The roller coaster race for the 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge concludes with 1,311 kilometers of sand dunes. There’s plenty of action-packed action in all World Rally Championship categories across all five desert stages. Let’s see who comes out on top after two rounds of the series…
Time penalties prevented Loeb from chasing the overall lead in Abu Dhabi, but he battled for stage results in the remaining four stages in the BRX Prodrive Hunter. After stringing together these fine stage performances, Loeb now leads the W2RC’s T1 car class by 16 points with three rounds to go.
Remarkably, despite the roll, Al-Attiyah was still able to take his car across the finish line as the stage winner! However, FIA officials inspecting his car found that it was no longer in proper condition for the start of stage four due to severe damage to its roll cage. As a result, the race leaders withdrew from the rally.
“In Abu Dhabi we didn’t make any mistakes,” Baciuška said at the finish line. “When you don’t make mistakes, you win the game.”
The third round of the 2023 World Rally Championship will be held in Mexico next month. The Sonora Rally is a new addition to this year’s calendar and will present teams with a whole new set of challenges in April.