Line-up led by official X-Raid BMW team
Next week’s new-look Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge has attracted an expansive international entry list, from 12 nations, in just five weeks and is guaranteed to produce a new winner in the car category, according to Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA Vice-President for Sport, President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE), and Chairman of the event’s Organising Committee.
A huge influx of event newcomers coupled with the absence of the Volkswagen and Mitsubishi factory teams means this month’s UAE round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies is ’anybody’s race,’ said Sulayem.
"This is proving to be the most open race in the 19-year history of the off-road series. There are 77 entries and I believe that the headline sponsorship support of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) has helped guarantee this number in just over one month, when usually registration is open for ten.
"Looking down the entry list, it is pleasing to see so many international teams but it is also obvious that this will be the most unpredictable event in the history of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge," Sulayem said.
Twenty-nine cars, 46 bikes and two trucks are registered in the five-day rally, which gets underway from Abu Dhabi’s landmark Emirates Palace hotel on Monday, March 23 at 09.30am, local time.
A pair of Trebur-built BMW X3 CCs, entered by Sven Quandt’s X-raid team, head the car category. There are no previous winners on the final entry list. Quandt has elected to run Frenchman, Guerlain Chicherit and his new Swedish co-driver, Tina Thörner in one car, and X-raid Russia’s Leonid Novitskiy and Oleg Tyupenkin in the second diesel-powered BMW.
Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah dominated the event last November for the X-raid team, but his switch to the rival Volkswagen outfit sees his winning co-driver (Thörner) partnering Chicherit for the first time. The Frenchman is a world extreme skiing champion and has competed in the UAE before. Novitskiy tackled the event last season, but was forced to withdraw from a top three position because of business commitments.
“X-raid proved in South America (in January) that we have the car and the logistical backing necessary to win the Dakar Rally in the future. We look forward to continuing our development with two cars in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge this year,” said team director, Sven Quandt.
“These are difficult times for the global automotive industry, but I am pleased that we will be able to take part in an exciting programme of events this year. The BMW X3 CC is a potent package, more than capable of winning the Dakar Rally in 2010 and following up the FIA Baja and FIA World Cup titles that we won in 2008. I am confident that with Guerlain and Leonid the team can win this event for a second year.”
Novitskiy and Chicherit finished eighth and ninth overall for the X-raid team in January’s Dakar Rally, but they face stiff competition from a host of UAE drivers in Abu Dhabi. Last year’s runner-up, Yayha Al Helai, heads the list in his powerful Nissan Patrol. The experienced Emirati has numerous top-six finishes under his belt and knows that this could be his best-ever chance of taking an outright victory to follow up his fine second overall, last November.
Sulayem confirmed that drivers and co-drivers from France, Sweden, Belgium, Latvia, Syria, Russia, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Portugal, Italy and Saudi Arabia will join an impressive line-up of Emirati crews in Abu Dhabi, as the UAE capital furthers its growing reputation as a world-class sporting and tourism destination.
“X-raid is a semi-factory team, but Guerlain and Leonid have a lot of competition this year,” added Sulayem. “We have received great support from the UAE contingent and there are a lot of drivers capable of taking victory. It promises to be very close and very exciting.”
Qatar’s hopes of success rest with Nasser Khalifa Al Attiyah, President of the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) and runner-up in the FIA Middle East rally series in 1993. Al Attiyah has been influential in bringing Moto GP and Superbike racing to the Gulf region in recent years, and enjoys his occasional return to the rally driving seat.
Doha-based Nasser attends many of the region’s motor sport events and has taken part in recent rallies in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In Abu Dhabi he will drive a powerful Nissan Patrol.
“The Desert Challenge is one of the great off-road events in the world and it is on my doorstep,” said Al Attiyah. “It is something that fits nicely into the diary and I am looking forward to it.”
A group of Italian drivers will also make the trip to Abu Dhabi to tackle five, testing days of desert competition through Abu Dhabi’s Empty Quarter. Franco Grigoletto wheels out his Toyota Tundra, Antonio Manfrinato enters a Nissan Navara, and Maurizio Traglia is hoping for success in a Nissan Pathfinder.
For Portugal, Ricardo Leal dos Santos and Helder Oliveira are regular competitors in events like the Dakar Rally and dos Santos hopes that the power and strength of his BMW X5 will hold him in good stead next week. Oliveira can call upon the experience of French co-driver, Francois Borsotto to read the road book, as both Portuguese drivers eye a top-10 finish.
Two Saudi Arabian drivers will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Abdullah Bakhashab and win a trophy in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Bakhashab was a former winner of the T1 category, although this year’s entrants, Ibrahim Al Muhanna and Saleh Al Hour, will be hard-pushed to repeat the former regional rally champion’s historic achievement.
Teams from Abu Dhabi and Dubai make up the bulk of the entry this year, with French expatriate, Joseph Rosso joining Briton, David Mabbs and Dubai-based American dentist, Mike Ziegler at the business-end of the entry list.
Al Helai starts as the favourite to become the first Emirati ever to win the event. Meanwhile, Raed Baker, Ahmad bin Soughat, Matar Al Mansouri, Fady Melki, Nabil Al Shamsi, Ali Matar and Abdul Bari bin Soughat have enough knowledge of the Abu Dhabi terrain to spring a surprise.
ADTA’s Deputy Director General Tourism Operations, Ahmed Hussein is relishing the open contest: “This event has further expanded its already strong international appeal, at the same time, drawing excitement from the home base. There is a depth of strength in this year’s entry list. It will be a close race in all categories."
This year’s Desert Challenge is based at the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) for the first time where the competitive action gets underway with a timed, super special stage on Sunday, March 22, at 4pm local time.
The 2009 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge has the backing of key players, including the event’s title sponsor, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), Nissan, ADNOC, Beach Rotana - Abu Dhabi, etisalat, Explorer, Hertz, Lambda Electronics, Oasis Water, TAG Heuer, and the Rally HQ host, ADIMSC.
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