Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2023
Stage Four
A thick blanket of fog descended upon the penultimate stage of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge on Thursday morning, delaying the start by two hours, but that didn’t stop Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna Factory Racing) grabbing his second stage win after dominating the special from go to whoa.
Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Honda), who seized the overall lead two days ago, finished second on the day at 3′22″ ahead of Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) who came in third at 4′06″.
Pablo Quintanilla started the stage in second place overall but is now out of contention after his Honda gave up the ghost 250 km into the special. His team-mate Adrien Van Beveren still tops the leader board.
Ruben Faria – Monster Energy Honda General Manager
“Today our team was reduced to three riders due to Pablo’s abandonment. The competition is very close for the top standings with very little differences between all eight riders in the front, so now we have to keep our concentration to meet our goals. Adrien Van Beveren is leading the race, Nacho is also in a podium position and Ricky is not far behind. The race is not over until the finish line. I know it will be an intense fight until the end.”
Toby Price (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) finished seventh at 9′01″ after opening the way on Thursday morning. With the sand damp due to the morning’s fog, Toby’s rivals behind had clear tracks to follow – a huge advantage for the chasing pack.
Completing the stage without incident, Price accumulated close to six-minutes in bonus time, which helped him to seventh-place result for the stage. Now lying in sixth overall, the Australian will make the best use of his later start position for tomorrow’s fifth and final stage as he aims to gain the maximum amount of time on those ahead.
On the back of the Thursday victory Luciano Benavides surged up the overall standings, where he is now the Van Beveren’s closest pursuer at 2′58″.
Chilean Nacho Cornejo has finally placed his Honda on the provisional podium, 6′14″ behind his team-mate. Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) is fourth at 6′38″. Skyler Howes (Husqvarna Factory Racing) sits in fifth place at 7′16″.
Toby Price slipped down to sixth at 8′35″. Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda) is seventh at 8′52″. Less than 9 minutes separate the top 7.
Benavides will be starting Friday’s stage right before the overall leader —an unenviable position for the Argentinian to find himself in.
The race is still wide open among the top 7, who will settle their differences in a finale stretching for more than 200 kilometres.
In the Rally2 category, Paolo Lucci, the hegemon of the race since day one, conceded buckets of time following a crash with 20 kilometres to go. The BAS World KTM Racing rider surrendered the lead to Jean-Loup Lepan (Duust Diverse Racing) and is now almost 11 minutes down.
Adrien Van Beveren – P1 overall
“I knew today was the day to push, so I did it from the beginning. I was able to reach Nacho at around kilometre 100 and then rode with him – it was great to have him by my side because when you ride alone it is more difficult to keep a high rhythm. We did a good job together and I am happy about my day. The goal was to do a good time and that is what we accomplished.”
Luciano Benavides – P2 overall
“It was a really good day in the desert for me. After the delay this morning, I was really motivated to push as hard as I could right from the start and try to make up as much time as I could to the guys in front. This stage on last year’s race was the first stage I had ever won, so it was nice to top the timesheets again this year. The bike is working really well, and I’m really happy with the job the team are doing here. There’s one day left, and I will be opening the stage. My goal is to take the win, it won’t be easy, but I’ll certainly do my best.”
José Ignacio Cornejo – P3 overall
“I finished stage four in sixth place and did not feel so good as in the previous days. But it was still a good stage, I rode as fast as I could but couldn’t avoid losing some time. Now I am on the podium. I will do all I can to keep this position tomorrow, the day will not be so long so we have to give it our all and keep the consistency until the end.”
Skyler Howes – P5 overall
“Today started out quite interesting – we had fog at the start of the stage and as it was blowing in the direction of the special, it took a really long time to clear. It was getting hotter as it got later too. It was a long stage and with the fog making the sand damp, for those of us opening we were leaving the perfect tracks for everyone behind to follow. They could even see where we were on the gas or braking hard. The dunes were really technical, but with the sun a lot higher it was difficult to see properly and read the terrain. Definitely not the day to be opening and we lost quite a bit of time, but I think we did a good job from the front. That’s racing, so we’ll regroup now and push hard once again tomorrow on the final stage.”
Toby Price – P6 overall
“Not the best day for me today, unfortunately. We had a delay at the start of around two hours while we waited for the fog to lift, then when we finally got going, the sun was a lot higher in the sky, making it really difficult to see while opening the stage. I did my best and didn’t make any big mistakes anywhere, but with conditions like that, on the longest stage of the race, it was tough to lead out. Pablo (Quintanilla) caught me around 80 kilometres in and took the lead for a while and it was so much easier to follow someone else’s tracks. I brought it home safely, which is the main thing, and now there’s the fifth and final stage left to go, where I’ll give my all as usual.”
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2023
Stage Four Results
- Luciano Benavides (ARG), Husqvarna, 3:47:08
- Adrien Van Beveren (FRA), Honda, 3:50:30 +3:22
- Ross Branch (BWA), Hero, 3:51:14 +4:06
- Ricky Brabec (USA), Honda, 3:51:25 +4:17
- Skyler Howes (USA), Husqvarna, 3:52:41 5:33
- Jose Ignacio Cornejo (Honda) 3:53:44
- Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 3:56:09 +9:01
- Mason Klein (USA), KTM, 3:57:00 9:52
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2023
Provisional Overall after Stage Four
- Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) 14:45:32
- Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 14:48:30
- Jose Ignacio Cornejo (Honda) 14:51:46
- Ross Branch (Hero) 14:52:10
- Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) 14:52:48
- Toby Price (KTM) 14:54:07
