The UAE Desert Challenge can be as cruel as it is spectacular, and that fact will certainly not be lost on Nasser Al-Attiyah, despite the huge lead he holds with two days remaining. At the end of the traditionally tough and unforgiving Nissan Special Stage 3 Wednesday, the Qatari, bidding to become the first Arab driver to win the event since 1993, was a massive 2hrs 51 mins ahead of his closest challenger, the UAE's Yahya Al-Helei who had to drive carefully for much of the day with broken shock absorbers. Given a huge advantage by his 2009 prototype BMW X3, Al-Attiyah was in a class of his own, particularly after Russian driver Leonid Novitskyi, lying second overnight in another BMW X3, plunged dramatically from contention on the punishing 340-km stage. Novitskyi's misfortune promoted Alh-Helei to second position in his brand new production class Nissan Patrol, and the tenacious Emirati driver, like the runaway leader, knows the battle is far from over in the last round of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies. After snatching the lead on the previous day in his pursuit of a hat-trick of open class bikes victories in the Desert Challenge, Spain's Marc Coma was unable to prevent KTM team-mate Cyril Despres of France moving ahead, albeit by just four seconds. The Chilean rider, Francisco Lopez, remained in third place, with UAE-based British rider James West, Spaniard Jordi Viladoms and Frenchman Alain Duclos completing the top six. In the 450cc class, Portugal's Ruben Faria extended his lead over UAE-based Irish rider Dave McBride to almost 42 minutes, with South African Sean Gaugain another 15 minutes adrift in third place. In the battle of the quads, Frenchman Lionel Laine finished the day holding a nine-minute lead over fellow-countryman Eric Vergnes, who was followed by the UAE's Mohammed Al Shamsi.
