ABU DHABI — Winner Nasser Al-Attiyah was disqualified from the 25th Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge powered by Nissan Thursday, hours after being gifted his second title by a heavy sandstorm. The Qatari was declared the champion early in the day after the 234km Abu Dhabi Aviation Special Stage 5 had to be cancelled because of poor visibility, which was down to less than 100m in places and meant that air support for the rally was not possible.
But, later organizers announced that Al-Attiyah had been excluded for a suspension travel irregularity following post-event scrutineering by the FIA.
Russia's defending champion Vladimir Vasilyev, partnered by Konstantin Zhiltsov in a Mini, was subsequently declared the winner in the cars category.
Dutchman Erik Van Loon and Britain's Harry Hunt in two more Minis, and Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Poland's Marek Dabrowski, both driving a Toyota Hilux, completed the top five.
The 89 surviving competitors — 42 cars and buggies and 47 bikes and quads — which were due to complete Thursday's stage, instead travelled on a road section to Yas Marina Circuit, where the rally's official podium finish was also cancelled because of the adverse weather.
“It would have been very dangerous for the competitors to go ahead with the stage and there was no visibility to get the Abu Dhabi Aviation helicopters into the air to provide vital safety cover,” said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE, the rally organizers.
“My decision to cancel the stage was based purely on competitor safety. We are trusted by all competitors to look after them and the decision was supported by all the drivers and riders and the teams.”
The finishing positions following Wednesday's Nissan Patrol SS4 effectively became the final results, meaning reigning world champion Marc Coma recorded his eighth bikes win.
Coma said: “I am very happy with the result. It was a great rally and I made no mistakes. I know how tough the race is from previous years, so we made some good tactical decisions as a team and it paid off. The bike was great and I had no problems. It is another victory for the team and for me it's my eighth win here so I am delighted and very proud.”
There was double success for the UAE, with Ahmed Al-Fahim taking the T3 buggies title by finishing ninth overall in a Polaris and fellow-Emirati Mansour Al-Helei capturing the T2 production class cars title by finishing 13th in his Nissan Patrol. Qatar's Mohammed Abu Issa won the Desert Challenge quads crown for the second time in three years on a Yamaha Raptor. — Agencies
