2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge: Price takes RallyGP lead as Van Beveren scores second win

A shake-up in the World Rally-Raid Championship‘s RallyGP standings was inevitable when leader Kevin Benavides broke his femur days before the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, and Toby Price and Adrien Van Beveren were more than ready to take advantage. While Van Beveren rode off to win the ADDC for the first time, Price edged out José Ignacio Cornejo by just two seconds to take third and the top spot in the standings.

In a quirk that also affected the FIA’s top-level T1 category, the overall winner did not score a single stage win; for RallyGP, where the finishers were ultimately separated by just over ten minutes, this meant consistency and not making mistakes were of utmost importance. For example, Van Beveren’s Monster Energy Honda team-mate Pablo Quintanilla won the Prologue and Stage #1 but lost the overall lead to Van Beveren after struggling as the Stage #2 opener and finishing ninth. Quintanilla was later knocked out of the rally when his bike broke down in the penultimate leg.

Van Beveren never lost the lead after taking it from Quintanilla but faced direct resistance from Luciano Benavides, who won two stages including the fourth to close the gap to the leader by just 2:58 entering the final day with Van Beveren’s other Honda colleague Cornejo in closing distance of six minutes. Unfortunately for Benavides, the natural disadvantages of being the first bike to start the stage bit him as well and he finished seventh. Van Beveren was fifth to seal his second victory as a Honda rider after winning the Andalucía Rally to end the 2022 season.

The Frenchman is the second Honda to win the ADDC Bikes overall after the late Paulo Gonçalves in 2014. The Japanese manufacturer also has four victories in the Quads with Atif Al Zarouni (2006), Obaid Al Kitbe (2010 and 2012), and Rafal Sonik (2016).

“It was a bit frustrating not to be in the podium in the last Dakar being so close,” said Van Beveren. “Coming here and winning the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge just some weeks after the Dakar is a great feeling. This is very important for me and for the team to keep the motivation. For sure I will keep on working to get more victories but now is time to taste and enjoy the moment. Really happy with the atmosphere and spirit in the team, it is fantastic when you can win and have fun at the same time.”

Prior to the last stage, Price was sixth overall and 2:21 back of Cornejo in third, who in turn was hanging on with just twenty-four seconds on Ross Branch. Not only did Price beat Cornejo and the field to the Stage #5 victory, but he did the former by 2:21 to nip him for the last spot on the podium.

Aided by a pair of stage wins and Benavides’ absence, Price now leads the championship with forty-six points while Van Beveren trails by four.

“To only just make the podium by two seconds is crazy,” Price commented. “It shows the level of the riders at the moment in rally, with the results often coming down to seconds and not minutes; I think that’s really good for the championship. Lastly, the bike and the whole team have been great here in Abu Dhabi, working so hard to give us the tools we need. There’s a little bit of a gap now but then it’s on to Mexico for the next round.”

Mason Klein, Sebastian Bühler, and the non-championship rider Mohammed Al Balooshi were classified as retirements. Bühler bowed out with a mechanical problem after Stage #1 while Al Balooshi suffered an engine failure on the last day, while Klein battled clutch issues and reached the ADDC finish but did so too late.

Ideally, the RallyGP field would have featured thirteen riders but Benavides and 2022 W2RC champion Sam Sunderland were absent, the latter breaking his ankle two days before the Prologue. Both intend to return for the Sonora Rally in April.

RallyGP overall results

Finish	Number	Rider	Team	Time	Margin
1	42	Adrien Van Beveren	Monster Energy Honda Rally Team	17:13:39	Leader
2	77	Luciano Benavides	Husqvarna Factory Racing	17:17:57	+ 4:18
3	8	Toby Price	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	17:18:52	+ 5:13
4	11	José Ignacio Cornejo	Monster Energy Honda Rally Team	17:18:54	+ 5:15
5	16	Ross Branch	Hero MotoSports	17:19:56	+ 6:17
6	10	Skyler Howes	Husqvarna Factory Racing	17:20:02	+ 6:23
7	2	Ricky Brabec	Monster Energy Honda Rally Team	17:23:44	+ 10:05
DNF	7	Pablo Quintanilla	Monster Energy Honda Rally Team	DNF	N/A
DNF	9	Mason Klein	BAS World KTM Racing Team	DNF	N/A
DNF	14	Sebastian Bühler	Hero MotoSports	DNF	N/A
DNF	25	Mohammed Al Balooshi*	Abu Dhabi Team	DNF	N/A

* – Not competing in World Rally-Raid Championship

RallyGP stage winners

Stage	Number	Rider	Team	Time
Prologue	7	Pablo Quintanilla	Monster Energy Honda Rally Team	40:00
Stage #1	7	Pablo Quintanilla	Monster Energy Honda Rally Team	3:00:15
Stage #2	77	Luciano Benavides	Husqvarna Factory Racing	3:24:50
Stage #3	8	Toby Price	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	3:43:29
Stage #4	77	Luciano Benavides	Husqvarna Factory Racing	3:47:08
Stage #5	8	Toby Price	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	2:45:45

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