2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge: Penalty swings T4 win for Rokas Baciuska

Twelve minutes and three seconds separated the top two in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge‘s T4 category, but a fifteen-minute penalty was the ultimate decider of who won.

Reigning World Rally-Raid Champion Rokas Baciuška and non-W2RC competitor Mansour Al-Helei were the class of the field in Abu Dhabi as they each won three stages apiece including the former taking the Prologue. However, Baciuška never lost the overall lead at any point as Al-Helei was forced to play catch-up when he had fifteen minutes added to his time for missing a waypoint in Stage #1.

Despite the hometown driver’s best efforts as he won the final two legs, Baciuška finished behind him by less than four minutes in both and Al-Helei was only able to close the gap to 12:03. Had it not been for the penalty, he would have pulled off the upset. Al-Helei and Rally2 overall victor Tobias Ebster are the only entrants to win a stage while not racing for the world championship.

“It was an amazing adventure for us. I really love every kilometre of (the) Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge,” Al-Helei told Cross-Country Rally News. “It’s been a pleasure racing against top drivers and world champions, Dakar winners racing with them side by side. It’s an amazing experience. Unfortunately for me, this year, yes we missed a waypoint and had a penalty, but the bright side I kept pushing and I kept seeing my rhythm with the top people. For me, three stage wins against top drivers is amazing.”

With Al-Helei not competing for the W2RC, Baciuška ended up maximising his points earned among eligible drivers as he always finished either first or second behind Al-Helei. Al-Helei also would have done the same had it not been for his first-stage penalty that dropped him from second to fifth.

Due to Dakar winner Eryk Goczał bowing out of the championship to focus on academics, Baciuška is the new W2RC points leader in the class. He had finished second to Goczał in the season opener.

“It seems like only five days, but they were so different, full of challenges,” wrote Baciuška. “The team and I gave everything to reach the finish line as winners. Thank you for your faith, support, congratulations – feels good to bring the honorable first place to our country and city!”

The ADDC was not without some incident for Baciuška off the track as his Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing team was fined €1,000 for a missed W2RC entry payment. Baciuška also received a reprimand from the FIA after Stage #1 for having guests from a sponsor, who were attending their first rally, at an unauthorised location, a violation of the Cross-Country Rally Sporting Regulations’ Article 49.2.1 (any personnel, team or otherwise, cannot be within a kilometre of the race vehicle outside of certain areas like media zones) for which Baciuška apologised. Nevertheless, the Red Bull Can-Am family still enjoyed a strong rally with Baciuška’s T4 win and Seth Quintero claiming T3.

Pau Navarro joined Baciuška and Al-Helei on the podium to wrap up another strong round for the teenager.

Michèle Cinotto and Eugenio Amos retired from the race. Amos, who placed as high as third in Stage #1, suffered a mechanical issue before the final day. Cinotto struggled with motion sickness during the opening stage—which also forced T1 competitor Guerlain Chicherit to exit—before crashing out in Stage #3.

Cinotto’s Xtremeplus team-mates Enrico Gasparti and Shinsuke Umeda were more fortunate as they were among the seven T4 finishers. Umeda placed third among W2RC drivers after a scramble to the finish as his co-driver Aku Facundo Jaton needed to make a flight to Argentina by the end of the final day.

Umeda remarked afterwards, “I think the course itself was more sophisticated than the Dakar, but it feels like the drivers were causing a lot of incidents on their own and ruining it…”

T4 overall results

Finish	Number	Driver	Co-Driver	Team	Time	Margin
1	400	Rokas Baciuška	Oriol Vidal	Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing	17:25:47	Leader
2	405	Mansour Al-Helei*	Mohamed Al-Hamri	Abu Dhabi eam	17:37:50	+ 12:03
3	401	Pau Navarro	François Cazalet	FN Speed TEam	17:51:47	+ 26:00
4	408	Abdullah Al-Rawahi*	Nasser Saadon Al-Kuwari	R-X Sport	21:39:07	+ 4:13:20
5	406	Enrico Gasparti*	Loïc Minaudier	Xtremeplus	23:09:46	+ 5:43:59
6	402	Shinsuke Umeda	Aku Facundo Jaton	Xtremeplus	37:46:35	+ 20:20:48
7	407	Ricardo Ramilo*	Dmytro Tsyro	Ricardo Ramilo	41:30:48	+ 24:05:01
DNF	403	Michèle Cinotto	Maurizio Dominella	Xtremeplus	DNF	N/A
DNF	404	Eugenio Amos*	Ceci Paolo	South Racing Can-Am	DNF	N/A

* – Not competing in World Rally-Raid Championship

T4 stage winners

Stage	Number	Driver	Team	Time
Prologue	400	Rokas Baciuška	Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing	5:19
Stage #1	400	Rokas Baciuška	Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing	3:37:40
Stage #2	405	Mansour Al-Helei*	Abu Dhabi Team	3:58:22
Stage #3	400	Rokas Baciuška	Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing	4:08:58
Stage #4	405	Mansour Al-Helei*	Abu Dhabi Team	2:36:48
Stage #5	405	Mansour Al-Helei*	Abu Dhabi Team	2:51:54

Overall winners

Class	Number	Competitor	Team	Time
T1	207	Yazeed Al-Rajhi	Overdrive Racing	16:28:06
T3	302	Seth Quintero	Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team	16:58:31
T4	400	Rokas Baciuška	Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing	17:25:47
RallyGP	42	Adrien Van Beveren	Monster Energy Honda Rally Team	17:13:39
Rally2	96	Tobias Ebster*	SRG Motorsports	2:36:51
Quad	174	Abdulaziz Ahli	Abu Dhabi Team	22:01:51

W2RC standings

Drivers’ standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	Rokas Baciuška	134	Leader
2	Eryk Goczał	86	– 48
3	Pau Navarro	73	– 61
4	Marek Goczał	67	– 67
5	Michal Goczał	50	– 84
6	Shinsuke Umeda	44	– 90
7	Yasir Seaidan	35	– 99
8	Bruno Conti de Oliveira	30	– 104
T-9	Sebastián Guayasamin	27	– 107
T-9	Rodrigo Luppi de Oliveira	27	– 107
11	Molly Taylor	20	– 114
12	Nicolás Cavigliasso	13	– 121

Co-drivers’ standings

Rank	Co-Driver	Driver	Points	Margin
1	Oriol Vidal	Rokas Baciuška	134	Leader
2	Oriol Mena	Eryk Goczał	86	– 48
3	Maciej Marton	Marek Goczał	67	– 67
4	Szymon Gospodarczyk	Michal Goczał	50	– 84
5	François Cazalet	Pau Navarro	45	– 89
6	Aku Facundo Jaton	Shinsuke Umeda	44	– 90
7	Alexey Kuzmich	Yasir Seaidan	35	– 99
8	Pedro Bianchi Prata	Bruno Conti de Oliveira	30	– 104
9	Michaël Metge	Pau Navarro	28	– 106
T-10	Ricardo Torlaschi	Sebastián Guayasamin	27	– 107
T-10	Maykel Justo	Rodrigo Luppi de Oliveira	27	– 107
12	Andrew Short	Molly Taylor	20	– 114
13	Valentina Peregarini	Nicolás Cavigliasso	13	– 121