Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2023: Hiluxes sweep Stage 1 while Hunters struggle

Attrition hit Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge Stage 1 truck-like venues, uneven sand dunes and fuel consumption held back many competitors. Fittingly, Monday’s top-performing vehicle was a pickup truck with its signature durability that has historically navigated the desert in nearly every way, from rebellion to motorsport.

Toyota Hiluxes sweep T1 podium Nasser Attiyah, Yazid Rajand Henklatgen Totally under control.al atia, who win prologuecontinuing his momentum as he beat Lategan and Al-Rajhi by nearly six minutes, while fellow Hilux driver Juan Cruz Iacopini is fifth. Martin ProkopThe Ford Raptor was fourth, but still nine minutes behind Al-Attiyah.

Prodrive’s Two Hunters Sebastian Loeb and Guerlain Qichery Long considered Al-Attiyah’s biggest rivals, the mechanical gremlins that doomed their overall Dakar Rally hopes came back to haunt Loeb as a damaged cooling tube knocked him out after 39km. Chicherit, the closest contender to Al-Attiyah, was suspended multiple times due to motion sickness; although he managed to complete the stage, a medical development forced him to withdraw from the rally entirely.

“In all the thousands of kilometers of testing and racing we’ve done, we’ve had plumbing issues we’ve never seen before, but this is another step on the learning curve for us,” Review Bahrain Raid Xtreme Team Leader Gusbetelli. “We will prepare the car tomorrow and shine on these stages in Abu Dhabi to get as many championship points as possible. Guerlain’s car was perfect, even though he had the treatment after Dakar, But it’s a disgrace for him to be sick on the dunes, so we hope he gets fit again in Mexico.”

Chicherit wasn’t the only contestant with health issues during the day. Rally2 drivers Bio Woke up feeling sick and took medication before starting leg exercises, but found myself having to stop multiple times to vomit or rest. While Biot was symptomatic ahead of the race, many noted that the stage was particularly difficult due to the large number of broken dunes and high temperatures.

Route conditions mean that even healthy people cannot avoid trouble as fuel becomes a major issue. T3 Christina Gutierrezthe first car to race, ran ten kilometers before reaching the refueling zone and had to be towed away by her Red Bull teammate austin jones. elsewhere in the class, Mathias EkstromHis gas tank is empty, forcing him to wait until South Racing ally Tim Marklund Comes with help, but Marklund loses the belt shortly after. Rally2’s Ashish Laolan He lost his front fuel tank after a fuel hose disconnected, forcing him to ride conservatively to the gas station after almost 100km, while the quad rider Pavel Otvinovski Not so lucky, as his Yamaha Raptor gave way before the end of the race and he needed help from another racer.

The RallyGP class lost another driver afterwards sebastian bieler Withdrew halfway through the race due to a mechanical problem, ending the race after just two days. The top cycling division is already without four regulars (Kevin Benavides, daniel sanders, Sam Sunderlandand Matthias Walkner) due to injury ahead of ADDC, and Bühler’s exit means now only ten men remain.

Bühler’s Hero MotoSports partner Roscoe Podium finish in RallyGP after second consecutive 1-2 finish at Monster Energy Honda Paulo Quintanilla and Adrian van Beveren.

“The first stage went really well for me and I enjoyed it on the bike,” Buehler commented. “At about 100km I had a mechanical problem and had to wait a long time for the rescuers to arrive and get the bike out. With the new rules, I couldn’t start the next stage. It’s sad, but it’s racing , anything can happen.”

One of the six class winners in the prologue was repeated in Stage 1.The exception is in Rally2 as the Prologue winner Tobias EbsterThe only entry among the six is no competition for world rally championship, fell two kilometers from his bike, hit his leg and lost his clutch after 240 kilometers.this opens the door W2RC Compliant paul luci won the championship, while Ebster finished third.

first stage winner

Leader after Phase 1