10 days to go before the 35th edition of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the season finale, which will start and finish in Al Ain from 22 to 27 November, covering 1,931 km, including 1,326 km of special stages.
The entry list released yesterday features 68 FIA-FIM vehicles, 56 of which are competing in the championship (12 FIA and 44 FIM).
In the car category, four drivers are mathematically still in contention for the ultimate title: Seth Quintero and Henk Lategan for Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC, and Sébastien Loeb and Nasser Al Attiyah for The Dacia Sandriders.
The Toyota-Dacia head-to-head is also on in the manufacturers’ standings. Dacia could bring an end to the Japanese brand’s dominance, having won the world title four years in a row.
In the bike category, three riders can claim the 2026 world title: Daniel Sanders and Luciano Benavides for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, and Tosha Schareina for Monster Energy Honda HRC.
A KTM-Honda duel is also expected in the manufacturers’ standings. The Orange team, 2025 world champions, lead by 23 points over the Reds.
FIM: A SECOND STAR FOR SANDERS OR BENAVIDES, UNLESS SCHAREINA CLAIMS A FIRST?
Five RallyGP riders are expected to line up at the start in Al Ain. Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Honda HRC), winner in 2023, is too far behind in the standings to challenge for the world title. The Frenchman could use this freedom from the pressure of the ultimate prize to return to winning ways, which have eluded him since that date.
Edgar Canet (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), recent overall winner of the Rallye OLA Energy du Maroc and a first-time RallyGP winner, will continue learning the ropes in a race he failed to finish last year.
Of the three riders still in contention for the 2026 world crown, one has an impressive track record on his side. Sanders is the 2025 champion, the defending winner of this event, and has already won half of the rounds in the current championship. “Chucky” is aiming for a double victory, both in the event and in the championship. If the Australian remains on top after the final round, he will become the first rider in W2RC history to retain the number 1 plate.
For his teammate Benavides, second in the championship, 13 points behind, and twice runner-up in this event (2019 and 2023), winning the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge would be a first. If the 2026 Dakar winner were to snatch the championship from Sanders at the last moment, he would claim his second title after his 2023 triumph — and his first on a KTM.
In the Honda camp, all hopes rest on Schareina. The Spaniard, level on points with Benavides, finished on the podium on his only appearance at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Becoming world champion would be a first for him, as it would be for HRC in the individual W2RC standings.
In Rally2, Martim Ventura (Monster Energy Honda HRC) will take part in the race to collect the World Cup title that is already secured for him.
As for victory in the event, Michael Docherty (Hero MotoSports) has all the cards in his hands: third overall in 2021, Rally2 winner that year and again last year, the South African based in the UAE is an Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge specialist.
The opposite is true of his new teammate David Braceras. At 23, the Spaniard has decided to turn the page on his young MX2 World Championship career and make his W2RC debut.
Konrad Dabrowski (Duust Rally) is the other major contender in the category. The Pole finished second overall in 2024, first in Rally2, and second in the category in 2025. Toni Mulec (Klub MTM 501), currently Ventura’s closest rival in the championship, returns to the event after taking a Rally2 podium in 2023.
In the quad category, World Cup leader Antanas Kanopkinas (CFMOTO Thunder Racing) will defend his championship lead against Leonardo Martinez (Can-Am Martinez), while also seeking a second consecutive event win against local rider Abdulaziz Ahli (RNS Racing), who won three years in a row from 2022 to 2024.
FIA: A FOURTH CROWN FOR AL ATTIYAH, UNLESS QUINTERO, LOEB OR LATEGAN CLAIM A FIRST?
In the car category, Quintero arrives as championship leader (135 points), ahead of the two Dacias of Loeb (121 points) and Al Attiyah (115 points). Another Hilux, driven by Lategan, is mathematically still in the running ahead of the finale on 27 November, although he is further back on 85 points.
Naturally, all eyes are on the tightly packed trio at the top of the standings.
Quintero has truly come into his own this year, winning the two previous rounds back-to-back: the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF and then the Rallye OLA Energy du Maroc. In the last three editions of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the American has consistently finished on the overall podium: at the wheel of a Challenger in 2023, in his first Ultimate season in 2024, and again in 2025. If he were to secure his first world title, he would enable Toyota to retain the crown won last year by Lucas Moraes.
Loeb has experienced various setbacks in this event, managing only an eighth-place overall finish in three appearances. However, the nine-time WRC world champion is more than ever in contention for a tenth FIA world title.
Al Attiyah is the clear favourite for the event. Alongside Martin Prokop (Orlen Jipocar), he is the only former car-category winner entered in the Ultimate class for the 35th edition. But the Ford Raptor driver, winner in 2018 and runner-up three times (2017, 2022 and 2023), cannot match the record of the three-time W2RC champion (2022–24).
The Qatari has five Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge trophies at home (2008, 2016, 2021 and 2024–25). If he were to win for the third time in a row, he would equal the record hat-trick held by Jean-Louis Schlesser (1999, 2000–01). More importantly, he could reclaim the title he narrowly lost last year to Lucas Moraes and give Dacia its first world crown.
In SSV, Mindaugas Sidabras (Izoton Sport) has the opportunity to move from his current position as runner-up to become champion.
The finale of the W2RC’s fifth season promises to be the most fiercely contested yet, in both the bike and car categories. See you in ten days!
THE PROGRAMME (*)
• Thursday 19 November
9:00 am: Service Park opens in Al Ain
• Saturday 21 November
– 7:00 am–4:00 pm: Administrative checks*
– 8:00 am–7:00 pm: Technical scrutineering*
– (optional for FIA W2RC crews)
– 8:00 am–8:00 pm: Media Centre opens; media accreditation
– 7:00 pm–9:00 pm: Pre-event press conference
• Sunday 22 November
– 7:00 am–11:00 am: FIA W2RC administrative checks
– 7:30 am–11:30 am: FIA W2RC technical scrutineering
– 11:00 am: FIM prologue (Total: 77 km / SS: 7 km)
– 2:00 pm–5:00 pm: FIA shakedown
• Monday 23 November: Stage 1 (Al Ain – Madinat Zayed)
Total: 336 km / SS: 226 km
• Tuesday 24 November: Stage 2 (Madinat Zayed – Al Sila Marathon bivouac)
Total: 389 km / SS: 330 km
• Wednesday 25 November: Stage 3 (Al Sila Marathon bivouac – Madinat Zayed)
Total: 401 km / SS: 286 km
• Thursday 26 November: Stage 4 (Madinat Zayed – Madinat Zayed)
Total: 351 km / SS: 258 km
• Friday 27 November: Stage 5 (Madinat Zayed – Al Ain)
Total: 377 km / SS: 219 km
– 6:00 pm: Post-event press conference
– 6:30 pm–7:30 pm: Prize-giving ceremony
– 7:30 pm: W2RC season prize-giving ceremony
(*) All event times: GMT +4
