• Novitskiy and Coma maintain leads in Auto and Moto categories
• Husseini remains ahead with quad lead; White chasing a top five
• Weather hot but less fierce
Leonid Novitskiy of Team X-Raid built a watertight lead at the end of day three, the Nissan Stage of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge leaving the door open for a close finish for the second and third positions in the Auto category. There was also little change in the Moto category as KTM’s Marco Coma continued to make steady progress in his bid for a fourth Desert Challenge victory in five years.
Novitskiy may have virtually sealed his dominant position just three days into the Challenge. Only a serious technical malfunction could possibly upset the first three positions in the cars section over the remaining two days. The Russian’s margin is allowing to ‘play safe’ in a terrain that is reported to be grueling and is testing the strength of many entries, although the weather was kinder that the first two days.
“Abu Dhabi’s Empty Quarter is not so easy to master, but my lead is allowing me to respect the terrain and navigate the sands very well,” Novitskiy said.
Meanwhile, Powell battled to maintain second place over Frenchman Laurent Rosso with barely eight minutes separating the two when they set out for the Nissan Stage. Unfortunately, a problem with the power steering pump pulley forced the Team Saluki Honda Buggy to retire from the day. “I will be back out tomorrow,” Powell told reporters.
