Media Information
34th Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
February 21st-27th, 2025
2025 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), round 2
OVERDRIVE RACING FIELDS LARGE ENTRY AND CHASES FOURTH VICTORY IN MODIFIED ABU DHABI DESERT CHALLENGE
AL-AIN (UAE) – Sunday, February 16: Overdrive Racing and Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) will field a staggering 11 cars in the 34th Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the second round of the 2025 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), on February 21st-27th.
The heavily-modified event will be based out of the garden city of Al-Ain for the first time and large sections of the desert route through the UAE’s vast Empty Quarter will be new to the teams. Overdrive Racing won the event in 2016, 2021 and 2023 and will be chasing a fourth victory on the world-renowned off-road challenge that was founded by FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem back in 1991.
Yazeed Al-Rajhi and his German navigator Timo Gottschalk won the event together in 2023 and are the current leaders of the W2RC after their memorable victory at the Dakar Rally last month. They start the event with a 15-point lead in the Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ Championships.
Half of the 22 Ultimate cars on the entry list are Toyota Hiluxes. Lucas Moraes will be competing in the UAE for the second time and will be hoping for better luck after his car was destroyed by a freak on-stage fire last year. He teams up with Spaniard Armand Monleón.
The Brazilian said: “This will be my second time at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Last year was a very tough race and I’m going there with a bit of revenge. We were second overall and had the issue with fire on the car. The new route seems interesting, maybe with more variety than just dunes. I’ve improved my pace in the dunes in any case and am confident that we can put on a good fight for the win.”
Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz will also use a TGR Hilux and are the third crew registered for Manufacturers’ points. Toyota Gazoo Racing is currently 32 points clear of Ford M-Sport in the W2RC Manufacturers’ Championship with Dacia 49 points adrift in third.
Juan Cruz Yacopini holds eighth in the Drivers’ Championship after the Dakar and wheels out an Overdrive Racing Toyota with his Spanish navigator Dani Oliveras. Last year, the Argentine rolled his car and then crashed with another competitor before being disqualified. He and Oliveras certainly have unfinished business in the UAE.
Yacopini said: “This will be my fourth participation in this event. I truly enjoy this race. This year will be completely different because we will be racing in a new area. It’s exciting for all of us, as it adds an extra challenge and makes the competition more interesting. This race is 100% dunes and I love driving in this kind of terrain. The dunes in the Empty Quarter are extremely tricky. A small mistake can lead to a serious crash and take you out of the race. The key is knowing when to push flat out and when to be cautious and patient.”
Lithuania’s Rokas Baciuška teams up with Spaniard Pablo Moreno on this occasion, as he aims to improve on his current 11th position in the Drivers’ Championship since making the transition from the Challenger category.
The South African duo of Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings led the Dakar Rally for long periods in their TGR Toyota before finishing just behind Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk. As a result, they hold second places in their respective championships and are relishing the chance to compete in the UAE with service support provided by Overdrive Racing.
Talented young Polish driver Eryk Goczal made the decision last year to graduate to the Ultimate category and he and his father Marek will tackle the event with Overdrive Racing for the first time in a pair of Energylandia Rally Team cars. The pair carried out a valuable seven-day test session in Morocco last month and are now aiming for a full programme of W2RC events. Oriol Mena and Maciej Marton will co-drive.
Eryk Goczal said: “We had a fantastic test with the Toyota in Morocco. We were driving for seven days. The last 100km were amazing. I found some settings I am happy with and we learned a lot. The higher the speed, the more the fun.”
Overdrive Racing will also run a Toyota Hilux for Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov and provide full logistical and service support to Saood Variawa and François Cazalet in their TGR entry.
The Belgium-based team also fields a Toyota Hilux for the Chilean privateer Hernan Garces and his navigator Juan Pablo Latrach, although the duo are not registered for the W2RC.
The Emirates Motorsports Organisation (EMSO) has revised the itinerary this year. Over half of the desert route is new and the timetable features a Marathon stage on days three and four through the remote Al-Qua’a region for the first time. There will be 1,189 competitive kilometres in a compact route of 1,920km over six days.
The Prologue will take place at the Jebel Hafit Desert Park, near Al-Ain, and then crews will take the start in Al-Ain on February 22nd.
Stage one then heads from Al-Ain to the bivouac camp at Mzeer’ah on February 23rd and stage two loops through the desert around Mzeer’ah the following day.
Days three and four constitute a new Marathon stage for FIA vehicles between the bivouac in Mzeer’ah and a night stop at the remote Al-Qoua Marathon camp. Competitors will be deprived of service assistance and team support before the return to the bivouac in Mzeer’ah on February 26th. The final stage on February 27th heads out of Mzeer’ah en route to the finish in Abu Dhabi.
Ends
For further information:
Jean-Marc Fortin (E-mail: jmf@overdriveracing.be), Overdrive S.A., rue de L’Enterprise 1, 4530 Villers-le-Bouillet, Belgium, Tel: + 32 475 762 391. www.overdriveracing.be, Facebook: Overdrive Racing, Twitter: @OverdriveToyota