Race Report
BMW'S GUERLAIN CHICHERIT ROMPS TO EASY WIN IN THE CARS; UAE's, RUSSIAN VARENTSOV - 7Th OVERALL!
ABU DHABI (UAE) Friday March 27 2009: 5 days of beautiful race finished and we have the first winners in FIA World Cup 2009!
Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit and Swedish co-driver Tina Thörner romped to a comfortable victory in the car category in their BMW X3 CC. In second place is the UAE's Yahya Al Helai, with co-driver Khalid Al Kendi.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the FIA Vice-President of Sport; President of the Automobile Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates (ATCUAE) and the chairman of the event's Organising Committee was joined by His Excellency, Ahmed Al Sayegh, board member, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), dignitaries and members of the public at the ceremonial finish in the capital to welcome home the 54 finishing vehicles. Seventy-six cars, bikes, quads, and two trucks tackled the five-day Desert Challenge.
Adverse weather conditions failed to stop the final 275.93 selective section through the Abu Dhabi desert around Humeem and Arjan. Coma was the class of the field in the tricky conditions, where strong winds hampered progress and shifting sand reduced visibility.
Chicherit won every stage in the car category and reached the finish at the ADIMSC in Abu Dhabi with a winning margin of 2h 23m 45s over the Nissan Patrol pairing of the UAE's Al Helai and Al Kendi.
"Last week I was taking part in a World Cup competition in extreme skiing and this week I am winning a World Cup rally in the Middle East - all in the space of 10 days. From one extreme to the other," said Chicherit.
"There was a sand storm today for around half of the stage and the wind meant that visibility was down to just metres in places. We stopped early in the stage to let some pressure out of the tyres. Later I heard a noise on the car and stopped at the final PC just to check everything was okay. This is a great feeling to win this rally. This result is for my team."
Al Helai said he set out determined for a trophy win: "Today we took it easy with no risks. I did not want to push. We could not catch the BMW so we wanted to make sure we finished second."
Abdullah Al Herais and Haleem Bin Zayed finished third overall in another Nissan Patrol and Ali Al Shawi and Ahmad Malik were fourth, giving the host nation three of the top four positions in the overall car classification.
South African rider Sean Gaugain held off the challenge from fellow countryman Mark Ackerman to win the 450cc motorcycle category and Sébastien Husseini achieved his goal of a top 10 finish and the honour of being the leading quad rider in ninth overall.
"At the start of the week I had the goal of reaching the top 10," said Husseini. "It was realistic and I am delighted to have achieved that. The road book was extra important today. Because of the weather some extra sand spits had formed overnight and it was important to keep your concentration."
"We had a fascinating battle in the motorcycle category this year and I would like to congratulate Marc on his third success here on the Desert Challenge," said Sulayem.
"Congratulations also to Guerlain Chicherit on a second win for the X-raid team in two years and to all the other finishers. The organising team did a superb job in making the event's switch from November to March a success at such short notice and I also send a big thanks to all our sponsors, most notably our title sponsor and host, the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority."
Russian crew Varentsov Artem and Roman Elagin finished the race on 7th position in overall and 5th in T2 category! CONGRATULATIONS!
"It was great fantastic race and great experience for our crew! We were here for the first time, so first days were difficult and nervous, but after the Leg3 we drove the car much better, felt the sand and dunes and n the finish we overtook one of our rival in T2 category - Al Muhanna. We did not reach maximum result, but we finished in good position and got the first points in FIA classification. It is great! Thanks to our manager Leonid Mayorov, our serice team with Saeed Al-hameli and all our fans in Russia, who was looking for the race all days and gave us great support!"
Overall positions after Leg 5:
Cars
1. Guerlain Chicherit (F)/Tina Thörner (S) BMW X3 CC 20h 54m 47s
2. Yayha Al Helai (UAE)/Khalid Al Kendi (UAE) Nissan Patrol 23h 19m 32s
3. Abdullah Al Herais (UAE)/Haleem Bin Zayed (UAE) Nissan Patrol 24h 37m 07s
4. Ali Al Shawi (UAE)/Ahmad Malik (UAE) Nissan Patrol 26h 17m 54s
5. David Mabbs (GB)/Xavier Caminada (F) Toyota FJ Cruiser 26h 40m 23s
6. Joseph Rosso (F)/Jean-Marie Lurquin (B) Nissan Pathfinder 29h 54m 17s
7. Varentsov Artem (RUS)/Elagin Roman (RUS) Nissan Patrol 31h 31m 07s
22nd of March - Super Special Stage in Abu Dhabi!
Welcome to Abu Dhabi - the new home of first event of FIA World Cup 2009 - Rally "Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2009"!
69 competitors in all categories (moto/quad and auto/trucks) came in Abu Dhabi to start in one of the most beautiful race in cross-country rally.
During two days - 20th and 21st of March in the Rally HQ, Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club, all competitors finished the administrative and technical checks to be presented today on the start of "Super Special Stage".
Several hundred spectators joined Sheikh Sultan near the Rally HQ, Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club including the event's Chairman, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA Vice President of Sport and the President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE). They saw 24 cars, 33 bikes, 11 quads and one truck into the short opening section to determine the starting order for the all-important first selective section.
In car category. Chicherit and Swedish co-driver, Tina Thorner in their German-built BMW X3 CC were more than 11 seconds faster than the UAE's Ali Al Shawi and Ahmad Malik in the car category. Maurizio Tragia and Fabian Lurquin set the third fastest time and will shadow the leading two teams into the opening stage.
Leading positions after Super Special stage (2km):
Cars
1. Guerlain Chicherit (F)/Tina Thörner (S) BMW X3 CC 2m 11.55s
2. Ali Al Shawi (UAE)/Ahmad Malik ((UAE) Nissan Patrol 2m 23.41s
3. Maurizio Traglia (I)/Fabian Lurquin (F) Nissan Pathfinder 2m 24.51s
4. Glenn Reid (UAE)/Paul Richards (UAE) Honda Buggy 2m 26.91s
5. Nabil Al Shamsi (UAE)/Arif Yousef (UAE) Nissan Patrol 2m 28.91s
6. Matar Al Mansouri (UAE)/Rabab Al Tajir (UAE) Nissan Patrol 2m 29.66s
7. Abdul Bari Bin Soughat (UAE)/Ali Mirza (UAE) Nissan Patrol 2m 29.72s
Unfortunately, X-raid Russia driver Leonid Novitskiy withdrew through illness before event documentation and Qatar's Nasser Khalifa Al Attiyah was a second non-starter from the original car entry list.
But one car from Russia will fight in the Race! It is GEORAID-RSG team with th crew Artem Varentsov and Roman Elagin. The crew starts in T2 category on Nissan Patrol, starting number 221.
Russian crew finished Super Special Stage with 19th results.
All Results of SSS you can find in Result area