Dacia Sandriders achieves second World Rally-Raid victory

With their sustainable-fuelled Dacia Sandrider traversing the challenging sand and dunes between Meezer'ah and the finish in Abu Dhabi city, the Dacia Sandriders team, consisting of driver Nasser Al-Attiyah and navigator Edouard Boulanger, steamed through to clinch victory in the FIA World Rally Championship (W2RC) by two minutes and 28 seconds.

Following the Dacia Sandriders team's debut triumph at the Rallye du Maroc in October 2024, this elevates it to second place in the Manufacturers' standings. This stage victory was the third of the five-day Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge for the team, which also celebrated a fastest time from Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin on Stage 2.

Having led overall and appearing to be set for a podium finish, both Loeb and Lurquin were forced to retire due to damage sustained when they rolled 41km from the start of Stage 4. Preparing to restart on the final day of the event, their hopes were dashed when the FIA technical team determined the roll cage in their Dacia Sandrider was damaged, ruling them out on safety grounds.