Nasser Al Attiyah strengthened his grip on the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge today with another measured drive in the Rub Al Khali while world champion Marc Coma made a big move in his search for an eighth bikes triumph in the event.
Partnered by French co-driver Mathieu Baumel in his Mini All4 Racing Al Attiyah, the 2008 Desert Challenge winner, took the 272 km Qasr Al Sarab Special Stage 3 by more than 11 minutes from Russia’s Vladimir Vasilyev to open up an overall lead of 15min 54secs from the defending cars champion in another Mini. Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi finished the day within reach of a podium place after another impressive drive for his Desert Challenge debut alongside Portugal’s Jose Marques.Britain’s Harry Hunt and Poland’s Marek Dabrowski rounded up the top six at the end of the demanding leg which was particularly unkind to another Emirati driver, Yahya Al Helei.
The first stage winner, who was still fourth at the start of the day, was stalled by a broken clutch as he took his vehicle through the mighty dunes close to Moreeb, eventually slipping to ninth place overall, more than two hours off the lead.
The president of the rally organizers, Mohammed Ben Sulayem remarks about the races: “It was a difficult day, but this is what the Desert Challenge is all about. This is a big test for the toughest vehicles and the most experienced competitors, and it doesn’t get any harder in rallying.”
Winning the bikes category by a margin of 29secs was defending champion Paulo Goncalves, but second place on the day was enough to give Coma a 5min 4secs overall advantage from the Portuguese rider, with overnight leader Sam Sunderland slipping to third. Chile’s Pablo Quintanilla, Portugal’s Ruben Faria and American rider Ricky Brabec completed the top six heading into today’s 258km Nissan Patrol SS4, with the UAE’s very own Mohammed Al Balooshi still going strong in seventh.
Reaching the end of the stage, Al Attiyah made it clear that it had been no easy task to extend his overnight lead of 4mins 13secs, saying: “It was a hard day with big dunes and soft sand, but luckily we didn’t get stuck. It was also very hot but all is okay, we did a good job.”
Various opinions came up from the other competitors with Van Loon completing the stage and recalling that “We started with a very fast pace today with the dunes at the beginning. We have a really good car this year and a podium finish is an exciting prospect.” Meanwhile, last year’s champion Marc Coma, commented on Goncalves’s astounding win on the final leg: “A good day despite the difficult terrain. The first part was like piste but the open desert was good and I was able to achieve a fast pace.” The end of the day saw Coma producing a great tactical ride to put himself in a powerful position.
