There was no containing the outpouring of emotion at the finish line of the 2017 Dakar Rally. All offroad racers making it to the end of this year’s edition have stood up extreme weather and terrain on an unprecedented scale. With this being widely regarded as the toughest Dakar ever to be held in South America it should be no surprise that the teams rich in experience came out on top.

Team Peugeot Total absolutely dominated the car category from start to finish and have been rewarded with a clean sweep of the podium positions. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA)/Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA) successfully defended their title to give Monsieur Dakar his 13th Dakar win (six in bikes and now seven in cars). The back-to-back champions were pushed all the way by team-mates Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Daniel Elena (MON) who finish as runners-up in only their second attempt at the race. Also learning on the job are Cyril Despres (FRA)/David Castera (FRA) and the pair of former bikers have backed up their Silk Way Rally win with the final spot on the 2017 Dakar podium.

Doing their best to keep pace with the PEUGEOT 3008 DKRs were former winners Giniel De Villiers (RSA)/Dirk von Zitzewitz (DEU) of Toyota Gazoo Racing who had to settle for fifth place overall. Also coming inside the Top 10 were the MINIs of Kuba Przygoński (POL)/Tom Colsoul (BEL) and Mohamed Abu Issa (QAT)/Xavier Panseri (FRA).

Things changed but also stayed the same in the bike contest as Sam Sunderland (GBR) became the first British winner of the Dakar as he handed the Red Bull KTM Factory Team their 16th consecutive title. Sunderland and team-mate Matthias Walkner (AUT) kept their cool despite never having previously finished a Dakar to maintain the proud reputation of KTM at motorsport’s toughest test of endurance.

Among the best of the rest were Hélder Rodrigues (PRT), a ninth Top 10 finish, Štefan Svitko (SVK), Top 25 despite receiving more than four hours in time penalties and Anastasiya Nifontova (RUS), the female biker conquering the Dakar on her first attempt. There were also encouraging performances from CS Santosh (IND) and Bolivian biker brothers Walter Jr. and Daniel Nosiglia Jager who gave their home fans plenty to cheer.

Peterhansel’s victory in the car race brings him level with legendary Russian trucker Vladimir Chagin (RUS) as the pair now both have seven single category wins. Since retiring from competition Chagin has been the mentor to Team Kamaz Master’s new generation of drivers. The first of these young guns to win multiple Dakars is Eduard Nikolaev (RUS) who has added success this year to the title he won in 2013. Dmitry Sotnikov's (RUS) fine performance ensured that Kamaz occupied both top steps of the final truck podium.

Ignacio Casale (CHL) was full of emotion as he crossed the finish line to take the runners-up spot in the quad race behind Sergey Karyakin (RUS). It’s been a long road back from injury for the Chilean who won the Dakar in 2014 and at the finish line in Argentina he struggled to contain his feelings after fighting back onto the podium.

Everybody involved in the 2017 Dakar Rally will not forget this race in hurry. The routes and bivouacs have been pounded by “extreme climatic conditions” and any competitor making it to the end will have had to have summoned superhuman strength. We salute all involved with the event and look forward to more drama to come on the 40th anniversary of the Dakar in 12 months time.

The Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE have announced a massive entry for next week’s 27^th Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (ADDC).

The ADDC is the third round of the 2017 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies and the opening round of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship. It takes place on April 1-6 across the remote Western deserts of the Rub Al-Khali.

Defending FIA World Cup champion and two-time ADDC winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi head the 39-car category in their respective Toyota Hilux and Peugeot 3008 DKR. The list features a myriad of the world’s leading off-road drivers, including current series leader Aron Domzala of Poland, Russia’s Vladimir Vasilyev, former WRC star Martin Prokop and ADDC veteran Yayha Al-Helai.

The event is also the opening round of the prestigious FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship and precedes rounds in Qatar, Chile, Argentina and Morocco.  The series is the traditional battleground between the Honda, KTM and Yamaha factory teams and has been dominated by Austrian manufacturer KTM on all but four occasions since riders were permitted for the first time in 2005.

“The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge has traditionally been the first major FIM Cross-Country event of the season after the Dakar Rally and it’s great to see the factory teams line up alongside such a strong field of other riders,” enthused Mohammed Ben Sulayem, rally founder and President of the ATCUAE.

“The two-wheel category has strength in depth and, coupled with our quad entry, and the car section, which always attracts many of the world’s finest drivers, the scene is set for a superb 27^th edition of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.”

Marc Coma has the record for securing eight victories in 10 years, before retiring to take up an organisational role within the Dakar Rally hierarchy. Toby Price is the defending champion on his Red Bull KTM Factory Team 450, but the Australian crashed heavily at this year’s Dakar and broke a femur and that has opened the door for local hero, last year’s runner-up and current Dakar champion Sam Sunderland to start as the favourite to win the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge for the first time, alongside Austrian team-mate Matthias Walkner.

The Monster Energy Honda Team is dividing its team resources between two events on opposite sides of the world. While American rider Ricky Brabec rides in this week’s four-day Sonora Rally in Mexico, Argentine Kevin Benavides and Portugal’s Paolo Gonçalves will take part in Abu Dhabi.

“It’s the first time we have competed since the Dakar and we are sorry that an injury for Joan Barreda Bort will keep him away,” said the team’s general manager Martino Bianchi. “This will be the first race back for Kevin after a hand injury and a good chance for Paolo to check his fitness levels on a demanding event like Abu Dhabi.”

There are an impressive 28 riders from 13 nations on the motorcycle entry list, including several from the UAE and seven professional riders on factory motorcycles. Top seed is the Chilean rider Pablo Quintanilla, the defending FIM Cross-Country World Championship rider, with Dubai’s Mohammed Al-Balooshi leading the Arab challenge on his Ride to Abu Dhabi Team KTM 450.

Quads were classified in their own category in 2005 and the Portuguese rider Ricardo Leal Dos Santos claimed the win on a Yamaha. In the 11 events since that date, Poland’s Rafal Sonik has won on two occasions and ties with Qatar’s Mohammed Abu Issa and Sebastien Husseini on two wins apiece. Abu Issa has now switched to racing on four wheels and Sonik tops the list of 17 quad riders, as he aims to put a disappointing Dakar Rally outing behind him.

The event takes place under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the Ruler’s representative in Al-Dafra region, and has invaluable support from the Western Region Municipality, Abu Dhabi Municipality, the UAE Army, Abu Dhabi Police, National Ambulance Service, Yas Marina Circuit, ADNOC, Abu Dhabi Aviation, Al-Ain Water, Abu Dhabi Waste Management, Rotana and Centro Hotel – Yas Island, the Qasr Al-Sarab Resort and Al-Forsan Circuit.

There were no Friday the 13^thgremlins and Overdrive Racing and Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa will take six of their original eight Toyota Hiluxes into the final special stage of the 2017 Dakar Rally after all the crews safely negotiated the 292km of competitive action between San Juan and Río Cuarte in Argentina.

Joan Roma and navigator Alex Haro dropped eight minutes to team-mate De Villiers through the early kilometres, but were safe in fourth overall. The Spanish crew took no risks through the last kilometres and maintained their position.

Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz began the day in a comfortable fifth and were fifth fastest through the first section of the special. They went on to record the fourth quickest time and hold fifth place by just 2min 03sec heading into the final day.

Toyota rookie Rautenbach enters the overall top 10

Zimbabwean Conrad Rautenbach and his South African co-driver Robert Howie were seventh through the first 119km and the dunes around San Juan in the second of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Hiluxes. They continued their impressive pace to the finish and the eighth quickest time enabled the Dakar first-timer to climb into ninth place in the overall standings for the first time.

The Dutch crew of Erik van Loon and Wouter Rosegaar were pushed down to 16^thoverall at the start of the 11^th stage after Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen recovered from his delays into San Juan and completed the stage. Van Loon enjoyed a strong run through section one in eighth place and finished the stage in an impressive seventh to move up to 14^th overall.

Alejandro Yacopini and Daniel Merlo began the day in 21^st overall in their Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux. They were running 18^th after the shorter opening section of the special and a strong performance lifted them into the top 20.

The Chinese crew of He Zhitao and Kai Zhao reached San Juan in 35^th overall in their Boundless Yong Racing Toyota run by Overdrive Racing and safely negotiated section one of the stage. They were 38^th at WP5 and firmly on course for the finish at 23.35 CET.

Additional support for Overdrive Racing comes from Power Electronics and Kappa clothing.