The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the traditional second round of the season, delivered its verdict today. Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) finished just outside the podium in the Rally GP motorbike race and second among the W2RC entrants, behind his teammate rider Aaron Mare.
The Botswanan, second in the Dakar, snatched the championship lead from Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda). The surprise winner of the ADDC jumped straight into third place in the championship standings. Thanks to its one-two finish in the Rally GP competition, the Indian maker leapfrogged Honda to take the lead in the manufacturers' ranking.
Konrad Dąbrowski (Duust Rally) claimed second place overall among the Rally 2 motorbikes in the ADDC, beating his stablemate Jean-Loup Lepan. The Pole climbed to third in the championship and the Frenchman toppled Romain Dumontier (Dumontier Racing) from the top spot.
Abdulaziz Ahli scored his fourth straight win at the ADDC in the quad competition. The Emirati shot up to fourth place in the championship. Hani Alnoumesi, who finished behind him, moved up to second place overall.
Wolfgang Fischer, who has been managing Hero MotoSports since they entered the discipline in 2016, must be glad that he gave Aaron Mare a shot to fill in for Sebastian Bühler, who is still recovering from his crash in the Dakar. The South African became the fifteenth rider to enter the hall of fame of the ADDC and landed the maker its first W2RC win. The super-sub made his debut in the championship standings in third place. Ross Branch, who shone in the Dakar and came second at the end in Yanbu, suffered a mechanical in the first stage that stopped him from challenging for the win, but the airline pilot who moonlights as a rally-raid competitor handled the turbulence and finished the race in fourth place. Second in the Rally GP motorbike ranking, behind his teammate, he scored 20 points and took over the championship lead. The Kalahari Ferrari brought his tally to 50 points and is now ahead of Ricky Brabec with 38 and Aaron Mare with 25.
The Hero riders pulled off a double whammy in Rally GP and helped their squad to overtake Honda. Hero MotoSports is heading out of the second round of the championship at the top of the manufacturers' standings, with 75 points to the reds' 62.
Duust Rally's two Rally 2 riders shone like gold dust in the spotlight this week! Konrad Dąbrowski and Jean-Loup Lepan took the fight to the Hero factory riders and ended up in that same order behind the winner on the ADDC podium. First in the Rally 2 category, the Pole opened his W2RC account and moved up to third in the championship. The Frenchman, second last year behind Tobias Ebster, who withdrew due to injury this week, as did Michael Docherty, ousted his compatriot Romain Dumontier (Dumontier Racing) from the lead of the standings, which Dumontier held after the Dakar. Lepan is the new Rally 2 front-runner (44 points), ahead of Dumontier with 38 and Dąbrowski with 36.
The withdrawal of the returning Kamil Wiśniewski (Orlen) due to a crash in stage 3 left the door open for Abdulaziz Ahli in the quad race. The Emirati trounced the competition again. He won all five stages and took his fourth home win in a row, jumping straight to fourth place overall with 25 points. Hani Alnoumesi, seventh in the Dakar and second in the ADDC, rose to second place with 34 points.
2024 W2RC podiums after the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (2/5):
FIM World Rally-Raid Championship:
1. Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports): 50 pts
2. Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda): 38 pts
3. Aaron Mare (Hero MotoSports): 25 pts
FIM Rally-Raid World Cup for Rally2 riders:
1. Jean-Loup Lepan (Duust Rally): 44 pts
2. Romain Dumontier (Team Dumontier Racing): 38 pts
3. Konrad Dabrowski (Duust Rally): 36 pts
FIM Rally-Raid World Cup for Quad riders:
1. Manuel Andújar (7240 Team / Dragon Rally Service): 38 pts
2. Hani Alnoumesi: 34 pts
3. Alexandre Giroud (Yamaha Racing - SMX - Drag’on): 30 pts
FIM World Rally-Raid Championship for Manufacturers:
1. Hero MotoSports Team Rally: 75 pts
2. Monster Energy Honda Team: 62 pts
ASO