The second round of the 2019 FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies has started in the UAE and the next round to be continued in Turkmenistan
The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, one of the world’s most prestigious international cross-country rallies, organized by the Automobile & Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates (ATCUAE), started in Abu Dhabi.
The 29th edition of the Desert Challenge gathered more than 100 competitors from 34 countries. The route includes five demanding desert stages. Having started at Yas Marina Circuit, further, participants on cars, motorcycles, and quad-bikes should drive through the most severe desert roads, sand dunes, and the steppe plains of Al Dafrah Region. The total distance of the rally, which will finish on April 4, is 2006.73 km, including the transition sections.
The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge forms the second round of the 2019 FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies for cars and buggies. The first round of the championship was held in Qatar on February 21-26, and, in May, Turkmenistan will host the third round of the race, and after it will be continued in Kazakhstan and to finish in Morocco – on October 4-8.
In December, the World Council of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) included the Turkmen Desert Race along the route of the Great Silk Road to the calendar of 2019 World Cup of cross-country rallies. It aroused great interest of numerous participants and guests of the auto marathon; therefore, holding the third round of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies in Turkmenistan would be another chance for the rally drivers to return here, as many of them have admitted the route as the most complicated and interesting.
