Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2018


05 Apr 2018

The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is an international rally raid race held in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates since 1991. It´s the second round of the FIA Cross Country World Cup and the opening round of the FIM Baja World Cup. This year´s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge took place from 24.3. – 29.3.2018. The historic contest takes the best cross-country competitors on a six-day route across the dunes of the Liwa Desert which requires skill and endurance in a equal measure. In a total of five stages, the participants tried to achieve the fastest total time with the help of well performance and skillful navigation. A super-special stage was followed by five full days of racing in the Liwa Desert. Our sponsoring partner, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team, was back at the start following its successes at the Dakar 2018: the winner of the Dakar 2018 Matthias Walkner from Austria, the Briton Sam Sunderland and the Australian Toby Price faced this years´s challenges of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. After several ups and downs in stage 1-4, the drivers of our sponsoring partner shone in the final fifth stage. Matthias Walkner crossed the finish line first, teammate Sam Sunderland took third and Toby Price fourth. With the results of the final stage Sam Sunderland raised to second place, Mathias Walkner kept the fourth and Toby Price took the seventh place in the overall ranking.

On April 15, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team will continue to Morocco for the next race, the Merzouga Rally.

We congratulate the drivers on these outstanding achievements and wish them all the best for the upcoming races!