DUBAI: Stepping down off the podium at the Dubai International Baja this weekend, Saudi Arabia’s Yasir Seaidan immediately turned his attention to the next round of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies in neighboring emirate, Abu Dhabi, later this month. Seaidan’s third-place finish at the three-day, 173.69km race marked his best-ever finish and ensured the Overdrive Racing driver climbed to fourth in the overall World Cup standings after two rounds. The 40-year-old finished just five minutes 40 seconds behind Jakub Przygonski despite it being only his second time racing his V8-powered Toyota Hilux. Russia’s Vladimir Vasilyev finished second. “It was a really good race for me,” Riyadh-born Seaidan told Arab News. “The first day was difficult as it was only my second time racing for Overdrive and the first time for me driving the Hilux in the dunes. I got stuck a couple of times in the sand, which lost me some time. “(Yesterday) though was much better as I started understanding more about the car. I had to con­stantly battle Vasilyev to make up time against him, but I’m extremely happy to come out on top, cross the line before him and complete a good result for me and the team.” Seaidan had said ahead of the race that he intended to break a cycle of fifth-place finishes and was aiming for a podium. Despite coping well with the suffocating heat and rigors of the opening super special stage on Thursday, his luck turned on the second day when when he lost more than four minutes rooted in the Al-Qudra desert. With sand dunes being the Saudi’s self-professed speciality, it looked like fifth might be a good result, yet he and co-driver Alexei Kuzmich turned it around on the final day. Jean-Marc Fortin, the CEO of his Belgian marque, was left mightily impressed — as well as wondering what might have been. “This is a fantastic first podium for Yasir,” said Overdrive Racing’s Fortin. “With the stage time that he showed, it is really amazing how he has driven in the dunes. This is only the second time that he has been racing in T1 with this car, so making his first podium in only his second race is very impressive. It’s a real shame he got stuck because, when we looked at the data, had he not, he would have been challenging for the lead.” The FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies remains in the UAE, but will move down Sheikh Zayed Road toward Abu Dhabi for the first of the longer events, the unforgiving Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which runs from March 24-29. Seaidan is aware expectations will be higher now, but said he will travel to the event in positive spirits. “Yes, I can go there with confidence,” he said. “It will be difficult as many professional drivers are making the journey to Abu Dhabi, but we will see.” In the T2 production cars class, it was more positive news for Saudi Arabian motorsport as Ahmed Al-Sheghawi, accompanied by French co-driver Laurent Lichtleuchter in a Toyota Landcruiser, claimed the win.