Rally Raid
The second stop of the World Rally-Raid Championship witnessed a gang of multiple Dakar Rally winners dominate the dunes and cruise towards triumph.
The 31st running of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge saw a clutch of multiple Dakar Rally champions impose their will on the unforgiving dunes. Five desert stages, measuring a combined 1,500km, pushed a convoy including cars, bikes and side-by-side vehicles to the limit before a chosen few emerged victorious.
01
Cars
There was history made at the second stop of the 2022 World Rally-Raid Championship by serial Dakar winner Stéphane Peterhansel. The Frenchman became the first-ever driver to win a cross-country rally-raid in a T1-E category car, a recently created class aimed at promoting sustainable energies in the sport. Peterhansel and co-driver Edouard Boulanger kept their Audi RS Q e-tron and its electrified drivetrain on the pace throughout, while their rivals dropped away.
"To win a cross-country rally-raid with an electric car shows how far we've come in a short space of time," Peterhansel said at the finish line. "This is a new generation of cars and a new page in the book of rally-raid."
Mechanical issues on Stage One had off-road legend, Sébastien Loeb, fighting an uphill battle on the remaining four stages. The nine-time WRC winner stuck to his task, though, and recorded four consecutive podium finishes in his BRX Hunter alongside navigator Fabian Lurquin. Loeb eventually finished the rally in fourth place overall, one place behind the MINI JCW Buggy crew of Kuba Przygonski and Timo Gottschalk. Loeb's final points tally puts him in the lead of the World Rally-Raid Championship.
Joining Loeb, reigning Dakar champion Nasser Al-Attiyah also ran into problems on Stage One. After a heavy impact in the dunes, Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel were unable to complete the opening stage in their Toyota Hilux. However, they were back in the race the following day and went on to win all four remaining stages.
World Rally-Raid Championship current standings – T1 Cars Top 3
02
Bikes
Getting the better of the magical Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter desert) in the bike race was Sam Sunderland. The new year is off to the best possible start for the GasGas Factory rider, as he extended his World Rally-Raid Championship by adding another victory to his 2022 Dakar crown.
"It feels great to get another win and extend my lead in the championship," Sunderland reflected. "It also feels good to be able to reward the team like this, because they've all worked so hard all week and its results like this that make it all worth it."
There were also plenty of championship points picked up by the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing squad competing in Abu Dhabi. Toby Price and Matthias Walkner finished the rally in fourth and fifth place overall. Kevin Benavides ended 13th overall after a technical issue slowed him down on Stage Four.
World Rally-Raid Championship current standings – Bikes Top 3
03
T3 Lightweight Vehicles
It was another classy performance by Chaleco López in the T3 lightweight vehicles class. The Chilean extended his World Rally-Raid Championship lead with another victory to add to his Dakar win earlier this year. The South Racing Can-Am driver raced alongside co-driver Paolo Ceci (ITA) in Abu Dhabi.
A result like this gives us great confidence for all the hard work to be done this year
Pushing López all the way through the desert were Cristina Gutiérrez and co-driver François Cazalet, winners of last year's T3 World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies. An overall runners-up result plus podium finishes on every stage – including driving her OT3 to the win on the final day – keep Gutiérrez in second place in the world championship.
"It wasn't an easy final stage for us, because we did everything we could to push and put some pressure on Chaleco," Gutiérrez said at the podium ceremony held at the Yas Marina Circuit. "At the finish, we are still in second place. Overall it was a nice rally for us, and we kept ourselves going in the championship."
Gutiérrez’s Red Bull Off-Road Junior team-mate Seth Quintero picked up his first-ever World Rally-Raid Championship overall podium result. The teenage American and his co-driver Dennis Zenz fought back from a tough opening at the rally to put more points on the board and maintain third place in the championship.
There were early retirements for the two other Off-Road Junior Team crews of Guillaume de Mevius/Tom Colsoul and Mitch Guthrie Jr./Ola Fløene. The duo will be working on the positives ahead of the team's next outing, especially the stage win for De Mevius on the opening day of the rally.