Mansour Al-Helei might not be competing for the World Rally-Raid Championship, but he was more than happy to put on a show for his fellow Emiratis on his home soil. Al-Helei and Yasir Seaidan, from neighbouring Saudi Arabia, squared off for the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge SSV victory, with Al-Helei narrowly coming out on top.
The margin between the two was as close as eighteen seconds at one point, when Seaidan won Stage #3 to take the overall lead from Al-Helei. Entering the final day, Al-Helei was clinging onto a 1:22 edge over Seaidan, a margin that could have been even closer had the latter not received seventy seconds in time penalties. Despite Seaidan’s efforts, he was unable to catch Al-Helei in Stage #5 as the gap nearly doubled. The 2:42 separating them was the closest final margin of victory among all six categories.
While coming up short, Seaidan being the top finisher among W2RC-eligible drivers gives him more of an advantage in the standings. He had also left the season-opening Dakar Rally as the best finishing championship competitor despite finishing third overall, and repeating this feat puts him nearly sixty points ahead of Sebastián Guayasamín, who joined him and Al-Helei on the outright podium. Rebecca Busi, who missed the 2023 ADDC due to logistical issues, notched her first career W2RC podium finish.
Abu Dhabi was the first race for Seaidan with Michaël Metge as navigator. He worked with his younger brother Adrien Metge at Dakar while Michaël finished runner-up there as the co-driver for Jérôme de Sadeleer, meaning the elder Metge is riding a two-race SSV runner-up streak.
Father and son duo Michele and Pietro Cinotto respectively finished fifth and ninth, the latter entering his first championship race outside of Dakar. Unlike his son, Michele is registered for points.
João Ferreira won the opening stage, but was disqualified a day later when he crashed on a dune and summoned his team to help diagnose the problem. Crews are forbidden from coming within a kilometre of their vehicle while it is on the Selective Section, resulting in him being one of two drivers getting the boot from the final order alongside Ultimate competitor Juan Cruz Yacopini for the same reason.
SSV overall results
| Finish | Number | Driver | Co-Driver | Team | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 411 | Mansour Al-Helei* | Khalid Al-Kendi | Mansour Al-Helei | 17:42:37 | Leader |
| 2 | 400 | Yasir Seaidan | Michaël Metge | MMP Compétition | 17:45:19 | + 2:42 |
| 3 | 403 | Sebastián Guayasamín | Fernando Matias Acosta | FN Speed Team | 18:18:49 | + 36:12 |
| 4 | 406 | Rebecca Busi | Sergio Lafuente | OnlyFans Racing | 19:11:52 | + 1:29:15 |
| 5 | 407 | Michele Cinotto | Maurizio Dominella | Xtremeplus | 20:40:12 | + 2:57:35 |
| 6 | 413 | Justas Grendelis* | Simonas Ramanauskas | Albe Alliance Racing | 21:29:06 | + 3:47:29 |
| 7 | 408 | Claude Fournier | Serge Gounon | MMP Compétition | 22:41:19 | + 4:58:42 |
| 8 | 410 | Piotr Beaupre* | Jarosław Kazberuk | Piotr Beaupre | 24:54:15 | + 7:11:38 |
| 9 | 414 | Pietro Cinotto* | Szymon Gospodarczyk | Xtremeplus | 33:57:32 | + 16:14:55 |
| 10 | 409 | Robert Szustkowski* | Albert Gryszcuk | Robert Szustkowski | 39:02:10 | + 21:19:33 |
| 11 | 405 | Ricardo Ramilo | Fausto Mota | Scuderia Ramilo Rodamoto | 40:50:30 | + 23:07:53 |
| 12 | 404 | Enrico Gaspari | Alberto Marcon | TH-Trucks Team | 42:20:03 | + 24:37:26 |
| 13 | 412 | Atif Alzarouni* | Mohammed Hasan Innab | Atif Alzarouni | 57:05:02 | + 39:22:25 |
| DSQ | 402 | João Ferreira | Filipe Palmeiro | Can-Am Factory Team | DSQ | N/A |
SSV stage winners
| Stage | Driver | Time |
| Prologue | Mansour Al-Helei* | 3:37.5 |
| Stage #1 | Mansour Al-Helei* | 3:52:56 |
| Stage #2 | Yasir Seaidan | 3:33:19 |
| Stage #3 | Yasir Seaidan | 3:58:17 |
| Stage #4 | Mansour Al-Helei* | 3:32:07 |
| Stage #5 | Mansour Al-Helei* | 2:39:25 |
W2RC SSV standings
For readability, competitors registered for the championship who have not earned points are excluded.
Drivers’ standings
| Rank | Driver | Points | Margin |
| 1 | Yasir Seaidan | 146 | Leader |
| 2 | Sebastián Guayasamín | 87 | – 59 |
| 3 | Sara Price | 74 | – 72 |
| 4 | João Ferreira | 73 | – 73 |
| 5 | Cristiano de Sousa Batista | 52 | – 94 |
| T-6 | Rebecca Busi | 45 | – 101 |
| T-6 | Enrico Gaspari | 45 | – 101 |
| 8 | Ricardo Ramilo | 38 | – 108 |
| 9 | Michele Cinotto | 22 | – 124 |
| 10 | Claude Fournier | 19 | – 127 |
| 11 | Eduard Pons | 16 | – 130 |
| 12 | André Thewessen | 13 | – 133 |
Co-drivers’ standings
| Rank | Co-Driver | Points | Margin |
| 1 | Adrien Metge | 91 | Leader |
| 2 | Fernando Matias Acosta | 87 | – 4 |
| 3 | Jeremy Gray | 74 | – 17 |
| 4 | Filipe Palmeiro | 73 | – 18 |
| 5 | Fausto Mota | 69 | – 22 |
| 6 | Michaël Metge | 55 | – 36 |
| 7 | Sergio Lafuente | 45 | – 46 |
| 8 | Aku Facundo Jaton | 31 | – 60 |
| 9 | Maurizio Dominella | 22 | – 69 |
| 10 | Marc Solà Terradellas | 21 | – 70 |
| 11 | Serge Gounon | 19 | – 72 |
| 12 | Jaume Betriu | 16 | – 75 |
| 13 | Alberto Marcon | 14 | – 77 |
| 14 | Dmytro Tsyro | 13 | – 78 |
