Adrien Van Beveren seized the lead of the ADDC in stage 2 and held onto the top spot until the end of the high-stakes finale. Following his late-season triumph in Andalusia last year, the Frenchman's victory in Abu Dhabi makes it two wins out of four since he moved to Honda.
He also added his name to the list of winners of the ADDC after finishing as runner-up in 2021. Much like VBA, Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna Factory Racing) defended his second place until the end. Toby Price unleashed a barrage of attacks over more than 200 km to secure third stage overall. The absence of the reigning world champion, Sam Sunderland, and the victor of the fist round, Kevin Benavides, both of whom were injured in the week before the ADDC, paved the way for Toby Price to surge to the top of the championship standings, now with 46 points. VBA brought his tally to 42 —the lucky number he sports in every race! Kevin Benavides is still on the podium thanks to the 38-point haul from his victorious Dakar campaign. His brother, Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna Factory Racing), is fourth with 35 points after bagging two specials this week. The red bikes prevailed in this round of the manufacturer championship, courtesy of VBA's triumph and Nacho Cornejo's fourth place, but KTM held onto the overall lead with 84 points to Honda's 74. Husqvarna is third with 69.
In the Rally2 category, Tobias Ebster (SRG Motorsports), the nephew of Heinz Kinigadner, a legendary rider for KTM who took the inaugural edition of the ADDC motorbike race back in 1995, made a strong impression and seems poised to light up the remaining legs of the championship, although he was not eligible for the classification. The Austrian, an entrant in the Road to Dakar challenge held in every round of the W2RC, earned a ticket to the 2024 Dakar. In the W2RC, Jean-Loup Lepan (Duust Diverse Racing) took home the trophy ahead of Paolo Lucci (BAS World KTM Racing), who led the ADDC until a crash in stage 4. Toni Mulec, the Italian's teammate, came in third. Lucci remains in command of the ranking with 50 points to Lepan's 45. Romain Dumontier (HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing), who came out of the Dakar in the overall lead, is now third with 38 points. Mulec is fourth with 30.
The Emirati Abdulaziz Ahli (Abu Dhabi Team) claimed his third win in a row in the quad race after firing a blank in the Dakar. He proved stronger than Laisvydas Kancius (AG Dakar School), who only managed to snatch one stage from the local hero. The Lithuanian rose to the top of the championship standings with 44 points to Copetti's 38 and Varga's 30. Ahli scaled up to fourth with 25 points. Two other Lithuanians, Gančierius (16 points) and Kanopkinas (11 points), opened their account, as did Rodolfo Guillioli (13 points), one of the sensations of the previous season.
Provisional final classification
1 VAN BEVEREN Adrien 42 FRA Monster Energy Honda Team 17:13:39
2 BENAVIDES Luciano 77 ARG Husqvarna Factory Racing 17:17:57
3 PRICE Toby 18 AUS Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team 17:18:52
4 CORNEJO José Ignacio 11 CHI Monster Energy Honda Team 17:18:54
5 EVAN BRANCH Ross 16 BWA Hero Motorsports Team Rally 17:19:56
6 HOWES Skyler 10 USA Husqvarna Factory Racing 17:20:02
7 BRABEC Ricky 2 USA Monster Energy Honda Team 17:23:44
ASO