2nd Special: Qasr Al Sarab – Qasr Al Sarab
Link section: 125.10 km – Special: 269.67 km – Link section: 92.89 km – Total: 487.66 km
This morning at 7 o’clock, the motorcycles struck out from the bivouac at Qasr Al Sarab for a link section of over 100 km to reach the start of the second Special of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Sam Sunderland (KTM), who set off in first place, led the field up to CP1 but then he missed a jump. Riding with a slightly injured wrist, he was then caught up by Marc Coma (KTM) and he had no alternative but to ride with the winner of the 2014 Dakar, who clinched the Special. The British rider finished second ahead of Gonçalves who admits that he was unable to keep pace with the two KTM riders, although his Honda is perfect working order, and Barreda who lost 5’ at the refuelling stop. “My bike wouldn’t start”, says the Spaniard, “so I had to leave the zone to repair an electric wire that had snapped.” In fifth position, we find Jordi Viladoms (KTM) followed by Helder Rodrigues who saw Kuba Przysgonski crash heavily at km 190. The young Pole was taken to Madinat Zayed hospital with a broken arm and bruising on his back.
Sweden’s Thomas Berglund, who is riding in his first Desert Challenge, crashed yesterday and preferred to play it safe today, coming in a respectable 7th ahead of Stanovnik, Albalooshi and CS.
In quad, Rafal Sonik won the Special ahead of Karyakin, Somfai and Camelia Liparoti. “The desert is magnificent”, said the Pole, but you have to be extremely vigilant and there are holes and broken dunes in the middle of what look like easy dunes”.