Pablo Quintanilla in contention for the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge victory

With second place overall in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge general standings, Pablo Quintanilla is in with a chance of sealing the race victory in tomorrow’s final stage.

Pablo Quintanilla finished in third place today after a fine stage, showing good pace throughout the 243-kilometre special. The Chilean moved up to second spot in the general rankings, just twenty-three seconds behind leader Sunderland.

It proved to be a good stage for Ricky Brabec, starting from eighth place to eventually finish the day in fourth, putting the American rider into fourth overall place in the rally, two and a half minutes shy of the leader. Brabec will battle to improve on the position tomorrow. Elsewhere, Nacho Cornejo suffered a crash in which he damaged his bike, with the Chilean rider dropping precious minutes from the timesheets. Tomorrow he shall be hoping to redeem himself with a better partial result.

Tomorrow’s final stage will give the riders a last chance to improve on their times in the final classification. Setting off from the bivouac at Qsar Al Sarab, a 34-kilometre liaison section will take the competitors to the start of the final 209-kilometre time trial which will decide the final outcome of this edition of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. A third of the route will cover dunes, while the majority of the mileage will be over sandy tracks. A final liaison of 128 kilometres will bring the bikers back to the Yas Marina circuit, where the final podium will be held.