JEDDAH, 14 October 2006 — One of the toughest off road races in the world is shaping up to be the decider in the F1A Cross Country World Cup championship this year. Defending champion Marc Coma is on a charge to ensure the FIM Cross Country Rallies world title race goes down to the wire for the second successive year when the sport’s top riders gather for the UAE Desert Challenge in November.
French motorcyclist David Casteu has a commanding lead over Coma with just two events left in the 2006 series. On his current form, only a disaster could prevent him from snatching the world crown from the Spanish star after finishing runner-up last year. However, the Dubai Desert Challenge is a great leveler and the best laid plans can and do go disastrously wrong and Casteau cannot afford a moment’s relaxation.
Coma could narro w the points gap in next month’s Pharaohs Rally; a win for Coma in Egypt would leave the champion-elect with a nervous last leg in the UAE.
Casteu leads Coma by 31points in the world championship, with 50 points still available for wins in the last two rounds. In third place is another Spaniard, Isidre Esteve, who returns to the UAE hoping for a repeat of his 2004 bikes triumph in the Desert Challenge.
It’s a scenario Coma knows well. He held a big championship lead over Casteu at the start of last year’s Desert Challenge and had to hold his concentration through five days of demanding desert riding in the UAE to make sure of the world title.
“You just can’t take anything for granted in this sport,” said Mohammed Bin Sulayem, president of the Automobile and Touring Club for the UAE and chairman of the organizing committee for an event enjoying a big sponsorship boost this year from property developer Nakheel. “David and Marc know that a big points lead can be wiped out by a single mistake or a mechanical failure. If they championship is still not decided by the time they get here, we could still have a very interesting climax to the season.”
That was never truer than last year when Team Saluki, a privateer team driving a 20-year old Landrover Defender which they transformed into a very competitive race vehicle, caused heads to turn when they muscled into 4th position ahead of factory teams on day two of the rally, only to suffer a broken gearbox that knocked them down the position table. Back in style this year with Castrol as their lead sponsor and a rebuilt car, they epitomize the hopes and aspirations of the privateer challengers.
Eight of the current World Championship top 10 are among 52 riders already confirmed for the event. They include Norway’s 2004 world champion Pal Anders Ullevalseter, four-times Desert Challenge winner Cyril Despres from France, Spain’s Jordi Viladoms, Italy’s Maurizio Sanna and Brazil’s Jean Azevedo.
This year’s Desert Challenge is also sponsored by Nissan Middle East — with the Nissan Patrol the rally’s official car — FedEx, Castrol, Hertz UAE, ADNOC, and Emarat.
Defending car champion Stéphane Peterhansel will be hot favorite to take his Mitsubishi to a fourth Desert Challenge cars win backed by teammates Luc Alphand and Hiroshi Masuoka, a powerful line-up of other overseas challengers will be aiming to make their mark on the event.
An impressive line-up of T1 prototypes also includes the Toyota Tundra of Italian Franco Grigoletto and the UAE-based Team Saluki Land Rover driven by Mark Powell, who was originally a member of the sweep team which provides assistance for vehicles in trouble.
