Fog delayed the start of the penultimate stage of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge this morning and the special car distance was reduced to 173 kilometers. And with this premise, the victory of the motorcycle went to the Argentine Luciano Benavides, his second with his Husqvarna and Adrien Van Beveren remains the leader. In the cars, Sébastien Loeb won the stage and in the general classification, Yazeed Al Rajhi had an advantage of more than 10 minutes over Martin Prokop.
On the bikes, Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna Factory Racing) dominated the entire stage and took his second victory. Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Honda), the overall leader for two days, was second in 3’22”, and Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) third in 4’06”. Toby Price (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who had to open the route, lost time finishing 7th in 9’01”.
Benavides’ victory allowed him to take an important step in the general classification. The Argentine is now 2nd, 2’58” behind the French leader. Nacho Cornejo finally got his Honda on the podium, 6’14” behind his teammate. Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) was 4th at 6’38”, Skyler Howes (Husqvarna Factory Racing) was 5th at 7’16”, Toby Price 6th at 8’35” and Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda) 7th in 8′ 52″. Less than 9 minutes separated the Top 7.
This Friday, Benavides will start before the French leader. This is not a very favorable position for the Argentine, but the two rivals are not the only one in the final match. Anything is possible between the top 7, which will have a final special over 200 kilometers.
In Rally2, Paolo Lucci, who dominated the category from the start, lost a lot of time when he crashed 20 kilometers from the finish line of the day. The BAS World KTM Racing rider is out of first place in the general classification and is almost 11 minutes behind the new leader, Jean-Loup Lepan (Duust Diverse Racing). In the quads, Abdulaziz Ahli (Abu Dhabi Team) won for the third time with more than 16 minutes against Laisvydas Kancius (AG Dakar School), increasing his lead in the general classification and his chances of winning his third straight that ADDC tomorrow.
Al Rajhi in his first victory
Sébastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) took his first ADDC stage victory on Thursday. After the retirement of Nasser Al Attiyah, Yazeed Al Rajhi headed the general classification. The Saudi driver finished 6th ahead of his two main rivals, Martin Prokop (Benzina Orlen Team) and Denis Krotov (X-raid Mini JCW). The Overdrive Racing driver has an advantage of more than 10 minutes on the Czech, and more than double the Mini driver. Al Rajhi can claim his first ADDC crown tomorrow.
If he manages to finish the race, Sébastien Loeb will increase his lead in the championship. Winning the final stage (5 points), he will accumulate a total of 14 points in the ADDC and will have 101 points in the W2RC, compared to 85 for Nasser Al Attiyah. Like last year and whatever happens tomorrow, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge will be a unique race for the two stars of the world rally-raid.
In T3, Seth Quintero (Red Bull Off-Road Jr Team USA) ahead of Joao Ferreira (X-raid supported by Yamaha) on the stage. Seth Quintero continues to lead the general with more than half an hour ahead of his teammate Austin Jones.
In T4, the rivalry between Rokas Baciuska (Red Bull Can-Am Factory) and Pau Navarro (FN Speed) once again favored the Lithuanian, with a 23’30” lead over the Catalan.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
