Dania Akeel might not have been the flashiest Challenger at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, but she didn’t need to be. A consistent run and a stage win enabled her to become the second woman to win a W2RC race and the first to do so as a points-earning driver.

Akeel claimed Stage #1, somewhat with a lucky break as Yasir Seaidan edged her out by one second but received a one-minute penalty for false starting. Seaidan rebounded by winning the next day as part of a three-win campaign, but he was taken out of contention by a mechanical issue in Stage #3.

Meanwhile, Akeel stayed out of trouble. She finished second to Seaidan in Stage #2 and fourth the next day, capitalizing on Seaidan’s problems to regain the lead. Although Seaidan won Stage #4, he was 28:54 back of Akeel entering the final day.

Pau Navarro was the only other car with a chance at passing Akeel following the penultimate stage, but still had to climb a 4:45 hole. Navarro managed to finish ahead of her, but only by 1:17.

With the overall secured, Akeel is the second female W2RC race winner after Cristina Gutiérrez won the 2024 Dakar Rally in Challenger. Unlike Akeel, Gutiérrez did not declare for points that year.

“It’s my first W2RC win and it feels fantastic,” said Akeel. “It comes from a lot of work, focus and effort, it doesn’t just arrive. Everybody has to do their part and the team all did their part perfectly. It’s a strong team and a strong car, now I hope to be a better driver in every race we have coming up.”

Nicolás Cavigliasso remains the points leader after a frustrating race. His hopes went out the window not even 100 kilometers into Stage #1 when he rolled. Although of contention for the overall win, he scored top-five finishes in each of the remaining four legs to salvage nine stage points.

He would have still led Pau Navarro by two points without the bonuses he got for placing top five in each stage, but he’ll obviously take all he can get.

Marcos Baumgart finished third in his Challenger debut. He usually races a Prodrive Hunter in Ultimate, but took up an available slot at BBR Motorsport for the race.

Khalifa Al-Attiyah, the younger brother of the overall ADDC winner, won the Prologue but suffered an engine failure the next day. Puck Klaassen had engine problems too but continued the race after opting to change it despite the 20-hour penalty that comes with it.

Bike regulars David Mabbs and David McBride teamed up to race a Can-Am Maverick XRS. With Mabbs as driver, they finished eighth.

Results

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Time	Margin
1	8	310	Dania Akeel	Stéphane Duplé	BBR Motorsport	15:44:25	Leader
2	9	304	Pau Navarro	Jan Rosa Viñas	BBR Motorsport	15:47:53	+ 3:28
3	10	308	Marcos Baumgart*	Kleber Cincea	BBR Motorsport	15:56:06	+ 11:41
4	12	309	Yasir Seaidan	Michaël Metge	BBR Motorsport	16:06:17	+ 21:52
5	13	305	Adam Kuś	Dmytro Tsyro	AKPOL Rally Team	16:26:44	+ 42:19
6	16	312	Eduard Pons	Jaume Betriu	Nasser Racing	17:03:07	+ 1:18:42
7	17	313	Khalid Al-Jafla	Andrei Rudnitski	Al-Jafla Racing	17:15:27	+ 1:31:02
8	18	316	David Mabbs*	David McBride	Vendetta Racing	17:22:02	+ 1:37:37
9	30	301	Nicolás Cavigliasso	Valentina Pertegarini	BBR Motorsport	33:46:27	+ 18:02:02
10	35	314	Jonathan Hart*	Ali Mirza	Jonathan Hart	35:16:46	+ 19:32:21
11	38	302	Puck Klaassen	Charan Moore	G Rally Team	55:00:52	+ 39:16:27
DNF	DNF	306	Khalifa Al-Attiyah	Bruno Jacomy	Nasser Racing	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	307	Mário Franco	Rui Franco	Franco Sport	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	311	Pedro Gonçalves	Hugo Magalhães	Franco Sport	DNF	N/A

Stage winners

Stage	Winner	Time
Prologue	Khalifa Al-Attiyah	7:05.3
Stage #1	Dania Akeel	3:10:21
Stage #2	Yasir Seaidan	3:22:54
Stage #3	Pau Navarro	3:32:37
Stage #4	Yasir Seaidan	3:03:44
Stage #5	Yasir Seaidan	2:12:00

W2RC

Drivers

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	Nicolás Cavigliasso	104	Leader
2	Pau Navarro	93	– 11
3	Yasir Seaidan	76	– 28
4	Dania Akeel	73	– 31
5	Gonçalo Guerreiro	61	– 43
6	Adam Kuś	44	– 60
7	Corbin Leaverton	39	– 65
8	Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari	37	– 67
9	Puck Klaassen	28	– 76
10	Khalifa Al-Attiyah	26	– 78
T-11	Khalif Al-Jafla	18	– 86
T-11	Mário Franco	18	– 86
13	Eduard Pons	17	– 87
14	Pedro Gonçalves	3	– 101
T-15	Rui Carneiro	2	– 102
T-15	David Zille	2	– 102

Navigators

Rank	Navigator	Points	Margin
1	Valentina Pertegarini	104	Leader
2	Michaël Metge	76	– 28
3	Stéphane Duplé	73	– 31
4	Cadu Sachs	61	– 43
5	Lisandro Sisterna	50	– 54
6	Dmytro Tsyro	44	– 60
7	Jan Rosa Viñas	43	– 61
8	Taye Perry	39	– 65
9	Nasser Al-Kuwari	37	– 67
10	Charan Moore	28	– 76
11	Bruno Jacomy	26	– 78
12	Andrei Rudnitski	18	– 86
T-13	Jaume Betriu	17	– 87
T-13	Rui Franco	17	– 87
15	Hugo Magalhães	3	– 101
T-16	Sebastian Cesana	2	– 102
T-16	Ola Fløene	2	– 102
18	João Miranda	1	– 103

Featured image credit: Helena Clancy / Edophoto