Nasser Al Attiyah earns slim overall cars lead in Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is set for a thrilling final charge as Dacia Sandriders’ Nasser Al Attiyah earned a slim overall lead over twin Toyota Gazoo Racing cars of Luca Moraes and Seth Quintero at the end of Stage 4.

Victory in the penultimate stage of this year’s epic event went to another Toyota driver, Eryk Goczal, with the 20-year-old Overdrive Racing man claiming a first Desert Challenge stage victory and his first in the top Ultimate Class.

In the bikes, Red Bull KTM Factory Team rider Daniel Sanders looks on course to take his first Desert Challenge win as a second stage win of the event has given him a 7min 23s overall advantage over Monster Energy Honda HRC rider Ricky Brabec, with Sanders’ teammate Luciano Benavides a further minute back in third place.

Technically complex and physically demanding. Stage 4 really mixed things up with a 300km route from the Marathon Camp at Al Qua’a that featured multiple types of terrain. Equal parts sand, dunes, wadis and tarmac, the stage took competitors across some of the world’s largest dunes, into the area known as White Sands and then to incredible Al Dhafra fort.

At the end of the stage, though, Sanders took the bikes win more than three minutes clear of Monster Energy Honda HRC rival Adrien Van Beveren. In doing so the rider known as ‘Chucky’ scored his 15th W2RC stage win, one shy of record holder Van Beveren. Third place went to Hero Motorsports’ Jose Ignacio Cornejo.

In Rally 2, Dubai-based Michael Docherty is on track to become the first rider in his class to complete a clean sweep of stages in a W2RC round. The SRG Motorsports rider, who hails from South Africa, used his thorough knowledge of the terrain to take his fifth stage win of the event (including the Qualifying Stage) ahead of Duust Rally Team’s Konrad Dąbrowski and Old Friends Rally Team rider Martin Ventura. The win means that going into the final day has extended his advantage over Dąbrowski to a whopping 28 minutes.

In the cars, the fourth stage of the 2025 Desert Challenge was standout success for Toyota, with a 1-2 finish for the company and with six Toyotas in the top 10.

Goczal’s first Ultimate Class stage win comes just five days into his career in the top class. The Pole was strong from the start and eventually took the victory 41 seconds in hand over Lucas Moraes. The Brazilian spent most of the stage outside the top two but in the closing stage he overhauled Al Attiyah to take second to close the overall gap to the Dacia driver to a very slim 41 seconds. But while Al Attiyah retains the overall lead. there were no birthday celebrations for the Qatari driver’s teammate Sebastien Loeb, however.

The Frenchman, who turned 51 today, began the stage in third place in the overall standings and targeting a charge at the summit. With the fastest time at Km 41 he looked on course to challenge, but soon afterwards the nine-time WRC champion ground to a halt at the foot of a chain of dunes and eventually called in his assistance crew. While he won’t now challenge for overall victory Loeb will be allowed to take part in the final stage tomorrow.

In the Challenger class BBR Motorsport maintained its grip on the top sport with Yasir Seaidan taking the stage win ahead of teammates Paul Navarro and Dania Akeel. However, it’s Akeel who hold the overall class lead, with four minutes in hand over Navarro ahead of tomorrow’s final stage.

In the SSV category, Jeremías González Ferioli took victory ahead of Emirati driver Mansour Al Helei who recovered from a broken turbo on Stage 3 to take second place.

Emirates Motor Sports Organisation (EMSO) President, Khalid Ben Sulayem, said: “We are approaching the climax of this year’s event and once again the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge has delivered excitement, intense competition and innovation. The Desert Challenge is always evolving and this year we introduced several new elements that I believe have added to its competitiveness and appeal. For the first time, cars and bikes were involved in the marathon. For the first time we visited the remote region of Al Qua’a, and overall the route was changed significantly to enhance the competition. I am therefore proud to say that the Desert Challenge goes from strength to strength each year. I would also like to thank Al Futtaim Toyota. Once again they have played a big part in the success of the event by providing all of the crucial support vehicles that transport key personnel through some truly challenging landscapes. It’s a testament to the Toyota brand that it all worked seamlessly once again.”

The final stage of this year’s event, the Abu Dhabi Sports Council Stage 5, runs from Mezaira’a to Abu Dhabi covering a total of 364 kilometres, with just 167 kilometres of specials on the way to the glittering city of Abu Dhabi for the finish ramp and the prize-giving which this year will be held at beautiful Hudayriyat Island.