Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2023: Stage 2 heats up

this Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge It’s called that for a reason. While the desert is naturally a very hot environment, temperatures in the United Arab Emirates have been particularly high since the start of the rally and did not drop when Stage 2 hit 40°C.

Nasser Attiyah He didn’t seem to be bothered by the heat in the slightest, as he continued to dominate the T1 class with his third consecutive stage win and beat the on MondayBeats out compatriot Toyota Hilux Yazid Raj more than twelve minutes. Although he did not race due to his retirement on stage 1 and the subsequent 50-hour penalty for changing the engine between stages, Sebastian Loeb The second-best finish came on a strong rally as he looked to salvage a stage win for the World Championships.

Although the Hiluxes occupy the top two places for the second day in a row, Henklatgen Couldn’t finish another podium as a problem with his booster knocked him out.

after the roller coaster Sunday and Monday, Mathias Ekstrom Finally strides to win T3 with a Stage 2 victory in 2023, but first outside the preliminaries (he won Prologue to Dakar Rally T1). Ekström had to postpone Red Bull Can-Ams Seth Quintero and austin jonesthe former is still the overall head of the class.

Red Bull won T3 and T4 in the Prologue and Stage 1 but struggled on Tuesday. At T4, Rokasbachuska Be defeated Mansour Here Nearly six minutes; Al-Helei is the second non-W2RC player to win a stage in Abu Dhabi Tobias Ebster Claimed Rally2 prologue.

The hot weather took a toll on both two- and four-wheelers, with some people reporting their vehicles overheated significantly. Although much of the Dakar Rally is being raced in the desert, January weather in Saudi Arabia is colder and wetter than it is in the current UAE.

To further increase the difficulty beyond the heat, the FIM category is marathoned on stages 2 and 3, meaning drivers have no outside help and must rely on their peers; RallyGP drivers have thirty minutes to go between stages Tuned while Rally2 has an hour.this is quickly apparent skyler househe was runner-up in RallyGP, ahead of his Husqvarna team-mate Luciano Benavides: After refueling mid-session, a rubber seal in his rear fuel pump ruptured, forcing him to ride conservatively to the finish, before Benavidez and toby price Come over and help him replace the broken parts.Benavides wins first career world title 2022 Abu Dhabi (Phase 4)House also finished 1-2 Dakar Stage #6.

The combination of heat, marathon stages and the dunes of the Empty Quarter desert means mistakes can add up quickly.Ebster, for example, comes in second paul luci He entered Stage 2 after he missed a turn and took a three-meter drop and lost time. jon florea Retired after misjudging broken dunes and crashing head-on, tearing ligaments in his left shoulder and ending the race. Paulo Quintanilla Honda’s teammate loses RallyGP overall lead after finishing ninth Adrian van Beveren Capital as his fifth propelled him ahead with 1:30.

“It’s always a tough challenge to start up front and open the stage, and we know today will be no different,” Quintanilla commented. “The main goal was to be in front for the bonus, so it was fine in the end. I rode in front until 80km, then Adrian arrived and we rode together. Overall I thought it was a good stage , had a good performance in the first part of the marathon. It’s always difficult to manage these days because we’re on our own without any help from the team.”

Les Vidas Canchus extrude Abdulaziz Ahli ended his winning streak in the foursome with a time of less than two minutes, though the latter held first with a total time of 42 minutes and 45 seconds.

Phase Two Winner

Leaders after the second stage