Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge founder Mohammad Bin Sulayem credited rallying for kicking-off a tradition of motorsport in the region at Thursday’s press conference at Yas Marina to announce this year’s event from April 1-6.
“Rallying is just one part of the motorsport set-up now here in the Middle East alongside circuit racing, karting and motorcycling,” said the Automobile Touring Club of UAE (ATCUAE) president. “We now have a wonderful facility in Yas Marina,” he added. “But rallying was really the start of the motorsport tradition here in the Middle East. The UAE Desert Challenge was a round of the FIA World Cup as far back as 1993.”
Bin Sulayem spoke about the history of the rally, since its inception in 1991, and the risks of competing without suitable hydration on an event of the scale and difficulty of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. He recalled his first experience of taking part in the Jordan Rally as a rookie rally driver back in the 1980s, when he was advised not to continue after suffering the effects of salt depravation and dehydration.
He was joined at the conference by drivers Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah, Shaikh Khalid Al Qasimi, Aron Domzala, Emil Khneisser, Ahmad Al Maqoodi, Yayha Al Helai and riders Sam Sunderland, Paolo Gonçalves, Mohammad Al Baloushi and Pablo Quintanilla.
Abu Dhabi Racing’s Al Qasimi was able to test his new PH Sport Peugeot 3008 DKR in the deserts near Sweihan on Wednesday and was impressed with his findings. “This is the latest version of the Peugeot and I was happy with the test. It is rear-wheel drive, so I am not sure how it will be in the difficult dunes, but I have the engineer with me from the Dakar, who worked on Stéphane Peterhansel’s winning car, so we will see.”
Al Attiyah and Domzala headed straight from the conference to test their Toyota Hiluxes in the desert, as Al Baloushi talked about his goal of competing against the factory riders on home sand. Quintanilla also set his sights on a first Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge win for Husqvarna and Al Maqoodi hoped to follow up the win in last year’s Dubai International Rally with T3 success in Abu Dhabi.
Meanwhile, Al Helai talked at length about his fondness for the event, after taking part in each of the 27 editions since 1991, and Khneisser mentioned his desire to succeed for Nissan on an event that the Japanese manufacturer has supported for 14 years.
Rafal Sonik claimed the FIM Quads Cross-Country World Championship for the fourth successive season last year and the Pole is back to defend his title. His closest rivals in 2016 were Sebastien Souday, Ignacio Casale and Camelia Liparoti, but only the Italian female is present in Abu Dhabi to challenge Sonik.
That doesn’t mean that the Yamaha rider will have everything his own way, however. Fellow countryman Kamil Wisniewski has considerable experience on his Honda and the likes of Dutchman Kees Koolen, Argentina’s Lucas Innocente and the Kazakh quartet of Kirill Solokha, Azamat Tleuessov, Timur Baizhiyenov and Sergey Kistanov will all be aiming for a podium finish.
Adding strength to an impressive line-up of 17 quads are the Emirati riders Humaid Al Mashghouni, Mohammad Al Shamsi and Khalifa Al Raeesi and Kuwait’s Fahad Al Musallam.
Russia’s Maxim Antimirov, England’s Kyle Stockman, Peruvian Alexis Hernandez Ponce and Guatamala’s Rodolfo Schippers complete the parade of quads.
