TGR wins second consecutive stage in Abu Dhabi

Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel marked their progress with a second consecutive stage win in the 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. The duo started the stage as the first car on the road, but despite the challenges of finding the line, they reached the finish line in 3 hours, 33 minutes and 39 seconds in the Dakar-winning GR DKR Hilux T1+ – — Far outperforms the nearest competitor.

In Stage 2 of the 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the team completed the 106km stretch to the Qasr Al Sarab campsite, before taking a 257km timed section to bring them back to the campsite. The terrain is mainly composed of sand dunes with several sections of sandy roads in between.

The day was no problem for Nasser and Mathieu as they tackled tricky navigation and challenging terrain on their way to their second consecutive stage win. Their closest competitors were again Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk in their personal car, the Toyota Hilux T1+. They are 12 minutes and 14 seconds behind the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing team. Meanwhile, the wins for Nasser and Mathieu gave them another five points in the World Rally Championship (W2RC), extending their lead over their closest rivals to eight points.

Meanwhile, teammates Henk and Brett were fouled by a boost-related issue in their car and opted to return to the bivouac to affect repairs in preparation for tomorrow’s stage. They incur the standard penalty of 5 hours, effectively withdrawing from the competition. It was a disappointing result as they finished third after the second period of the competition. The technicians will prepare the GR DKR Hilux T1+ for Stage 3 and they will continue to fight for stage wins in the remainder of the race.

Next comes Stage 3, where the convoy will complete a section just 2 kilometers from the Qasr Al Sarab campsite before moving on to a special 266-kilometre stage. As before, the terrain is expected to consist mainly of dunes and sand. A short contact of 35 kilometers will bring the crew back to the campsite. The 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge will conclude on Friday 3 March with five tough stages.

quotation marks:
Nasser Attiyah: “Today was a good stage, especially if you think we have to open the road. In some places the dunes are very tricky and the sand is very soft. We had a slow puncture in the last 40km, but we decided to Keep going instead of stopping and wasting time. Overall, we’re happy to end the day with a lead in the overall standings.”

Henk Ratgen: “We were very pleased with yesterday’s performance and were looking forward to consolidating our position in stage 2. Unfortunately we had turbo issues shortly after the start of the stage. We stopped to investigate and tried to find the fault, but in the end , we opted to return to the campsite rather than risk damaging the engine. The technicians have fixed the issue and we look forward to racing Stage 3 of this fantastic event.”

Phase 2 results:

Ranking after stage 2: