April 3, 2015 – Reigning Dakar champion and Olympic medallist Nasser Al-Attiyah’s win at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge has been taken away from him due to a minor violation of his car to the race regulations.
Nasser and French co-driver Mathieu Baumel held a lead of nearly 20 minutes from their closest competitor at the conclusion of the race’s penultimate stage. When the fifth and final stage of desert racing was suspended due to a sandstorm in the Liwa Desert it looked as though the Qatar Rally Team duo had made it five wins out of five in 2015, a remarkable run of results that began with victory at the Dakar Rally.
> Al-Attiyah on course for second Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge victory
However, despite Nasser showing his trademark speed over the dunes in Abu Dhabi and Mathieu once again proving himself to be one of the best cross-country navigators in the business, their victory was taken away following post-race scrutineering checks. The duo’s win has been snatched away due to a slight irregularity with the travel on their front suspension. Bent suspension buffers caused by high speed racing over the dunes for an entire week had created a few extra millimetres of travel at the front of the car which the FIA report admitted was not done to intentionally give a sporting advantage to the competitors.
The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge had got off to the best possible start for the Dakar champions as they recorded the joint fastest time of the ceremonial prologue stage which took place on the tarmac of the Yas Marina Circuit. Then came over 1,000km of sand racing across unforgiving dunes and desert plains. There were mechanical problems on the first desert stage, but Nasser and Mathieu battled back from losing 20 minutes by winning all remaining stages. The duo led the race from the second stage until the finish line, just as they had done at the Dakar earlier this year.
Nasser and Mathieu are currently awaiting the result of their FIA appeal to reclaim the win.