Qatar’s Adel Abdulla maintains second place in Abu Dhabi

Qasr Al Sarab, UAE : Qatar’s Adel Abdulla maintained the second position in the T2 standings at the 2018 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge but lost a little ground on his main rival through the third loop stage of 281.38km in the soft sand dunes of the Rub Al Khali on Tuesday.

Using a rented Nissan Safari Y61 to continue his campaign to win back the FIA T2 World Championship title, Adel began the day’s special 29min 24.9sec behind Ahmed Shegawi. He and navigator Nasser Al-Kuwari crossed the finish line in punishing heat in a time of 5hrs 18min 17sec and now trail their rival by 47min 53.9sec heading into the final two days of the event.

Adel said: “Today we started one minute ahead of the leader but we were stuck in the first 15km in some very soft sand. The leader saw us, avoided the place and managed to pass us. We tried to push all the way to the end but we had lost just under 20 minutes. Anyway, second place is perfect for me and we still have two days to go.”

Adel Abdulla is running his T2 programme with the crucial support of the Qatar government, the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) and Ooredoo Qatar.

Lower down the T2 field, Russia’s Yuliya Khegay-Migunova was badly delayed once again and Romania’s Claudia Laurentiu Barbu has already incurred massive time penalties.

Competitors will tackle the penultimate selective section of the event on Wednesday, a third loop stage of 244.49km through the Liwa Desert.

T2 positions after SS2 (unofficial):

1. Ahmed Al-Shegawi (SAU)/Laurent Lichtleuchter (FRA) Toyota Land Cruiser                15hrs 00min 11.7sec

2. Adel Abdulla (QAT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Nissan Patrol                                       15hrs 48min 05.6sec

TBA. Yuliya Khegay-Migunova (RUS)/Aldis Vilcans (LVA) Toyota LC 200                     

TBA. Laurentiu-Claudiu Barbu (ROU)/Paul-Nicusor Spirodon (ROU) Nissan Navara