A 2,000-kilometre route over towering sand dunes pushed the off-road convoy to their absolute limit at the 34th Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. The revamped course had competitors crossing over the Liwa and Empty Quarter Deserts on their quest for precious World Rally-Raid Championship points. As the winners are crowned in Abu Dhabi let’s find out who’s celebrating at the second stop of the W2RC season…
Five-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah is now also a five-time winner of the ADDC. The Qatari’s latest victory delivers the Dacia Sandriders their second win since joining the rally-raid roadshow. Al-Attiyah and co-driver Edouard Boulanger showed unstoppable pace during the rally’s decisive stages in the Empty Quarter Desert. Al-Attiyah’s win puts him on top of the W2RC’s Ultimate driver rankings and in pole position to grab his fourth consecutive title.
« We know that the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is a really tough race. Thank you to Dacia and the whole team for this win. We put it all together and now we’re leading the World Championship. » – Nasser Al-Attiyah
Al-Attiyah was pushed all the way across the deserts of the United Arab Emirates by the Toyota GR DKR Hilux of Lucas Moraes. After racing each other for thousands of kilometres over the dunes there was just 2m28s separating Al-Attiyah and Moraes in second place overall. It’s a tough result to take for the Brazilian and co-driver Armand Monleón, but moving onto the overall W2RC podium is some consolation for Moraes ahead of the championship’s next race in South Africa.
« I really wanted to win here, but Nasser is one of the greatest of all time so it’s hard to beat him. Last year we had a crazy race here with a fire in the car and this year was much better. We were fighting for the win until the final kilometres. » – Lucas Moraes
Joining Moraes on the Ultimate class podium in Abu Dhabi is his Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Seth Quintero. It’s now back-to-back third place finishes at the ADDC for the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team graduate. Quintero and co-driver Dennis Zenz’s performance also helps TGR maintain their grip on first place in the W2RC’s manufacturer rankings.
« This was a good rally for us all in all, we’ve finished in P3 overall. It’s good points for the championship and the team has got two cars on the podium. We finished on the podium here last year so to do it again this year feels great. » – Seth Quintero
Leading the charge of the Ford Raptor T1+ machines was Mitch Guthrie Jr., Quintero’s fellow American. The Ford M-Sport driver is another former Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team member who is now shaking things up at the sharp end of rally-raid’s elite car class. Improving results over the week saw Guthrie Jr. and co-driver Kellon Walch cross the line in Abu Dhabi in fifth place overall.
« I’m really happy to get to another finish line in our Raptor. The car has been faultless all week without any real issues. Me and Kellon have been trying to keep it steady and get faster and faster each day. » – Mitch Guthrie Jr.
Guthrie Jr.’s Ford M-Sport team-mate Mattias Ekström was forced to retire from the rally due to sickness following Stage 2. Meanwhile, Dacia driver Sébastien Loeb had a birthday to forget on Wednesday as his car rolled out of the race.
« Not quite the birthday present I had in mind… caught in our own dust, we failed to spot a small dune and rolled forward. » – Sébastien Loeb
It was also a bumpy ride through the dunes for Guillaume de Mévius and co-driver Xavier Panseri in their MINI John Cooper Works Rally 3.0i. Making repairs in the dunes cost the duo significant time, but they dug deep to bring their car across the finish line in Abu Dhabi placed 13th overall.
History was made in the Challenger class by Saudi Arabian driver Dania Akeel at the wheel of her Taurus T3 Max. Akeel and co-driver Stéphane Duplé had the hammer down all week in the UAE, winning Stage 1 before sealing overall victory on the fifth and final stage. Akeel becomes the first female driver to record a win at the ADDC.
« It’s my first W2RC win and it feels fantastic. It comes from a lot of work, focus and effort… it doesn’t just arrive. Everybody has to do their part and the team all did their part perfectly. It’s a strong team and a strong car, now I hope to be a better driver in every race we have coming up. » – Dania Akeel
Among the chasing pack that pursued Akeel over the dunes for 2,000 kilometres was Pau Navarro and co-driver Jan Rosa i Viñas. 20-year-old Navarro finished his first ADDC in the Challenger class in second place overall, 3m28s behind Akeel.
A month after winning his first Dakar Rally, Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders is now celebrating his maiden win at the ADDC. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing biker was in imperious form during the Prologue and subsequent five desert stages in the UAE. Sanders has increased his lead at the top of the W2RC rankings with a total of 63 points from two races.
« I’m super pumped to wrap up the victory. The team is here and we get to celebrate again. That’s two in a row after my Dakar win last month. Thanks to the team, we’re back and we’re stronger than ever! » – Daniel Sanders
Proving that there’s danger around every corner at the ADDC was an elbow injury that cut short the rally for Sanders’s KTM team-mate Edgar Canet. This left Luciano Benavides as the only Red Bull KTM Factory Racing wingman for Sanders during the final stages. Benavides stuck to his task and recorded a fourth place finish overall. KTM are the W2RC’s leading bike manufacturer with three rounds of the season remaining.
« This was a tough rally so I’m happy to finish in one piece. I finished fourth overall like I did at the Dakar so at least I’m consistent. Of course I want to be closer to the front and I know I can do it. Congratulations to Daniel and the team for getting the win. » – Luciano Benavides
Next up for the W2RC convoy is the South African Safari Rally which makes its debut on the series calendar in May. With tight winning margins across all categories in Abu Dhabi and the W2RC leaderboards in a constant state of flux, we’re guaranteed six days of sensational racing on the African continent.
2025 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge Results
ULTIMATE – Top 5 : 1. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / E. Boulanger (FRA) – Dacia, 14:26:55 ; 2. L. Moraes (BRA) / A. Monleon (ESP) – Toyota, +02:28 ; 3. S.Quintero (USA) / D. Zenz (GER) – Toyota, +11:56 ; 4. J. Yacopini (ARG) / D. Oliveras (ESP) – Toyota, +29:53 ; 5. M. Guthrie JR. (USA) / K. Walch (USA) – Ford, +31:02…
CHALLENGER – Top 5 : 1. D. Akeel (KSA) / S. Duplé (FRA) – Taurus, 15:44:25 ; 2. P. Navarro (ESP) / J. Rosa I Vinas (ESP) – Taurus, +03:28 ; 3. M. Baumgart (BRA) / K. Cincea (BRA) – Taurus, +11:41 ; 4. Y. Seaidan (KSA) / M. Metge (FRA) – Taurus, +21:52 ; 5. A. Kus (POL) / D. Tsyro (UKR) – Taurus, +42:19…
BIKE – Top 5 : 1. D. Sanders (AUS) – KTM, 14:20:56 ; 2. R. Brabec (USA) – Honda, +05:47 ; 3. T. Schareina (ESP) – Honda, +06:04 ; 4. L. Benavides (ARG) – KTM, +08:01 ; 5. A. Van Beveren (FRA) – Honda, +09:52…
2025 World Rally-Raid Championship Standings
ULTIMATE – Top 5 : 1. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) – DACIA – 96 points ; 2. Y. Al-Rajhi (SAU) – Toyota – 73 pts ; 3. L. Moraes (BRA) – Toyota – 63 pts ; 4. S. Quintero (USA) – Toyota – 60 pts ; 5. H. Lategan (ZAF) – Toyota – 55 pts…
CHALLENGER – Top 5 : 1. N. Cavigliasso (ARG) – TAURUS – 104 points ; 2. P. Navarro (ESP) – TAURUS – 93 pts ; 3. Y. Seaidan (SAU) – TAURUS – 76 pts ; 4. D. Akeel (KSA) – TAURUS – 73 pts ; 5. G. Guerreiro (PRT) – TAURUS – 61 pts…
BIKE – Top 5 : 1. D. Sanders (AUS) – KTM – 63 points ; 2. T. Schareina (ESP) – HONDA – 46 pts ; 3. R. Brabec (USA) – HONDA – 37 pts ; 4. A. Van Beveren (FRA) – HONDA – 35 pts ; 5. L. Benavides (ARG) – KTM – 33 pts…
QUOTES
Nasser Al-Attiyah: « It’s a really big thing for us to win here in Abu Dhabi. We know that the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is a really tough race. Thank you to Dacia and the whole team for this win. We put it all together and now we’re leading the World Championship. We came here to win but the competition was really strong. It’s an amazing result for us. »
Lucas Moraes: « I really wanted to win here, but Nasser is one of the greatest of all time so it’s hard to beat him. Last year we had a crazy race here with a fire in the car and this year was much better. We were fighting for the win until the final kilometres. It’s tough to get so close to the win, but we’ll keep fighting and I’m already looking forward to the next stop in South Africa. »
Seth Quintero: « This was a good rally for us all in all, we’ve finished in P3 overall. It’s good points for the championship and the team has got two cars on the podium. We finished on the podium here last year so to do it again this year feels great. We were on the pace all week. My co-driver Dennis (Zenz) was feeling sick this week but he pushed through it and kicked butt like always. Hopefully we can get first place at the next round in South Africa, we’ve got a lot left in the tank. »
Mitch Guthrie Jr.: « I’m really happy to get to another finish line in our Raptor. The car has been faultless all week without any real issues. Me and Kellon (Walch) have been trying to keep it steady and get faster and faster each day. It’s been a another week of learning for myself, for Kellon and the team. The main takeaways are bringing it to the finish and getting faster everyday. »
Sébastien Loeb: « Not quite the birthday present I had in mind. Unfortunately, we missed a waypoint by less than 10 metres – just like all our competitors, judging by the tracks. We made a 360-degree turn to validate it, which we did successfully, but caught in our own dust, we failed to spot a small dune and rolled forward. »
Dania Akeel: « It’s my first W2RC win and it feels fantastic. It comes from a lot of work, focus and effort… it doesn’t just arrive. Everybody has to do their part and the team all did their part perfectly. My co-driver Stéphane (Duplé) was excellent, not only managing the navigation but also the mood in the car. It’s a strong team and a strong car, now I hope to be a better driver in every race we have coming up. »
Daniel Sanders: First place here at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge! I opened the final stage and I’m super pumped to wrap up the victory. The team is here and we get to celebrate again, that’s two in a row after my Dakar win last month. Thanks to the team, we’re back and we’re stronger than ever! »
Luciano Benavides: « This was a tough rally so I’m happy to finish in one piece. I finished fourth overall like I did at the Dakar so at least I’m consistent. Of course I want to be closer to the front and I know I can do it. Congratulations to Daniel and the team for getting the win. »
Christine Fial,