To whom loses leads. Largely beaten by Nasser Al-Attiyah on the Dakar (1h20′ difference in the final classification), Sébastien Loeb (Hunter Prodrive) is nevertheless in the lead of the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) thanks in particular to the points brought to him by its seven stage victories, since the competitors entering the top 5 of each stage inflate their counter.
To the 40 units of his second place finish were thus added 47 “bonus” points, while Al-Attiyah, winner of three stages at the wheel of his Toyota Hilux, scored 50 points for his overall victory and 35 for his daily rankings, i.e. a total deficit of two points for the outgoing world champion (87 to 85), associated with the French co-driver Mathieu Baumel.
Chicherit and Ekström present, Peterhansel and Sainz absent
A month and a half after the Dakar, the players in the World Championship find themselves in the Empty Quarter, but on the other side of the Saudi border this time. After a prologue on Sunday in the Al Dhannah desert, west of the city of Abu Dhabi, five stages are on the program until the finish of the race on Friday.
In addition to Loeb and Al-Attiyah, the entry list includes Guerlain Chicherit, seventh in the Dakar but third in the W2RC, 38 points behind Loeb. Tenth in the Championship after a Dakar finished in 30th place, Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota Hilux) will try to get going again. Audi drivers Stéphane Peterhansel (winner of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge last year) and Carlos Sainz (recovering from his accident in Saudi Arabia) are not in the game.
Fourth in the W2RC Championship after his ninth place in the Dakar, their team-mate Mattias Ekström is good at the start but at the wheel of a Can-Am in the T3 category which will not allow him to play for the win.
Brabec favori, Van Beveren outsider and motorcycles
On the motorcycle side, it’s the carnage even before the start since the Argentinian Kevin Benavides, winner of the Dakar, and Sam Sunderland (GasGas), reigning world champion and winner of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge last year, were injured in training and forfeited. Ricky Brabec (Honda), who made a mistake in the Dakar, will try to take advantage of it to make up for part of his delay in the Championship but will have a hard time facing Quintanilla (Honda), Price (KTM) or Klein (KTM). Fifth in the Dakar, Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) will also have a good card to play.