Dubai: The battle for honours in the Emirates Desert Championship is hotting up as the national rally series enters the second half of the 2014-15 season, with Ahmad Fahim and Mohammad Al Beloushi under pressure in the race for the cars and bikes titles respectively.

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 from British driver Graeme Rose in another Polaris buggy.

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 all are in action in the latest round, which has a 9am start in the Falaj Al Moalla area.

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

The top two must also be aware of the threat from the next four riders in the standings — Britain’s Jake Shipton, the winner of the previous two rounds, German Mark Grams, South African Ross Runnalls and Emirati rider Saeed Al Shenqiti.

Another Emirati rider, Humaid Al Mashghouni, will be hoping to close the gap on leader Alex MacFarlane in the quads division in an overall starting line-up expected to climb above 100 competitors on four and two wheels for the third round in a row.

The fourth round of the Emirates Desert Championship is being held under the patronage of Shaikh Rashid Bin Saud Bin Rashid Al Mualla, Crown Prince of Umm Al Quwain.

The national series is organised by the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE) and the Emirates Motor Sport Federation.

The fourth round is a 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.