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 |
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 |