DIRT NEWS
SUNDERLAND WINS DESERT CHALLENGE
After taking out the premier event in the FIM Cross Countries World Championship , The Dakar Rally , British GasGas rider , Sam Sunderland , has made it two in a row by taking overall victory at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge . Putting in an impressive display of riding to top the fifth and final stage of the 2022 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge , Sam Sunderland now sits dominantly at the top of the world championship standings with 63 points . It was a tight race , with Sunderland crossing the finish line with just 3 minutes and 8 seconds separating him from second place charger Ricky Brabec , with Brabec ’ s Honda teammate Pablo Quintanilla close behind . “ It feels so cool to get the win ! Abu Dhabi is always a tough race with the strategy and that was even more a factor this year as everyone was right on the pace ,” Sunderland said .
“ If you started a stage further back , you didn ’ t seem to catch up so much time even though you were pushing like hell , so it was definitely a challenge this year . It was a tough race physically as well , partly because of the pace , but because of the heat too , as well as it being so close to Dakar . It feels great to get another win and extend my lead in the championship . It also feels good to be able to reward the team like this because they have all worked so hard all week , and it ’ s results like this that makes it all worth it . The plan now is to keep the ball rolling and carry this momentum into the third round .” Brabec was gracious in defeat , knowing Sunderland had an almost hometown advantage at play in the sands of Abu Dhabi . “ The final stage was great ,” he said . “ The times were very close . We knew that it was going to be tough today to make up enough time in the overall standings . I did what I could to get
16 KIWI RIDER