2024 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge: Konrad Dabrowski finishes P2 overall, wins Rally2

With only two riders competing in the premier RallyGP class at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the Rally2 division had their best opportunity to shine in a long time, if not ever as one of their own was guaranteed to be on the overall podium. DUUST Rally Team went beyond that by placing two riders in the top three with Konrad Dąbrowski and Jean-Loup Lepan.

Dąbrowski could have very well won the ADDC outright, coming up just four minutes and fifty-six seconds short of RallyGP’s Aaron Marè. While Marè led the overall from the second stage onwards, his team-mate Ross Branch’s early mechanical issues prevented him from cracking the podium himself and left two spots up for grabs for Rally2.

In fact, the Rally2 party began as early as Stage #1 when Michael Docherty held off Marè by three minutes for the overall win, becoming the first rider from the class to win a stage among all bikes since Mason Klein beat Daniel Sanders for the 2021 Rallye du Maroc’s Stage #4 victory. However, his ADDC came to an end the next day when he crashed just five kilometres after starting the leg, resulting in a fractured pelvis.

Dąbrowski and Marè stopped their races to help Docherty, earning the former nearly twenty-five minutes in time credits that he parlayed into the Rally2 stage win and bike runner-up. Lepan and Dąbrowski traded 1–2 finishes every stage for the rest of the rally.

Entering the final day, Lepan trailed Dąbrowski by 11:51. Despite his best efforts, his team-mate was too quick and instead beat him by 2:40 to secure his maiden Rally2 victory under World Rally-Raid Championship sanction. Dąbrowski also won the Junior Trophy for riders under the age of twenty-five.

“It’s hard to describe all the feelings I have right now. Exactly 20 years ago my dad (Marek Dąbrowski) finished second overall at this exact race,” recalled Dąbrowski. “In the meantime I have spent my whole life trying to be a better motorbike rider and sportsman. It’s amazing to see all the hard work pay off. Not only my work but all the people around me who do their best for me to be able to race at the highest level.”

Although coming up short, Lepan’s runner-up boosts him past Romain Dumontier and Bradley Cox, neither of whom raced Abu Dhabi, for the Rally2 points lead in the W2RC. Dąbrowski had a major leap from ninth to third, trailing Lepan by eight points. Jan Brabec, who joined Dąbrowski and Lepan on the Rally2 podium, improved five spots to fifth.

Fellow points-earning riders Tobias Ebster and Oran O’Kelly joined Docherty on the sidelines after also having impressive runs that were cut short by disappointment. Ebster, the reigning ADDC Rally2 winner and Dakar Rally Malle Moto champion, finished third in Stage #1 but crashed the following day. O’Kelly scored a class podium in Stage #2 but a gearbox failure on the penultimate stage forced him to drop out.

O’Kelly’s Vendetta Racing UAE team-mate David Mabbs finished eighth to win the Veteran Trophy for those over forty-five. Christof Lischka, the R&D boss for BMW Motorrad, finished third in the subcategory ahead of Florian Dietrich, who serves a similar role for BMW’s automotive side. Kees Koolen, the 2022 W2RC titlist in the Truck category, finished sixth in Veteran Trophy in his maiden championship bike start.

Hamdan Al-Ali rounded out the top ten overall as the highest finishing Malle Moto entrant, a subdivision for those who race without assistance from crews. Al-Ali beat seven other riders, including Dietrich.

Justin Gerlach, a friend of The Checkered Flag, overcame a massive crash in Stage #2 that launched him into a roll down a dune to finish third in Junior Trophy. Other finishers of note include Saulius Klevinskas, a former goalkeeper for the Lithuanian national football team, and 2025 Dakar Rally aspirants like Jonathan Savel, Iván Merichal, and Willem Avenant.

“The ADDC is an extremely difficult and dangerous race,” wrote Avenant, whose Decoding Dakar series strives to create a coherent roadmap for those hoping to qualify for the Dakar Rally. “It requires full focus and attention for five solid days while riding in some of the most unforgiving dunes on the planet. The one crash I had I was literally not concentrating for three seconds. The goal was to finish only, not to push, or take any risks and to have zero crashes or penalties. I ended up having a stupid one-minute speeding penalty but managed to get all waypoints and no other penalties. I finished every day physically strong and was ready for more after each stage. This race was also very important for shaping my training plan for Dakar and to identify the areas I need to work on. I feel I have achieved that and can now focus the rest of the year on those areas and fundraising.

“My only regret is that I was not able to stop and take pictures. This desert is truly spectacular.”

Rally2 overall results

Rally2 stage winners

W2RC Rally2 standings

For readability, competitors registered for the championship but have not earned points are excluded.