The first two rounds of the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) have been very diverse, both in the car and bikes competitions.
It all started, as usual, at the world's most famous off-road marathon, the Dakar Rally, in the sands of Saudi Arabia. There, the official Audi team managed to beat off stiff competition from other brands, especially official Toyota (Toyota Gazoo Racing) and semi-official Toyota (Overdrive Racing), Prodrive, X-Raid Mini and Ford.
Carlos Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz made history by achieving the first ever victory for a hybrid model in the Dakar, with the 61-year-old veteran Spanish driver also becoming the first driver to win the Dakar with four different brands: Volkswagen, Peugeot, Mini and Audi.
Sainz and Al-Attiyah closer
But the Audi team decided not to take part in the next race, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, paving the way for an intense battle between Nasser Al-Attiyah - who had a troubled Dakar with the Prodrive Hunter T1+ - and Toyota's extensive armada. Al-Attiyah came out on top, accompanied by his new co-driver Edouard Boulanger, and moved closer to Carlos Sainz in the World Championship table. Five of the next six places in the championship are occupied by Toyota drivers, Guerlain Chicherit, Guillaume De Mévius, Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Lucas Moraes and young Seth Quintero, who is just behind Martin Prokop (Ford).
In the Challenger category, Spain's Cristina Gutiérrez (Taurus) became the second woman to win the Dakar, after Jutta Kleinschmidt did so in absolute terms in 2001... the very year Gutiérrez was born! However, it is the Lithuanian Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am) who leads the World Championship in the category, ahead of the American Austin Jones (Can-Am), winner in Abu Dhabi.
In the SSVs, Portuguese João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro (Can-Am) won stages in both the Dakar and the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, and are currently in fourth place in a championship led by Saudi Yasir Seaidan (Can-Am).
Brabec wins Dakar, Branch leads World Championship
In the motorcycles, Ricky Brabec took his second Dakar victory with the official Honda team, but the American didn't take part in Abu Dhabi. On the sands of the United Arab Emirates, the official Hero team and last-minute recruit Aaron Mare reigned supreme, with another Hero rider, Ross Branch, taking over the World Championship.
Jean-Loup Lepan (Rally 2), Manuel Andujar (Quad), Konrad Dabrowski (Rally 2 Junior) and David McBride (Senior) also arrive in Portugal at the head of their respective categories.
After the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal, the World Championship will visit Latin America (Argentina) and Africa (Morocco).