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00:01The last big rally before the Dakar is back in business.
00:13The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge returns on its 30th anniversary.
00:19This is some of the toughest and most dramatic terrain in the world,
00:23where the desert meets the sea in the western region of the United Arab Emirates.
00:35It's one of the best rallies to learn, to test the machine, because it's one of the toughest rallies in
00:44the world.
00:46Here in Abu Dhabi, I've never been so scared ever.
00:50Going off these journeys, everyone's talked about it.
00:54The rider needs to spend so much time as a camel in the desert.
01:01Five days of competition over five special stages.
01:05We'll cover more than 1,300 kilometres racing against the clock.
01:10It's an off-piste adventure through vast open rolling desert with soaring climbs and unseen drops.
01:17A breathtaking environment to settle a world championship.
01:33The dunes, for me, is like ocean, you know? You don't know what is inside. You need to respect.
01:42Normally, I like it a lot to ride in the dunes, but I really hate racing in the dunes, because
01:50you really don't know what's going on behind this dune.
01:54The drops are insane, and the holes and pockets you can fall into on the other side. It's really hard
02:00to read for me.
02:02When we cross the dunes, we need to have a special technique. You need to find a way how to
02:08surf and to keep the speed.
02:10If you don't do the surfing in the sand, it's easy. You can go deep in the sand and you
02:16lose the traction.
02:18It's like they say with the camels, they always find the hard dunes.
02:24Yeah, it's just learning for me. These dunes I've never come across ever.
02:29I'm normally pretty good at adapting to new environments.
02:34At this time here, now I feel really the first time that I have much, much more experience.
02:44Stage one saw competitors head towards 60 kilometres of low dunes and tracks,
02:49before attacking the stunning desert landscape of Al Dhafra.
02:58After the bikes let off the competition, came the all-action style of Seth Quintero for the Red Bull off
03:04-road junior team.
03:06The 19-year-old American getting the thumbs up from no lesser judge than the king of the dunes, Nasser
03:11Al Atiyah, as he set off.
03:14See you, sir. See you, sir.
03:16This is important to help the new generation, you know, like Seth.
03:19He was with me in Dubai for three days, and I gave him one chance, you know, to drive the
03:26T1 Plus.
03:27And he was so happy, you know, I said yes.
03:29If you are doing well this next race and Dakar, I think you have a chance to be the official
03:35driver, because he's young and he's good.
03:42As for Nasser himself, his pace in the T1 car class was as hot as the Emirates sun.
03:49Underlining his skills in the desert to set fastest time through the stage, despite not feeling at one with his
03:55performance.
03:57He and co-driver Mathieu Bommel are now used to working with the new digital roadbook, but had to revert
04:03to the old style paper version for this event.
04:05So we are back at the old style with the paper roadbook, but we have it only at the start.
04:11So it means you cannot work on it, you cannot check the piece.
04:15I would prefer the digital roadbook.
04:19Mathias Falkner is the only rider from the KTM factory racing team competing in Abu Dhabi, staying true to the
04:262021 bike, which has served him so well this year.
04:29And that was clear with his comfortable second place on the stage.
04:33Daniel Sanders recovered from some navigation errors on his first stint in the dunes and finished fourth.
04:39Meanwhile, in the lightweight OT3 class, Cristina Gutierrez and co-driver François Cazalet had fuel issues.
04:45Fourth was the best they could hope for in the circumstances.
04:51Yeah, we have a lot of troubles from the beginning, so we try to manage all the time with a
04:56smile and try to not think a lot in the problems and keep focusing the next day.
05:022021 was very much the priority for the Spaniard, focused on the title race.
05:08But the other team members, including newcomer Guillaume de Mivius from Belgium, were using the event to test the new
05:14car in preparation for the 2022 championship.
05:28Day two was the longest of the rally, a classic desert challenge stage through the majestic dunes of the Leewa
05:35Valley, a real roller coaster ride.
05:42Matthias Faulkner played it cool and clever, closing the gap on the leaders to take second on the stage and
05:48moving into the overall lead in the bikes.
05:51Daniel Sanders suffered two crashes, but still improved his overall position to third.
05:57Even so, there was an extra challenge at the end of the day for all the riders.
06:03There was no assistance from the team at the Bivouac because this was a marathon stage.
06:08So like all his rivals, the Aussie had to carry out his own repairs with Roger Enric, chief mechanic at
06:14his Gas Gas Factory racing team, watching on and able to help.
06:32In the cars meanwhile, Nasser Al-Attiyah maintained his momentum with another stage victory to increase his overall lead.
06:43His partnership since 2014 with French co-driver Mathieu Bommel runs deep on trust, teamwork and total performance.
06:55With Nasser we have 100% trust in each other, so when I am doing my job as a navigator,
07:03I know that he will control everything on the driving side.
07:07And I don't need to lose or to waste my time checking what he is doing, so I can be
07:13100% focused on my job as a co-driver or a navigator.
07:20If you are a good driver and you put a normal co-driver, you will get lost, you know, and
07:26opposite, you know.
07:27But if you are both crew inside the cars with a good experience, you can manage and also the team
07:33is very, very important, you know, for the car.
07:36Like stiff is not really normal, you know, maybe we can open it and just to check.
07:42I also saw the beginning of the story between them and I really enjoy to work both of them because
07:48they are fully professional.
07:50It's a good, good combination of team.
07:54I take him in one race with me in 2008, only for one race and we win the race.
08:00It's a great pleasure to be alongside Nasser.
08:04And then, you know, I just keep my eyes open, you know, for him, you know, and 2014 we've been
08:10together.
08:11And from this time, we win many, many things.
08:19You know, Nasser, he born in the desert.
08:21He's living in Qatar, but when he's in Qatar every weekend, he's playing with toys in the dunes.
08:29For me, the most important for a victory, I mean, for the best results, it's the relationship and how you
08:35work together in the car.
08:37Matthew is like my brother, you know, we work a lot and the important thing, we respect each other.
08:42You need to be real and you need to trust the other one, so it's what we are doing all
08:48day.
08:49And we are always smiling because even if we did something wrong during the day, we know that the next
08:54day will be better.
09:00Like today, we have one thing in the road book, like 27 kilometers, nothing, you know.
09:07And just, I was joking, I said, do you have espresso for me, some coffee or something, you know, just
09:13we have a joke.
09:17It's why we love this job more than anything else, because never, never in your normal life, you will go
09:24where we pass during our stages.
09:27So, it's because of that, that we enjoy what we are doing and that we enjoy to do it together.
09:37Stage three, part two of the marathon stage, was another long one, through more open, rolling desert,
09:44before tackling some major dunes before the finish in the same location as for stage one.
09:50But while Matthias Volkner and Daniel Sanders set off towards the dunes with high hopes of another good day,
09:56there was sudden, big drama behind them for Nasser Al-Attiyah and the Toyota Hilux team.
10:04Just moments before the leader was about to leave for the start, Chief Mechanic Christophe Martin spotted a crack in
10:11a front disc brake.
10:12Damage that could put the Qatari out of the rally and possibly cost him the World Cup.
10:21It's really important to work all together like a family.
10:25And we are lucky than I see, for sure they don't finish with the frees, the brakes.
10:29It will be a difficult day without this this morning.
10:36Good job.
10:38Thanks to Christophe and Christian.
10:41Now, time to go to the stage.
10:46The value of the team's expert repair became even clearer at the end of the stage.
10:57Another win for the World Cup leaders.
10:59That was three in a row, taking the more than 11 minutes ahead of Kuba Przonsky after the pole
11:05and his German co-driver, Timo Gottschalk, had a tough time in the dunes.
11:15I think every pilot has some small mistake and jump from some dunes.
11:21And then it's quite stressful inside the car in this moment.
11:25And he stepped down with caution.
11:27You don't find deserts easily in Poland,
11:29so the 2018 champion is refining his technique in competition.
11:33We had a few nice jumps today.
11:36One was a little bit like, we were flying a little bit like this, with high speed, but this is
11:40nice.
11:47In contrast, Valkner and Sanders enjoyed a trouble-free day.
11:51The world champion, quickly caught by the challenger,
11:54the two of them riding together until the finish.
11:58The Australian won the stage, moving up to second overall.
12:05Congratulations.
12:06It's good and bad.
12:11There was better news too for the Red Bull off-road junior team.
12:15Cristina Gutierrez sorted an engine problem for her best stage performance so far,
12:20to take second for third place overall.
12:25And with the 2022 cars continuing their development in the desert,
12:29there were only routine repairs for the team back at the Bivouac.
12:54.
13:14Stage four took the riders and drivers southwest,
13:18through large dunes, into the Liwa Valley,
13:20before finishing 20 km south of the Bivouac.
13:22south of the bivouac. And yet again, there was no holding Nasser Al-Attiyah. Four stages,
13:30four wins. But second place for Cristina Gutierrez kept her second overall, with a chance to close
13:38out the World Cup title on the final day. Walkner and Saunders kept pushing each other,
13:46enjoying the competition. Big rivals in the saddle, firm friends off it. The two of them
13:51know how to bring the best out of each other. Consistently competitive in whatever they do.
14:03The first year in Rally Raid has been really cool. I didn't expect to like it so much.
14:07This navigation is really interesting and makes racing completely different as what I've done
14:12before. I really like the speed and crossing massive landscapes and going fast in the desert.
14:17So that's really cool. I'm addicted to it and I can't wait for the next few years racing.
14:25Saunders is a really funny guy. So it's good to have him in the team because he's always
14:29joking. And he has, I think, a lot of good relationship with everybody in the team.
14:33Tomorrow we attack again now. You're hungry or not now? Hungry for what? For the winning. Fuck yeah.
14:43He's funny in the morning, in the evening, in the night, always.
14:49What's up dude? Welcome to my crib. She's everywhere, as usual. I really like his passion. He's really,
14:58really good. So he has amazing skills on the bike. He trains super, super hard. And I really have the
15:06feeling that when he beats me, is it really okay for me? Because he beats me because he was better.
15:11Who won? Who won?
15:11I don't know yet.
15:14No matter who, because he has all the pressure.
15:16I have all the pressure. He's already the champion.
15:18I'm going to knock down the champ for now.
15:21Push him.
15:22Good luck.
15:26To finish, yeah, hopefully second would be really cool. That's, that's the goal. Unfortunately,
15:30I can't get Walkner because he's already won the bloody title. So next year, hopefully,
15:34hopefully he doesn't retire. Hey Walkner, hurry up. I'm hungry.
15:39Yeah, I just like him. He's just a crazy, stupid on a good way guy.
15:44Why do we get along so well? I don't know. I don't know why. We just do. I think we
15:48just,
15:49like, we take things seriously and then we don't take things seriously.
15:52This race, I think, is more or less perfect for him. Perfect. Do some work, mate.
15:58Sometimes he helps me, sometimes he doesn't, but there's a lot of times he's nearly killed me
16:02because he's going too fast. Ah, my legs. So tight. But the cool thing is that he's such on a
16:09high
16:09level. I feel like he's listening what I'm saying and in the end, I just want the best for him.
16:15If I catch Walkner tomorrow, I win, but then it's, you know, it's going to be hard.
16:19The learning is done, huh? Yeah, this is the last race I learned.
16:24Same finish, right? Come on, mate. I'm hungry.
16:28If he kicks my ass in Dakar, I'm sure not happy, but in the end,
16:33I really like him and I think he have a big future in the rally sport.
16:38For sure, he can win the championship, the Dakar and many things.
16:44Yeah, other than the racing, we like to do stuff. Any other sport during the day,
16:49we'll try and go do anything fun, really. So yeah, just basketball or anything. Whenever
16:53away, we'll try and play some sort of, you know, fun sport.
16:58It was really like the first moment. It looks like we are matching really cool together. He's a
17:05little bit, I don't know if I can say this, he's a little bit like I was when I was
17:10young.
17:11I'm 27, mate. I'm young for rally. I'm a little pup. I've still got 10 years of this.
17:18We're both really competitive, so I always try and beat him at anything.
17:30The fifth and final stage was the shortest of the rally, 217 kilometres.
17:36So close to the end, so near to completing a dream finish.
17:41Three, two, one, go.
17:48One final effort to stay true to the road book and avoid wrong turnings with the navigation.
17:55Typically, Nasser Alatia didn't put a wheel wrong. Certainly, no repeat of the final day
18:01accident in 2017, which cost him victory. He and Mathieu Bommel were happy with third fastest time,
18:08good enough to claim a third victory in the event. It now looks formality for the Qatari to clinch the
18:14World Cup driver's title in the final round in Saudi Arabia in December.
18:21Meanwhile, Cristina Gutierrez was on a mission to become the first female driver to win the World
18:26Cup in the T3 class. She and co-driver François Cazalet needed to win the stage and hope results fell
18:34in
18:34their favour. It was incredible because when we finished the stage, nobody knows that we are
18:39champions mathematically. So we are taking the points and see and suddenly someone said,
18:47you are champion and it's like crazy, crazy because it's still like with the face like that. I can't believe
18:55it.
18:57I am very proud of you.
19:02Very good, Cristina.
19:05It's a learning process and at the moment when you have a title, it confirms that you have a place
19:11and we are going in the Dakar like always humble but with confidence.
19:19Don't think about anything else.
19:28But the story of the bikes was taking a sensational twist.
19:33I was super happy and stoked and pumped to survive to the finish line and then I
19:39recognised what's happened with Daniel.
19:47Daniel Sanders' world was being turned upside down.
19:53When you're pushing the bike like that and you come so you're so close to the finish line you
19:57could literally throw a rock at it.
20:03An empty tank with no refuelling on the stage saw his podium chances shrivel and expire
20:10under a merciless sun.
20:14The bike stops and you're just pushing the button and nothing's going.
20:18The whole year, everything I've done, sacrificed, the championship,
20:22it all just gets thrown on the ground right in front of you.
20:28It sucks. It's the worst feeling you can have.
20:37I feel super sorry for him but in the end this is just a learning thing.
20:43And I think he has a really big future for him.
20:47I haven't come this far to give up so I'll be charging no matter what every race from now on.
20:53The good thing is we've got Dakar coming up and some motivation and riding good in good shape.
20:58So full focus on this and yeah, the past is the past now.
21:05And we've got to bring up the country.
21:09Shame on me.
21:09And we've got to bring up the country.
21:24And we're going to bring up the country.
21:32Crazy guys.
21:34Wow, 400.
21:40You split my eyes.
21:52Good job.
21:56In the moment.
21:59Thanks a lot.
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