ABU DHABI DESERT CHALLENGE – March 23-28, 2018
For immediate release
Sunday, March 25th, 2018
ED RACING’S ESSA AL-DOSSARI ARRIVES AT QASR AL
SARAB IN 14TH PLACE IN ABU DHABI DESERT CHALLENGE
QASR AL SARAB (UAE): ED Racing’s Essa Al-Dossari negotiated the first of the treacherous sand dunes on the opening 276.01km selective section of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in a time of 3hrs 55min 47sec on Sunday.
The South African-built Nissan Navara driver and his Emirati navigator Ali Hassan Obaid settled into 14th in the overall classification on a stage won by the returning former Dakar champion Luc Alphand. The Frenchman later dropped to second place behind Poland’s Jakub Przygonski after incurring a two-minute time penalty for a speeding violation.
Al-Dossari said: “Yesterday we finished the super special stage in 11th position and we were 14th on the stage today. We have adopted a specific plan for this rally. We have decided not to take risks through fast driving to keep the car intact and to progress gradually over the coming stages. There is still a lot of racing over the next four days.”
Tomorrow (Monday) is the first of the loop stages through the Rub Al-Khali and another day of crossing sand dunes in punishing heat. Crews will tackle a timed section of 287.92km – the longest of the six-day event.
Ends