It’s full throttle for the competitors taking part in this year’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
From April 3-10, more than 100 men and women from around the globe will be putting their foot down as they career around Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island, before bolting over the sand dunes around Liwa Oasis, sabkha plains and the Moreeb area of the Empty Quarter.
There are three divisions in the five-day race. Competitors will zip around in 4x4s and trucks in the auto category, ride motorbikes and dirt bikes in the moto category and race on quad bikes in the quad category. A race around the F1 track on April 5 – which is free to watch – will decide the competitors’ starting order once they reach the desert, and after this they’ll blaze through five stages, each 250-300km long.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the vice president of the global motorsports body Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), launched the challenge in 1991, back when it was held across the Emirates and known as the UAE Desert Challenge. An Emirati national, Mohammed is also president of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE), the body responsible for organising the race.
There’s no doubt Mohammed’s the right man for the job, as he was crowned rally champion in the FIA Middle East series 14 times. In fact, apart from the three years he was unable to compete, he won the title every year from 1986 until his retirement in 2002.
Mohammed says, ‘When I launched the event in 1991 it was much smaller, initially attracting just over 30 entries, most of whom were local. Two years later we were included in the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies for the first time. Last year we had over 100 entries from countries all around the world, and we’re expecting more this year.’
The contest’s name was changed in March 2009, and since then the challenge has been staged entirely across the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
The auto category is now in its 24th edition, while 2014 will see participants compete in the moto category for the 19th year in a row. The quad category joined the challenge in 2005.
Originally the last round of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme’s (FIM) cross country rally world championship and the FIA’s cross country rally world cup, in 2014 the challenge will open the FIM world championship season and be classed as round three of the FIA world cup.
Mohammed adds, ‘The beauty of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is that local desert rally enthusiasts and private entrants from around the region can compete on a stage alongside the world’s top professional teams. Our planning team has created a route that will deliver the ultimate desert rally experience, producing stages that set a fair but difficult test of skill, ultimately rewarding the bravest drivers and riders.
‘No one has an easy time during the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, and no one wins it without pushing themselves to the limit. There is a huge sense of achievement for anyone who goes the distance, and the thrill of finish line after five gruelling legs covering more than 1,000km of desert terrain never diminishes. Nobody who takes part ever forgets the experience.’
There’s no denying the challenge is going to be big, then. But so is the desert – so where do you head if you want to watch the race? The site of the rally is a bivouac, a temporary camp set up next to the five-star Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara, on the edge of the Liwa Oasis in the Empty Quarter. Liwa Hotel is about 60km from the camp, close to the race’s start point. You can enter the bivouac in a regular car but you’ll need a four-wheel drive in the sand dunes. ATCUAE has organised viewing points along the route in the Western Region which are also accessible in a four-wheel drive. So, are you revving your engine yet?
Bivouac, Qasr Al Sarab, Liwa Oasis, www.abudhabidesertchallenge.com (04 296 1122).
Get with the programme
Find out what’s going on and when
April 5, 3pm Competitors race against the clock in the Super Special Stage at Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island, which will decide the race starting order
April 6 Leg one in the Liwa desert, Western Region
April 7 Leg two in the Liwa desert, Western Region
April 8 Leg three in the Liwa desert, Western Region
April 9 Leg four in the Liwa desert, Western Region
April 10 Leg five in the Liwa desert, Western Region
April 10, 4.30pm The rally finishes at Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island
April 10, 8pm Trophies will be awarded to winners and runners up in a prize ceremony at Centro Hotel on Yas Island. This is not open to the public
Sites of passage
Finding the desert route would be like looking for a needle in a haystack – unless you use our handy GPS coordinates, that is…
April 6, 9am start Turn right off Truck Road about 30km from Coast Highway (N23 46.415 E54 46.988)
April 7, 8am start Near the power station 43km north of Mizaira’a – 10km south of Madinat Zayed (N23 33.584 E53 43.282)
April 8, 7.30am start Drive 8km from Moreeb Road and turn into the desert at the camel farm on your left (N23 04.158 E53 47.467)
April 9, 8am start Take the exit at Fodder Farm – 36km north of Liwa City (N23 26.871 E53 43.385)
April 10, 7am start At the old bivouac site to the east of Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara (N22 52.462 E54 20.506)
The rules
• All drivers must have an official competitor licence; to get one they must hold a valid driving licence.
• Competitors must choose one category in which to compete.
• The auto category will have 10 winners, while the moto category will award first, second and third place in four classes: for 450cc engines, over 450cc engines, women and juniors (aged 16-20). First, second and third place will also be awarded in the quad category.
• The route changes each year, and each of the five desert stages are only revealed to competitors the night before the race.
• The route is the same for all competitors, but each day bikes and quads start first, with cars following 30 minutes later.
• All vehicles start at two-minute intervals for safety reasons.
• The winners of each category are those who complete the full route in the fastest time.
