Six weeks after the Dakar wound to a close, the W2RC is back with the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (ADDC), scheduled for 26 February to 3 March. The second round will bring the field to a familiar landscape —the dunes of the Empty Quarter, this time on the other side of the Saudi border, in Abu Dhabi.
The reigning world champion, Sam Sunderland (Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing), is returning to competition after crashing out of the Dakar. The three-time winner of the ADDC will almost be racing in his backyard in his duel with the provisional leader, Kevin Benavides (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
After crashing out of the race within the first three days of the Dakar, Sam Sunderland and Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda), first and second in the 2022 season, are back in the mix with zero points in the bag. They are in for a real challenge, but is worth noting that Adrien Van Beveren managed to finish third overall last year, just one point shy of second place, after going home empty-handed from the Dakar. The championship remains wide open with four legs to go! "Sundersam", a long-time Emirati resident with three ADDC wins under his belt, is still likely to mount a successful title defence.
With Daniel Sanders again on the sidelines due to injury, GasGas is putting all its eggs in the Brit's basket. The 2022 runner-up, Ricky Brabec, will fight to catch up with the other works bikers, including his three stablemates at Monster Energy Honda, Adrien Van Beveren, "Nacho" Cornejo and Pablo Quintanilla. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing will find strength in numbers, with the Dakar champion, Kevin Benavides, his runner-up, Toby Price, and Matthias Walkner. Skyler Howes (third in the Dakar) and Luciano Benavides will be flying the flag for Husqvarna Factory Racing. Hero MotoSports will be fielding two of its four factory bikers, namely, Ross Branch and Sebastian Bühler. The 2022 Rally2 World Cup champion, Mason Klein (BAS World KTM Racing), who has made his RallyGP debut this season, brings the total for this category to 13 bikers.
In the Rally2 category, Romain Dumontier (HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing), who has led the championship since the end of the Dakar, is taking a gamble by not starting the ADDC. The rules for this learning category allow bikers to scrap one of their results from the championship tally, and the Frenchman has chosen to exercise this option for the second leg, giving a clear run to direct rivals such as Paolo Lucci (BAS World KTM Racing), Michael Docherty (SRG Motorsports), Jean-Loup Lepan and Konrad Dąbrowski from Duust Diverse Racing and Toni Mulec (BAS World KTM Racing). The Romanians Ionuț Florea and Andrei Cristian Danila bring the Rally2 total to 7 bikers in their W2RC debut.
In the quad category, the local hero and two-time defending champion, Abdulaziz Ahli, is the big favourite, just like Sunderland, who he followed in crashing out of the Dakar earlier this year. The Emirati faces a formidable Lithuanian armada. Laisvydas Kancius (AG Dakar School), his closest rival for the championship in the ADDC, will be escorted by Adomas Gancierus and Antonas Kanopkinas. Rodolfo Guillioli, who lit up the inaugural W2RC season, will be flying in from Guatemala to take the total to 5 riders.
Schedule
The usual administrative and technical scrutineering will take place at the Energy Business Center in Abu Dhabi from 7 am to 4 pm on 25 February. The pre-race press conference will be held at the Murban Theatre at 7 pm.
On 26 February, the caravan will transfer to the desert in Al Dhannah, where the prologue will start at 3:15 pm.
On 27 February, the opening stage will connect the bivouac in Al Dhannah to the race HQ at the Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort.
On 28 February and 1 and 2 March, three loop stages will be held in the Al Dhafra Region, in the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter).
On 3 March, the closing stage will take the field to Abu Dhabi, where the race will come to an end at the Energy Business Center around 12:30 pm. The prize ceremony will take place there at 7 pm.
ASO