LIWA, ABU DHABI // It is said to be easy to get lost in the Empty Quarter because the dunes all look alike.
How comforting it must have been then for the participants of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge to return to the bivouac in the afternoon of the second day and be greeted by a familiar sight: Nasser Al Attiyah atop the standings.
The Qatari, winner of this year’s Dakar Rally, had finished Sunday’s opening stage in fourth place – five minutes behind Emirati Yahya Al Helei – after having gear box issues.
Yesterday, he recovered in dominant style to win the 279-kilometre Stage 2 by more than seven minutes and surge to the front of the field with a four-minute, 13-second overall lead.
Last year’s winner, Vladimir Vasilyev of Russia, sits in second place, while Al Helei slipped to fourth behind Dutchman Erik Van Loon.
“Today was a good day,” Al Attiyah said from the bivouac as his Mina All4 Racing was having its engine looked over by a team of mechanics.
“Yesterday, we lost 21 minutes because of the gear box, so we wanted to recover and we managed to without having to push too hard. The speed we had was enough to win the stage, but we had more if we needed it.
“Now we hope for the same in the next three days, because this week is very important for the championship.”
Al Helei is the only driver to compete in every Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which is celebrating its 25-year anniversary this week.
Sunday’s stage victory came after the Emirati had pumped Dh1 million of his own money into a Nissan pick-up to compete in the T1 category rather than T2. The win meant he became the first UAE national to beat a factory team.
“The first stage was fantastic, but today was good, too,” Al Helei said after finishing fifth fastest. “The only problem is I had smoke coming out the back of the car because, 60km before the finish, I lost second and third transmission. I was struggling to get up the dunes.”
While Al Helei continues to focus on the field ahead, compatriot Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi is prowling just 34 seconds behind, in fifth.
The Abu Dhabi Racing chairman, more accustomed to racing in the World Rally Championship, is competing in his first cross-country rally and lost four minutes when his Toyota Hilux got stuck in the sand.
The Emirati’s global positioning system also failed for a period during the second stage.
“The air conditioning in the car failed and started blowing hot air from the engine, so our consumption of drinking water went up considerably,” he said.
“This, in turn, meant that we ran out of water before the leg was finished, and I had to do the final 120km of the leg with no water at all, which affected my concentration levels.
“Despite these problems I am very pleased with the result.”
WELSH RIDER PUSHES ON THROUGH HEAT
Things must be bad when you are reliant on your own vomit to remain cool. That was the situation Welsh rider Ben Smith found himself during yesterday’s sweltering second stage of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
Smith, the UK rally series champion, is making his debut in the annual UAE race and, while he knew the Middle East in late March would be hot, little can prepare the body for the relentless, suffocating, challenge of a cross-country endurance rally in 41 degrees Celsius.
“This is the hottest race I’ve ever competed in – by far,” said the 29-year-old Smith. “I expected hot, but not this hot and when you’re riding in it, it just becomes another level.
“I was taking a lot of water on, but after 190km I was just being constantly sick. My helmet and goggles were full of sick. I had to stop and take them off.”
Smith fought on though to finish the afternoon in 15th place overall, one hour and 15 minutes behind race leader Sam Sunderland of KTM.
“It was actually refreshing in a way because I was drinking to rehydrate and then being sick and it was flowing all down me and cooling me off,” Smith said.
“There’s no way you’re going to give in though – you have to keep pushing. When I got to the checkpoint, I gave the clerk my race card and it was so soggy. I had to tell him it was water or he’d never have touched it.”
Ian Ganderton, Smith’s stablemate at Crazy Camel Racing, was not so fortunate.
The Briton came off his bike shortly after clearing the crest of a dune and was clipped by a competing car.
He was taken to hospital with a broken leg.
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
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