Peterhansel wins the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge

09 Apr 2011 1 Comment

by Rally Raidin Rally Raid Tags: dakar rally, fia world cup, first victory, racing car
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France’s Stéphane Peterhansel wrapped up a record-breaking seventh Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge win, securing his place as the world-class rally’s most decorated champion. After engaging in a titanic tussle for the lead with Russia’s Leonid Novitskiy, the current world champion and the Frenchman’s BMW X3 driving Team X-Raid colleague, Peterhansel piloted his Mini All4 Racing car home in an overall time of 20hours 33minutes 58seconds. Having previously won the event twice in the bikes category, Peterhansel revealed his joy at finishing the 1,570-kilometer event and clinching a fourth consecutive Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge win – his fifth cars category title in total. “Our first target was to win and our second target was to test the Mini on the dunes” said Peterhansel. “We achieved them both, so it’s not bad at all. This is my first victory with Team X-Raid, so it was very nice.” The Monster Energy X-raid team celebrated an historic success in the five-day Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which started on April 3rd and finished on April 7th. It marked an historic achievement for the X-raid team. The MINI All4 Racing was triumphant less than three months after its first appearance in the Dakar Rally. The duo of Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA/FRA), claimed victory ahead of their team mates Leonid Novitskiy and Andreas Schulz (RUS/GER) in a BMW X3CC. Novitskiy not only secured valuable points for the FIA World Cup for off-road rallies, but he also took the outright lead in the World Cup drivers’ standings.

The two X-raid crews controlled proceedings in Abu Dhabi and made the fight for overall victory between themselves. Peterhansel secured three of the five possible stage wins and eventually beat Novitskiy by a winning margin of 15m16s. The Russian and his German co-driver shadowed Peterhansel and Cottret throughout the event. Novitskiy snatched victory on the third stage and
briefly led Peterhansel in the overall standings. “Stéphane and the MINI All4 Racing have shown to be in excellent shape and deserved this victory,” said Monster Energy X-raid team boss Sven Quandt. “Although he stalled twice, technically we had no problems. Even Leonid has shown a very strong performance. The second place puts him in the FIA World Cup lead and in a very good position. He maintained his tactics and approached the rally wisely. ”
The MINI All4 Racing was developed by the Monster Energy X-raid team in just 90 days for the Dakar Rally. In Argentina and Chile, it quickly became a crowd favorite. The next outing for the MINI All4 Racing will be further east at the Silk Way Rally. Teams will head from the Russian capital of Moscow to Sochi, the venue of the Olympic Winter Games 2014.

Close behind the X-Raid pair was experienced Frenchman Jean-Louis Schlesser in his Schlesser Original buggy. Peterhansel was full of praise for his fellow podium finishers. “It was a nice fight between Leonid and me, but also Jean-Louis Schlesser was good,” he said. “I want to say thank you to Leonid. On the second day I was completely stuck for a long time and he stopped to help me.”

There was also good news for the UAE, as Emirati driver Yahya Bil Helei and co-diver Khalid Al Kendi took fourth place in the final Abu Dhabi stage in their Isuzu pick-up truck – a result which elevated the pair to fourth overall. Bil Helei, a Desert Challenge veteran, finished the rally in 26h 7m 13s. “I’m extremely happy to have finshed in fourth position,” he said. “Considering that all of the drivers ahead of me were extremely famous rally drivers, it’s an even bigger honour. The rally this year was very difficult, so my experience with UAE desert rallying was a big help.”

At the motorcycles Spaniard Marc Coma completes hat-trick and fifth Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge title. Marc Coma, the reigning world champion, rubberstamped his two-wheeled superiority today, the enigmatic Spaniard clinching a third consecutive bikes category title in the 2011 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the opening round of the FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship and second round of the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup. Having led for the majority of the off-road rally, the Spanish KTM Factory Team rider and reigning Dakar Rally champion steered his powerful KTM 450 across the finish line to complete a resounding fifth Abu Dhabi victory in an overall time of 18hours 28minutes.

“It feels really special to take my fifth win here,” said Coma, who outlined the unique event’s vast desert setting. “It’s never easy, especially this year, when there have been some very good riders. I’m really happy for this victory because Abu Dhabi is a fantastic place. I like this rally and I like the people who are involved. We know the desert is really special. The conditions are always hard, with big dunes and soft sand, but it really is fantastic.”

Coma finished five minutes ahead of Yamaha Factory Team’s Portuguese rider, Helder Rodrigues, on a Yamaha WK-450F, while the Spaniard’s Polish teammate, Jakub Przygonski, finished third on another KTM 450. After disturbing the head of the field with a pair of stage wins during the 1,570 kilometre race, Dubai-based Sam Sunderland, finished 37th overall following the severe mechanical problems that ended his own title tilt on day three. The 21-year old recovered to post the seventh best final day time a feat which caught the eye of Coma.
“Sam won two stages and it was a pity that he had some mechanical problems,” said Coma. “But he’s young and I wish all the best for him. He just needs to take it easy – his time will come.”
Further good news for KTM came in the bike category’s Open Production class, where KTM riders clinched top three spots. Poland’s Marek Dabrowski sealed the win, with UAE-resident Tim Trenker notching second after leapfrogging Romania’s Emanuel Gyenes on the final leg.

Nicholas Black, Yamaha clinched the overall quads victory at this year’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, with Italy’s Camelia Liparoti taking second place on her Yamaha Raptor, and recording a Desert Challenge best for the female rider. Russian Honda rider Dimitry Pavlov rounded off the top three. Over the course of this year’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the Emirati quad duo of Mohammed Al Shamsi and Atif Al Zarouni had looked odds-on to gain a one-two for the UAE, with both riders taking convincing stage wins and leading well going into the final leg. However, mechanical problems plagued both riders on the final day, allowing Black in to snatch his victory in his first ever Desert Challenge.

Speaking after the rally, the Briton said: “I really didn’t know what to expect coming into it. It was really tough. I went past Atif 80 kilometers after the start and Mohammed about 80 kilometers from the end, so I didn’t know I’d won the whole rally until the finish.”

The KAMAZ-Master trucks provided huge excitement and entertainment this year, as they returned to the rally for the first time in three years. With three trucks entering the race, and only two completing it, it was Eduard Nikolaev who prevailed in his 12-tonne truck overall, 5h 46m 18s ahead of teammate Andrey Karginov. Russian rally star Nikolaev had been part of a winning trucks team in the Desert Challenge previously, when he was in the team led by world record holder Vladimir Chagin in 2005. His team was completed by two of his compatriots, Viatcheslav Mizyukaev and Vladimir Rybakov.

Credits: This Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge race summary has been compiled with information obtained by the Team XRaid newsletter – Dakarrallyraid.com is part of the Puro Off-Road Network and registered news user with Team X-raid GmbH – and data from the 2011 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge press office / media archive.

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