Nasser al-Attiyah can finally breathe a sigh of relief when it comes to his options for being the Rally-Raid world champion this year, 2025. The Qatari has finished today’s final stage, achieving a triumph at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which is his second win after Dakar’s pentacampeon, and he did it at the wheel of his new car, the Dacia Sandrider.
On motorcycles, Tosha Schareina didn’t have a chance at triumph after the resolution of the marathon stage, but he had solid possibilities to go to the podium, even to second place… and he succeeded. His victory in the final stage (he took four of the six days, counting the prologue) allowed him to finish third… brushing against the second place.
Al-Attiyah, new W2RC leader
The victory of Nasser al-Attiyah in cars has really been meritorious… because of the suffering. In fact, he needed to push to the maximum until the last day to end up climbing to the top of the podium. The Qatari began the final day with just 41 seconds of advantage over Lucas Moraes/Armand Monleón… which he ended up expanding to 2:28 (the podium was completed by the second official Toyota of Seth Quintero).
"We have pushed a lot in this race. We came to win the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge to recover the leadership… and now it will be easier in the next races (for the fight for the World Cup). The car and team are very strong, and we are happy to have given them the triumph," said a relieved Al-Attiyah after his triumph.
Al-Attiyah, in action during today’s stage, has proven why he’s a top contender.
Indeed, Nasser Al-Attiyah is the new W2RC World Cup leader… because the last stage has wreaked havoc. And one of the great injured has been precisely Yazeed al-Rajhi. The Dakar winner suffered a mechanical fault in the engine of his Toyota Hilux that has prevented him from finishing the test… something that supposes a great setback for his World Cup aspirations.
Nor has it been the best day for the Polish prodigy Eryk Goczal, whose Toyota caught fire in full stage when he aspired to a final top 5. The Portuguese could also achieve it, Joao Ferreira… but his Mini couldn’t withstand. Finally, they were the Argentine Yacopini (with the Spanish Dani Oliveras next to him) and the Ford of Mitch Guthrie who occupied the first five positions.
Final cars classification
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2025
- Nasser al-Attiyah/Edouard Boulanger (Dacia)
- Lucas Moraes/Armand Monleón (Toyota) to 2:28
- Seth Quintero/Dennis Zenz (Toyota) at 11:56
- Juan Yacopini/Dani Oliveras (Toyota) at 29:53
- Mitch Guthrie/Kellon Walch (Ford) at 31:02
Tosha Schareina, a bitter podium
Of evil the least… or almost. Tosha Schareina has done almost everything to win the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, but finally, he had to settle for third place behind the last two winners of the Dakar, Daniel Sanders (KTM) and Ricky Brabec (Honda). Schareina went out for all today… and with his stage victory, he managed to overcome Van Beveren and Luciano Benavides… but he stayed just 17 seconds behind in the general.
Sanders better chose the strategy during the test, attacking in the most selective stages and minimizing damage when he had to open track, and with this, he achieved his second consecutive triumph, hooking on his way to the world title.
The Australian leaves Abu Dhabi with a 17-point difference over Schareina (63 compared to 46), a distance that will defend in an unprecedented test, the South African Safari Rally (May 18-24).
Final Motorcycle Classification
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2025
- Daniel Sanders (KTM)
- Ricky Brabec (Honda) at 5:47
- Tosha Schareina (Honda) at 6:04
- Luciano Benavides (KTM) at 8:01
- Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) at 9:52
Female Victoria in Challenger … and Spanish podium
The last day of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge has left us with a special episode since the Saudi Dania Akeel has made history in the still young W2RC World (created as such in 2022).
The BBR pilot has been imposed in the Challenger category, signing a historical milestone since it is the first victory of a female since the current championship was created. With her triumph, Akeel has deprived a Spanish pilot of the final triumph, the young Pau Navarro, who continues to progress in his adaptation to the category and the team.