– Al-Rajhi with three days contested in second position
– Kleinschmidt in the buggy currently 12th
The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the second round of the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup, has been running for three days, now, and currently three MINI ALL4 Racing vehicles are holding top-five positions!
Saudi Yazeed Al-Rajhi and his German co-driver Timo Gottschalk currently hold second place, followed by Russian pairing Vladimir Vasilyev and Konstantin Zhiltsov in third. Behind them, Jakub Przygonski (POL) and Tom Colsoul (BEL) currently hold fourth position. And there are more MINI ALL4 Racing vehicles in the top ten: with the second stage contested, Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) and Michel Périn (FRA) hold sixth position, right ahead of Bryce Menzies (USA) and Andreas Schulz (GER). While Sheik Khalid Al-Qassimi and his co-driver Khalid Al Kendi (both UAE) are ninth. Jutta Kleinschmidt (GER) and Tina Thörner (SWE) currently hold 12th position, with the X-raid buggy and German pairing Stephan Schott / Holm Schmidt in 20th position completes the X-raid line-up.
The weather in the past days wasn’t exactly what you would expect during the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. In the days prior to the rally it was extremely hot but then, the temperature dropped and the rain began to fall. “Today we even had to turn on the windscreen wipers,