Al-Attiyah-Baumel reacts on the second stage of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge

La deuxième étape de l’Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (ADDC) a souri à Nasser Al-Attiyah et Mathieu Baumel (Toyota). Le duo Qatari-français a signé le meilleur temps de cette spéciale de 316 km disputée lundi 7 mars autour de Qasr Al Sarab.

Prevented from aiming for a victory in the general classification following a mechanical breakdown from the 5th km of the inaugural stage the day before, the winners of the Dakar 2022 took their revenge. Starting fifth on the track, the Toyota Hilux 4×4 in T1+ version continually recorded the best intermediate times. This performance will give them confidence even if any hope of a good result overall was gone following an 20 p.m. penalty on Sunday.

Forced to drive in two-wheel drive mode during the previous stage, Sébastien Loeb (BRX) was able to fully unleash the horses of its Hunter 4×4. The nine-time world rally champion (WRC), associated with Fabian Lurquin, signs the second time of the day at 5'50'' from Al-Attiyah.

Quickly on the pace, the leaders of the event Stéphane Peterhansel and Édouard Boulanger (Audi) returned to the ranks in the second half of the effort. The Audi RS Q e-tron hybrid finished just off the podium, and even lost a few minutes on their direct pursuers, Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Dirk von Zitzewitz (Toyota). The Saudi comes back 7'49''.

.@s_peterhansel and Edouard Boulanger are already back in the bivouac with the #208 Audi RS Q e-tron*. Today's special stage finish was directly next to the bivouac. 

>> https://t.co/i5Tnh0Pbjz#FutureIsAnAttitude #RoadToDakar2023 #ADDC2022 #RSQetron pic.twitter.com/SFRWxvS7eB

- Audi Sport (@audisport) March 7, 2022

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The only independent French crew entered in the World Championship of rally-raid (W2RC) on this second round of the 2022 season, Mathieu Serradori and Loïc Minaudier (Century) concede more than half an hour but remain fifth in the general classification.

In the T3 category (Lightweight Prototypes), ''Chaleco'' Lopez (Can-Am) had to work hard to finish ahead of Seth Quintero (Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team). The Chilean, winner of the 2022 Dakar, only finished with a margin of 1'11'' over the American but increased his margin in the general classification over his pursuers Cristina Gutierrez-François Cazalet (Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team, +10'33'' on the stage, +21'01'' overall).