With a slender lead of 41 seconds starting the deciding 167 timed kilometres today, Al-Attiyah and Boulanger had to be at their best to remain in front. With their sustainable-fuelled Dacia Sandrider performing faultlessly across the challenging sand and dunes between Mezeer’ah and the finish in Abu Dhabi city, Al-Attiyah and Boulanger charged to their second fastest stage time of the event to take the win by 2m28s.
As well as marking the second victory for The Dacia Sandriders in the FIA World Rally Championship (W2RC) following its debut triumph on Rallye du Maroc last October, it was Al-Attiyah’s fifth Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge first-place finish and a third for navigator Boulanger.
The result elevates Al-Attiyah to first place in the provisional W2RC Drivers’ ranking with Frenchman Boulanger on top of the Navigators’ points after two rounds. The Dacia Sandriders moves into second place in the Manufacturers’ standings.
Today’s stage victory was the third of the five-day Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge for The Dacia Sandriders, which also celebrated a fastest time from Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin on Stage 2.
Having led overall and appearing to be set for a podium finish, Loeb, from France, and Belgian Lurquin were forced to retire due to damage sustained when they rolled 41 kilometres from the start of Stage 4 on Wednesday, Loeb’s 51st birthday.
Loeb and Lurquin had hoped to restart on the final day of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, but an inspection by the FIA technical team late last night determined the roll cage in their Dacia Sandrider was damaged, ruling them out on safety grounds.
After going second fastest on Stage 1 and quickest of all on Stage 2 to hold the provisional lead with two days completed, their early exit from Stage 4 represented poor reward for their excellent endeavour.
“I’m really proud of what Nasser and Édouard have achieved because they had to push until the very end,” said Tiphanie Isnard, team principal of The Dacia Sandriders.
“They had a strong race and never doubted the team. We’ve had some tough days between Dakar and Abu Dhabi to be ready and be on battle again so it’s a big thanks to the team. We’re really happy with the result and we’re now leading the championship for the driver and navigator and provisionally we have taken second place in the Manufacturers’ championship so it’s definitely great.”
The FIA World Rally-Raid Championship resumes with the South African Safari Rally from 18 – 24 May, a new and exciting addition to the W2RC calendar.
