| The National

Dubai // Three Emirati drivers are in contention to win the cars division of the UAE Desert Championship when the four-round series concludes next week.

Round 3 of the new national rally series attracted 96 competitors on two and four wheels over the weekend in Dubai.

Ahmed Al Maqoodi, who finished fourth in the penultimate round of the Baja-style rally, retains his lead over Mansour Al Helei and Ahmed Al Fahim in the cars overall category.

All three can win the inaugural championship trophy when the final round begins in 10 days’ time. Al Fahim won both the cars and buggies classes on the 18-kilometre loop of undulating desert terrain in his Polaris RZR, but still trails Al Maqoodi and Al Helei in the overall standings. The latter is guaranteed the T2 class title..

Another Emirati, Mohammed Shamsi, won the quads class on a Kawasaki 450.

The pre-race favourite Sebastian Husseini failed to finish after running out of fuel.

The result means Shamsi leads the quad class and needs only to finish the final round to secure the overall title.

Meanwhile, the UAE-based Sam Sunderland – who recently competed at the Dakar Rally – dominated the bikes class, as he led throughout on a Honda CRF 450, completing seven laps and winning easily with a margin of nine minutes over Sean Gaugain and Mohammed Al Balooshi.

Gaugain’s consistency, however, keeps him as the front-runner to win the overall title in the bikes class.

His second place follows one win and another second in the first two rounds of the UAE Desert Championship.

The fourth and final round of the UAE Desert Championship, which acts as a warm-up for April’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, is scheduled for February 14.