With the 24th edition of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge forming the opening round of this year’s FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship for bikes, Marc Coma tops the list of 61 seeded riders from 22 countries.
Among his biggest rivals will be new KTM team-mate Sam Sunderland, the talented young Dubai-based rider who was on course for a superb Desert Challenge victory last year before a time penalty collected for a basic technical infringement dropped him to third.
Taking place under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge begins with a super special spectator stage on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, on 5 April.
Topping the rider seedings ahead of Coma is Portugal’s Paulo Goncalves, who edged out the Spaniard to take last year’s FIM world title by taking his Honda to victory in the final round in Morocco.
Sunderland is seeded fourth behind another of his new KTM team-mates, Poland’s Jakub Przygonski. The top eight seeds are completed by Honda riders Joan Barreda of Spain and Portugal’s Helder Rodrigues, and KTM’s Jordi Viladoms of Spain and Slovenia’s Miran Stanovnik.
Defending quads champion Mohammed Abu Issa of Qatar and the UAE’s 2006 winner, Atif Al Zarouni, will both be seeking their second victory in the event, although they face a stern challenge from Poland’s reigning FIM world quads champion, top seeded Rafal Sonik.