Qasr Al Sarab: Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah stormed to a fourth successive stage victory in the car category at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, as Dubai-based Sam Sunderland won the motorcycle special to regain the advantage on two wheels on Tuesday.
Starting sixth on the road for the 288.73km passage along gatch tracks and through the towering dunes of the UAE, Sunderland delivered another stunning performance on his factory Red Bull KTM 450 Rally and now holds an advantage of 3min 06.7sec over Chilean rider Pablo Quintanilla.
Frenchman Pierre Alexandre Renet knew it would never be easy to open the road with such top-class competition and the Husqvarna rider finished the Al-Ain Water-backed stage in fifth and holds a similar position in the rankings behind the leading duo, KTM’s Matthias Walkner and Honda’s Paolo Goncalves. Emirati Mohammad Al Balooshi climbed to seventh position.
Al Attiyah and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel powered to the car stage win in cooler and windier conditions in their Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux. The Qatari now heads Abu Dhabi Racing’s Shaikh Khalid Al Qasimi by 39min 38sec with two days remaining.
The penultimate stage of the event is on Wednesday with the last of the loops through the Rub Al Khali. The 250.25km special features three passage controls and starts to the west of the road between Mezaira’a and Madinat Zayed, before heading south-west and turning east to a refuelling point and PC at Al-Birer. The remainder of the special skirts the Saudi frontier and the dunescapes south of Moreeb, before finishing 4.25km west of Hameem.
2017 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge – positions on leg 3 (Tuesday – unofficial @ 14.50hrs):
Cars
1. Nasser Al Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 3hr 48min 31sec
2. Khalid Al Qasimi (ARE)/Khalid Al Kendi (ARE) Peugeot 3008 DKR 4hr 05min 06sec
3. Khalid Al Jafla (ARE)/Ahmad Malik (ARE) Chevrolet Silverado 4hr 25min 35sec
4. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Jan Tomanek (CZE) Ford F-150 Evo 4hr 36min 02sec
5. Ahmad Al Maqoodi (ARE)/Obaid Al Kitbi (ARE) Polaris RZR 1000 4hr 49min 01sec
Bikes
1. Sam Sunderland (GBR) KTM 450 Rally Factory 3hr 55min 23.7sec
2. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI) Husqvarna 450 Rally 4hr 01min 24.0sec
3. Matthias Walkner (AUT) KTM 450 Rally Factory 4hr 04min 25.0sec
4. Paolo Goncalves (PRT) Honda 450 CRF Rally 4hr 07min 26.2sec
5. Pierre Alexander Renet (FRA) Husqvarna 450 Rally 4hr 10min 24.2sec
6. Antoine Meo (FRA) KTM 450 Rally Factory 4hr 13min 06.0sec
Quads
1. Kees Koolen (NED) Barren Racer One 690 4hr 34min 43sec
2. Rafal Sonik (POL) Honda TRX 700 4hr 36min 21sec
3. Alexis Hernande Ponce (PER) Yamaha Raptor 700 R 4hr 39min 29sec
4. Khalifa Al Raeesi (ARE) Honda TRX 700 4hr 47min 55sec
5. Rodolfo Schippers (GUA) Yamaha Raptor 700 R 4hr 50min 58sec
6. Fahad AlMusallam (KUW) Yamaha Raptor 700R 4hr 52min 14sec
7. Kamil Wisniewski (POL) Yamaha Raptor 700 R 4hr 53min 00sec
2017 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge – positions after Leg 3 (Tuesday – unofficial @ 14.50hrs):
Cars
1. Nasser Al Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 11hr 07min 08.7sec
2. Khalid Al Qasimi (ARE)/Khalid Al Kendi (ARE) Peugeot 3008 DKR 11hr 46min 46.8sec
3. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Jan Tomanek (CZE) Ford F-150 Evo 12hr 51min 44sec
4. Mohammad Abu Issa (QAT)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Mini All4 Racing 13hr 52min 06.7sec
5. Ahmad Al-Maqoodi (ARE)/Obaid Al Kitbi (ARE) Polaris RZR 1000 14hr 41min 40.6sec
6. Khalid Al Feraihi (SAU)/Ali Hassan Obaid (ARE) Nissan Patrol 15hr 06min 32.3sec
7. Yayha Al Helai (ARE)/Nasser Al Kuwari (QAT) Nissan Pick-Up 15hr 37min 48.6sec
8. Mark Powell (GBR)/Quin Evans (GBR) Fast & Speed Buggy 16hr 02min 18.5sec
Bikes
1. Sam Sunderland (GBR) KTM 450 Rally Factory 11hr 41min 20.5sec
2. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI) Husqvarna 450 Rally 11hr 44min 27.2sec
3. Matthias Walkner (AUT) KTM 450 Rally Factory 11hr 46min 34.6sec
4. Paolo Goncalves (PRT) Honda 450 CRF Rally 11hr 49min 07.8sec
5. Pierre Alexander Renet (FRA) Husqvarna 450 Rally 11hr 53min 18.3sec
6. Antoine Meo (FRA) KTM 450 Rally Factory 12hr 34min 11.1sec
7. Mohammad Al Balooshi (ARE) KTM 450 Rally Replica 12hr 49min 59.7sec
8. David McBride (GBR) KTM 450 Rally Replica 13hr 55min 39.6sec
Quads
1. Rafal Sonik (POL) Honda TRX 700 14hr 46min 59.8sec
2. Kamil Wisniewski (POL) Yamaha Raptor 700 R 14hr 49min 08.4sec
3. Fahad Al Musallam (KUW) Yamaha Raptor 700R 14hr 54min 05.2sec
4. Rodolfo Schippers (GUA) Yamaha Raptor 700 R 14hr 56min 50.9sec
5. Camelia Liparoti (ITA) Yamaha Raptor 700 R 15hr 41min 30.4sec
6. Maxim Antimirov (KAZ) Honda TRX 700 15hr 43min 44.4sec
7. Khalifa Al Raeesi (ARE) Honda TRX 700 15hr 44min 10.8sec
For live timing and tracking during the race, visit:
http://timing.sporttraxx.com/races/
http://tracking.sporttraxx.com/races/addc-2017/splits/
