Red Bull KTM’s Sam Sunderland, who started off the year in fine form by becoming the first British-born competitor ever to win the Dakar Rally, showed that win was no fluke by claiming the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, round one of the 2017 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, on April 6.
The 27-year-old Sunderland kept it all together over the five stages that made up the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, and he pulled out the final stage win by coming from behind to pass Team HRC’s Paulo Gonçalves after starting the final stage in eighth place. Sunderland ended up with a final margin of victory of more than 6 minutes over Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Pablo Quintanilla.
“It feels cool, it’s been a long time coming,” Sundeerland said. “This is my home race. I made a good start and it’s been the perfect race for me. It started well, but it’s been really hard. I knew that I had to push hard this morning to make up the time quickly and that the first section was important. The team has been great, the bike’s been fantastic and it’s a great way to follow up the win in Dakar.”
Although Quintanilla finished 6:13.7 minutes behind Sunderland, the Chilean rider and defending FIM Cross Country Rallies World Champion said that he was very happy with this result, about the race and about his feeling with the bike.
“It was very good for my confidence to feel strong again, and that’s important,” Quintanilla said. “It’s also important to start the world championship in a positive way, and I think we did this. I feel a lot of support from everybody, and the atmosphere in the team was very good. Now I feel strong, and I can fight for the wins again. I think it’s important to take a rest and to think about what we did and how we can improve in the future.”
Sunderland’s teammate, Red Bull KTM rider Matthias Walkner, managed to fend off Gonçalves to claim third overall
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