Sunderland back in business at Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
By TMX Archives on 5th Apr 17
Normal business was resumed in Stage 3 of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Teams Dakar Rally winner Sam Sunderland reclaiming both the stage victory and the overall lead.
The rally is the opening round of the FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship and is a race over five stages where tactics and race craft can often play a decisive role.
Sam Sunderland (GBR) won Sunday's opening stage, and he knew on Monday, with the responsibility of opening the track, that he would probably drop down the order. He went on to finish sixth and was classified fifth in the standings.
This put him in perfect position for Tuesday's third stage and he took advantage of it, coming home in 3:55.23 hours, six minutes ahead of Quintanilla. He now has a 3.06.7-minute overall lead on the Chilean with two stages to go to set up what will probably be a tight last stage on Thursday.
Sunderland: "My start position was more favorable today and I pushed really hard until the refuel stop because I wasn't really sure about the rhythm of the riders in front of me.
"Now we have a new starting system and we leave at three-minute intervals so it makes the field a lot more spread out. I only saw the other guys just before the refueling but I made good time and took back almost 15 minutes. It was a good day and the bike's going well. There are two stages to go so we will just keep ticking along.”
