Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge Underway
T
he Monster Energy Honda
Team finished 1-2 on stage
two of the Abu Dhabi Desert
Challenge, but Red Bull KTM
Rally Factory Team rider Sam
Sunderland is the overall leader.
Honda's Jose Ignacio Cornejo
was stage two's quickest rider
in the dunes, beating teammate
Joan Barreda by one minute and
43 seconds.
Third on the day was Rockstar
Energy Husqvarna's Andrew
Short, followed by KTM riders
Luciano Benavides and Sunder-
land.
"Today I improved the pace
with the bike in the dunes," said
Cornejo. "I went a lot faster, and
I pulled back a bit of time before
the refueling. In the second part,
I was pushing harder, and I was
able to catch up with the front-
runners. Furthermore, I won the
stage, so I am very happy, and
the intention from now on is to
continue along the same track
and try to hold onto the second
position in the general stand-
ings."
Despite finishing fifth on
the stage, Sunderland holds a
51-second lead over Cornejo in
the provisional overall standings.
"Starting first on the route is
always going to be a disadvan-
tage obviously, but I'm pleased
with how I rode and believe I did
a good job of opening the stage,"
said Sunderland. "I set a good
pace all day and only got caught
by Andrew at around [mile 125],
which is really good for lead-
ing out here in Abu Dhabi as it's
always quite tricky to navigate
and easy to lose time when riding
at the front. I am very pleased
with how everything is going at
the moment—the bike is perfect,
and the team is doing great.
Hopefully, the wind eases off a
little as it makes everyone's job
a little harder, but it's the desert,
and it can be expected. Looking
forward to getting going again
tomorrow."
Stage three of the 2019 Abu
Dhabi Desert Challenge, April 1,
the longest of the rally, will cover
324 miles in total, of which 185
miles will be timed special stage
in the dunes of the United Arab
Emirates. CN
IN
THE
WIND
P40
Sam Sunderland leads the way after stage two of the
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. PHOTO: RALLY ZONE
