Defending champion Nasser Al Attiyah has promised not to take his foot off the gas in the remaining two stages of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge despite his sizeable lead at the top of the standings after three days of impeccable driving in his Toyota Hilux Overdrive.
Winner of the first two stages by comfortable margins, the two-time Dakar champion from Qatar made it three in a row by finishing 16 minutes and 35 seconds ahead of the UAE’s Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi in the 288.73-kilometre Al Ain Water stage.
The win has increased Al Attiyah’s overall advantage over second-placed Sheikh Khalid to 39:38.1, which is already greater than his winning margin of 32:13 in Abu Dhabi last year, but the defending two-time World Cup for Cross Country Rallies champion is in no mood to let-up.
“Two days to go, but we will drive at the same pace,” said Al Attiyah, who had dominated the World Cup last year, winning all six rallies he entered to finish 164 points clear at the top. “It’s a good pace. The car is working very well and it was a perfect stage for us.
“It was much cooler today in the car. We do not have air conditioning. We saw 51°C degrees yesterday. Today was better and it also gives more performance from the engine.”
Sheikh Khalid and co-driver Khaled Al Kendi, driving the 2017 Dakar-winning Peugeot 3008 DKR, lost more than eight minutes yesterday because of losing their way twice. A relative newcomer to the world of cross country rallies, the Abu Dhabi Racing chairman was, however, pleased to not just maintain second place in the overall classification but increased his lead to 64:57.3 seconds over third-placed Czech driver Martin Prokop.
“It was not an easy stage for us, not difficult, but about 20km into the stage the organisers decided to alter the route a bit,” Sheikh Khalid said. “We found ourselves in an area where it was difficult to climb the dunes so we deflated our tyres.
“Then about 170km in, we made a small mistake and found ourselves near the fence [with Saudi Arabia] and lost time. Then again we lost our way a bit another 50km further, but thankfully we eventually found our way.
“The big dunes and windy conditions did not make driving any easier, but we finished second again today and are still second overall in the classifications. That, however, is not the most important thing for me – the important thing is gaining more and more experience in this format of racing.”
In the bikes category, the 2017 Dakar champion Sam Sunderland stormed back into the lead following a stunning ride through the dunes and he now holds an advantage of 3:06.7 over Chilean rider Pablo Quintanilla.
“It was a good day,” said Sunderland, the Dubai-based Briton who has started the day fifth in the classifications. “I caught all the guys before the refuel, which I was really happy about.
“I couldn’t see everyone after the start and I started to feel a little nervous to see whether I was catching them or not. You don’t know. I got to the refuel and I saw them just before me. After that it was good and I kind of cruised back. I feel happy. I felt fast.”
In the quads section, multiple world champion Rafal Sonik moved to the top of the classifications despite finishing second behind Dutchman Kees Koolen in Stage 3. He leads his Polish compatriot Kamil Wisniewski by 2:08.6.
“We have had some problems and delays, so it was nice to have a good stage and a clean run,” Sonik said.
arizvi@thenational.ae
STAGE 3 RESULTS
Cars
1 Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA), Toyota Hilux Overdrive, 3:48:31
2 Khalid Al-Qassimi (ARE)/Khaled Al-Kendi (ARE), Peugeot 3008 DKR, 4:05:06
3 Khalid Al-Jafla (ARE)/Ahmed Malik (ARE) Chevrolet Silverado, 4:25:35
4 Martin Prokop (CZE)/Jan Tomanek (CZE) Ford F-150 Evo, 4:36:02
5 Ahmed Al-Maqoodi (ARE)/Obaid Al-Kitbi (ARE) Polaris RZR 1000, 4:49:01
Bikes
1 Sam Sunderland (GBR) KTM 450 Rally Factory, 3:55:237
2 Pablo Quintanilla (CHI) Husqvarna 450 Rally, 4:01:240
3 Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM 450 Rally Factory, 4:04:250
4 Paolo Gonçalves (PRT), Honda 450 CRF Rally, 4:07:26.2
5 Pierre Alexander Renet (FRA), Husqvarna 450 Rally, 4:10:242
Quads
1 Kees Koolen (NED), Barren Racer One 690, 4:34:43
2 Rafal Sonik (POL), Honda TRX 700, 4:36:21
3 Alexis Hernande Ponce (PER), Yamaha Raptor 700 R, 4:39:29
4 Khalifa Al-Raeesi (ARE) Honda TRX 700, 4:47:55
5 Rodolfo Schippers (GUA), Yamaha Raptor 700 R, 4:50:58
OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 3
Cars
1 Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA), Toyota Hilux Overdrive, 11:07:08.7
2 Khalid Al-Qassimi (ARE)/Khaled Al-Kendi (ARE), Peugeot 3008 DKR, 11:46:46.8
3 Martin Prokop (CZE)/Jan Tomanek (CZE) Ford F-150 Evo, 12:51:441
4 Mohammed Abu Issa (QAT)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Mini All4 Racing, 13:52:06.7
5 Ahmed Al-Maqoodi (ARE)/Obaid Al-Kitbi (ARE), Polaris RZR 1000 14:41:40.6
Bikes
1 Sam Sunderland (GBR) KTM 450 Rally Factory, 11:41:20.5
2 Pablo Quintanilla (CHI) Husqvarna 450 Rally, 11:44:27.2
3 Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM 450 Rally Factory, 11:46:346
4 Paolo Gonçalves (PRT) Honda 450 CRF Rally, 11:49:07.8
5 Pierre Alexander Renet (FRA), Husqvarna 450 Rally, 11:53:18.3
Quads
1 Rafal Sonik (POL), Honda TRX 700, 14:46:59.8
2 Kamil Wisniewski (POL), Yamaha Raptor 700 R, 14:49:08.4
3 Fahad Al-Musallam (KUW), Yamaha Raptor 700R, 14:54:052
4 Rodolfo Schippers (GUA), Yamaha Raptor 700 R, 14:56:50.9
5 Camelia Liparoti (ITA), Yamaha Raptor 700 R, 15:41:30.4
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