar Polaris buggy, the Emirati won the short course event in the Al Qudra area of Dubai by 1min 37secs from Man­sour Al Helei in a Nissan Patrol.

Graeme Rose took third place in another Polaris, while Ian Barker and Emil Kneisser in another pair of Nissans, and Chris Jackson in a Can AM buggy, completed the top six.

In a fiercely-contested battle of the bikes, multiple Arab motocross champion Mohammed Al Balooshi took his KTM to victory in the first of six rounds that make up this sea­son’s Emirates Desert Champion­ship, winning by 1min 39secs from Mohammed Jaffar. Ross Runnalls snatched third place ahead of Mark Ackerman.

Dutch rider Sebastian Husseini, third overall in this year’s Dakar Rally, started as favourite to open the season with a quads victory on his Yamaha, but had to settle for sec­ond place behind Humaid Al Mash­ghouni who won by 50.739 secs on his Honda. Colin Mercer, Jaco De Lange, Colin Wilken and Alex Mac­Farlane completed the top six.