Abu Dhabi : The 2010 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the season-opening round of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, is all set to demonstrate "girl power" with female riders positioned to take-off when the gruelling five-day competition gets underway tomorrow.
Vicky White, a relative novice, makes a comeback to the Challenge following a two-year hiatus having finished 31st in the highly-competitive and exhausting bikes category in 2007.
However, this time White will straddle a Yamaha Raptor 700R in the quads category.
"I have always wanted to compete on a quad, but in 2007 I entered the bikes category and despite training for over six months I realised in the end that it was an uphill ask.
"The bikes are tough to handle," White, a British expatriate said.
Seasoned competition
In sharp contrast, Italian Camelia Liparoti-Baggiani is a seasoned campaigner having been crowned the women's champion in last year's edition of the Cross-Country Rallies World Championship.
Camelia, who finished a credible 28th overall in the Challenge in 2009 in the company of some of the best quad riders in the world such as Sebastian Hussaini and Obaid Echtibi, is expected to push her KTM 525 XC ATV to the limit in her quest for yet another top podium finish in the Championship.
