Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah continued along his relentless path towards a second cars triumph in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge as Chile’s Pablo Quintanilla snatched a significant bikes advantage to carry into the final leg.
While Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen won the 258km ADNOC stage alongside French co-driver Michel Perin in a Mini All4Racing, al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel were second fastest in a Toyota Hilux as they increased their overall lead to 28 mins 08 secs. Lying second overnight and chasing a third successive Desert Challenge victory, Russia’s Vladimir Vasilyev and Konstantin Zhiltsov saw their hopes buried among the dunes of the Western Region of Al Gharbia when their Mini was halted by mechanical problems.
Their misfortune promoted Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed al-Rajhi and German co-driver Timo Gotschalk to second place in another Mini, 7 mins 32 secs ahead of four-times WRC runner-up Hirvonen in third.
Making his Desert Challenge debut, American Bryce Menzies is clearly benefiting from the experience of German co-driver Andreas Schulz, climbing to fourth place in a Mini.
With Poland’s Jakub Przygonski and Belgian Tom Colsoul in fifth, the UAE’s Sheikh Khalid
al-Qassimi, partnered by Emirati co-driver Khalid al-Kendi, continued to climb in his Abu Dhabi Racing Mini All4Racing to complete the top six.
Another Emirati driver, Ahmad al-Maqoodi, moved into the top ten alongside Obaid al-Kitbe in their Polaris RZR to lead the buggies category. Among the day’s casualties were the all lady crew of Germany’s Jutta Kleinschmidt and Swede Tina Thorner whose buggy broke its gearbox. In the battle of the bikes, French rider Pierre Alexandre Renet was the stage winner from Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo as he rose to fifth overall.  But fourth best time on the day was enough to make Quintanilla the clear favourite for victory on his Husqvarna as he took a 2 mins 45 secs lead over this year’s Dakar Rally winner Toby Price, with the Aussie’s KTM teammate, Dubai-based Sam Sunderland, just two seconds further away.
It was a splendid day for top Emirati rider Mohammed al-Balooshi who outpaced Quintanilla, Price and Sam Sunderland, three of the world’s biggest cross country rallying talents, to maintain his fourth place overall.
Reaching the end of the ADNOC stage, al-Attiyah, who captured the Desert Challenge title in 2008, said: “It wasn’t easy at all. We did some of this stage yesterday but most was completely new. We didn’t take risks – we don’t want to make mistakes now.  I’m really happy to finish and looking forward to tomorrow.”
Al-Rajhi said: “That was a hot stage with lots of soft sand. I saw Vasilyev stuck but other than that I was driving alone the whole stage. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s final stage, even though it’s a shorter one.”
Looking exhausted after his efforts on the stage, Hirvonen moved quickly away from the end of the stage towards the bivouac without pausing to describe his day.
An always talkative Menzies said: “I didn’t feel so good this morning and it was so hot but we started well and pushed hard. We were just behind Nasser and had a great battle with Mikko but then 50km from the end I hit a ditch, losing 5 or 6 minutes after doing so well. It’s different for me racing six days straight compared to usual, but I’m constantly learning and really enjoying it. Hopefully I’ll push some more tomorrow.”