For the X-raid Team and the Monster Energy X-raid Team, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is an event of mixed emotions, so far. With Russia’s Vladimir Vasilyev, German Stephan Schott and Dutch Erik van Loon, three MINI ALL4 Racing drivers hold top-10 positions, with two stages contested. The other pairings, however, struggled due to the most different problems.
In stage two, Vasilyev and his Russian co-driver Konstantin Zhiltsov took their MINI ALL4 Racing to the lead in the overall standings. Having finished fourth on day one, they won the second stage to also take the overall lead. Meanwhile, German pairing Stephan Schott / Andreas Schulz delivered in consistent style on both days by finishing 10th and sixth respectively and currently hold sixth position in the overall standings.
For Nani Roma and his French co-driver Michel Périn, however, the first days of the event represented a true emotional rollercoaster. The pairing and their MINI ALL4 Racing won the first stage with a lead of more than 11 minutes but today, Roma had to get behind the wheel with stomach problems. The Spaniard had to stop several times to take breaks and in the end, he had to settle for having finished 21st.
Dutch pairing Eric van Loon / Wouter Rosegaar had to cope with a similar fate, in their MINI ALL4 Racing. Following the really fine third place on Sunday, a dose of bad luck hit them today. Their accelerator cable broke during an impact and it took some time to identify the problem. Therefore, securing a better position than 26th proved to be impossible for them, in stage two. Meanwhile, Kazakh Aidyn Rakhimbayev and his Russian navigator Anton Nikolaev took their MINI ALL4 Racing to 31st and ninth positions respectively, in the first two stages of the event.
“Vladimir delivered in great style and is the deserved leader,” said Team Manager Sven Quandt. “Nani unfortunately felt bad today, and consequently, it was an extremely tough day for him. But we hope that he will be able to really go for it again, in the final stages. And ‘Schotti’ once again demonstrates that Abu Dhabi suits him particularly well.”
Results Stage 1:
1. N. Roma (ESP) / M. Périn (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 25m 22s
2. M. Dabrowski (POL) / J. Czachor (POL) Toyota – 3h 36m 51s
3. E. Van Loon (NDL) / W. Rosegaar (NDL) MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 39m 53s
4. V. Vasilyev (RUS) / K. Zhiltsov (RUS) MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 43m 16s
5. R. Varela (BRA) / G. Gugelmin (BRA) Toyota – 3h 43m 33s
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10. S. Schott (GER) / A. Schulz (GER) MINI ALL4 Racing – 4h 22m 22s
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31. A. Rakhimbayev (KAZ) / A. Nikolaev (RUS) MINI ALL4 Racing – 6h 48m 13s
Results Stage 2:
1. V. Vasilyev (RUS) / K. Zhiltsov (RUS) MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 46m 48s
2. M. Dabrowski (POL) / J. Czachor (POL) Toyota – 3h 53m 59s
3. Y. Al Helei (ARE) / K. Alkendi (ARE) Nissan – 3h 56m 34s
4. A. Malysz (POL) / R. Marton (POL) Toyota – 3h 57m 15s
5. M. Zapletal (CZE) / M. Marton (POL) H3 – 3h 59m 19s
6. S. Schott (GER) / A. Schulz (GER) MINI ALL4 Racing – 4h 05m 21s
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9. A. Rakhimbayev (KAZ) / A. Nikolaev (RUS) MINI ALL4 Racing – 4h 13m 40s
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18. N. Roma (ESP) / M. Périn (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 4h 59m 04s
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26. E. Van Loon (NDL) / W. Rosegaar (NDL) MINI ALL4 Racing – 5h 22m 13s
Overall Results after Stage 2:
1. V. Vasilyev (RUS) / K. Zhiltsov (RUS) MINI ALL4 Racing – 7h 32m 12s
2. M. Dabrowski (POL) / J. Czachor (POL) Toyota – 7h 32m 56s
3. A. Malysz (POL) / R. Marton (POL) Toyota – 7h 53m 34s
4. M. Zapletal (CZE) / M. Marton (POL) H3 – 8h 00m 03s
5. Y. Al Helei (ARE) / K. Alkendi (ARE) Nissan – 8h 09m 20s
6. S. Schott (GER) / A. Schulz (GER) MINI ALL4 Racing – 8h 29m 59s
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9. E. Van Loon (NDL) / W. Rosegaar (NDL) MINI ALL4 Racing – 9h 04m 14s
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19. N. Roma (ESP) / M. Périn (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 10h 26m 31s
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24. A. Rakhimbayev (KAZ) / A. Nikolaev (RUS) MINI ALL4 Racing – 11h 04m 07s
