Al Attiyah continues to impress at Desert Challenge

The drivers' title remains in the grasp of Nasser Al Attiyah

The only certainties before the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge reaches its conclusion are that victory does not come easy, and this is still the case after the 30th edition’s third leg.

The drivers’ title remains in the grasp of Nasser Al Attiyah who completed a hat trick of fastest stage times with Mathieu Baumel in a Toyota Hilux, stretching his overall lead to 11 mins 18 secs.

With two days and 414km of desert stages remaining, however, the Qatari cannot afford to lose pace or concentration, even though he also appears to be winning the mental battle with his closest challenger, Poland’s Jakub Przygonski.

“I’m quite happy with today - good navigation and great terrain which made it like surfing for much of the time,” said the Qatari on completing the 293km Abu Dhabi Sports Council Stage 3. “Today we pushed a little more, each day we do a little more. All is going well.”

Partnered by Timo Gottschalk in a Mini John Cooper Works Buggy, Przygonski declared: “Today wasn’t a very good day for us because we couldn’t get a very good grip, so it’s good that we finished the stage. Sometimes it happens, but tomorrow is another day. Let’s see.”

Argentine Lucio Alvarez held on to third place in his Toyota Hilux Overdrive, but a broken drive shaft dropped Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi with Britain’s Michael Orr to seventh in their Toyota.

Finishing the day lying fifth overall, Poland’s Marek Goczal and Lukasz Laskawiec in a CAN-AM Maverick now top the FIA T4 category, while Saudi Arabia’s Saleh Alsaif with Russian co-driver Egor Okhotikov lead T3. Young Emirati driver Mansour Al Helei lies third in F4 and eighth overall with Abdulla Dakhan. The Czech Republic’s Martin Prokop and Viktor Chytka in a Ford Raptor RS Cross Country continue to dominate the class for 2022 specification cars.