All Monster Energy Honda Team riders are doing a great job at this year’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge! True specialists in the sand, they are leading the way in the demanding tracks of the Empty Quarter. The results from today’s stage 2 – Qasr Al Sarab – confirm this scenario, with some changes in the overall standings.
Adrien Van Beveren is the new leader and Pablo Quintanilla is second just one minute and 30 seconds away. They both had today the hard mission to open the track, doing a great performance that was key to keep the team’s dominance. Van Beveren was 5th with a 3 minutes and 9 seconds gap for the leader of the stage, while Quintanilla was 9th with a 6 minutes and 55 seconds delay. José Ignacio Cornejo was the fastest among the team, with a second place with just a gap of one minute and 17 seconds. Ricky Brabec is also showing signs of a good recovery from his Dakar crash and was today the fourth fastest rider.
Tomorrow’s Stage 3 will keep the same competitive scheme, with another tour around Qasr Al Sarab and many dunes and sand to race in the depths of the Empty Quarter. Special stage will be 266 kilometers long – added by a liaison of 37 km. This is a very demanding challenge for all riders, since they are racing in marathon mode – meaning they can’t count on the assistance and back up from the team.
Adrien Van Beveren
“Today was a good day overall, really tough. I was able to reach Pablo at around kilometer 57 and then we rode together pushing the best we could going fast and opening the stage. It was a long way with a lot of sand dunes, broken dunes and not always easy to find the way with some surprises on the other side. I did my best and I am happy about that, considering that we were opening the stage. Now I will keep the focus for tomorrow, looking forward to getting back on the sand tracks . ”
PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS AFTER STAGE 2
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap
1 VAN BEVEREN Adrien 42 FRA Monster Energy Honda Team 07:10:30
2 QUINTANILLA Pablo 7 CHI Monster Energy Honda Team 07:12:00
3 BENAVIDES Luciano 77 ARG Husqvarna Factory Racing 07:13:57
4 CORNEJO José Ignacio 11 CHI Monster Energy Honda Team 07:13:58
5 EVAN BRANCH Ross 16 BWA Hero Motorsports Team Rally 07:14:24
6 PRICE Toby 18 AUS Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team 07:14:29
7 BRABEC Ricky 2 USA Monster Energy Honda Team 07:15:37
8 HOWES Skyler 10 USA Husqvarna Factory Racing 07:16:19
9 KLEIN Mason 43 USA BAS DAKAR KTM RACING TEAM 07:22:00
10 LUCCI Paolo 46 ITA Solarys Racing 07:39:25