Stage one of the Abu Dhabi Desert challenge proved victorious for the Red Bull KTM Racing team with Sam Sunderland clocking the fastest run to secure first place and Luciano Benavides coming in at fourth place.
The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge has made its kick start over the weekend. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team has dominated the sandy dunes . The team secured their win at the 2019 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship in Abu Dhabi, thanks to Sam Sunderland. Teammate Luciano Benavides managed to cap his run at fourth place. The desert challenge is a total of 370.86km in the Yas Marina Circuit. The circuit lit up with the strong winds and sandstorm. This provided an extra hurdle for the riders to go through. Despite all of that, Sam Sunderland still managed to pull through to give Red Bull KTM Racing a victorious start. 
“I’m always a bit nervous to start a new championship, but myself and the team did some really good work in Morocco a few weeks ago and as such I felt really strong in the dunes here in Abu Dhabi. The conditions were really difficult today with the high winds and bad visibility. I pushed really hard right from the start and ended up opening from around kilometre 60. From there I just kept to a good pace and thankfully everything went well. Looking forward to tomorrow now,” said the Briton according to KTM Racing. 
“That was a good day for me today – I learnt a lot about this desert as it is my first time here. I am very happy to complete the first stage and overall. As such I am glad with my result, especially as I opened around 30-40 kilometres for the first time. I am also content with my riding and will try to keep going like this and finish the race in a good position,” said the Argentinian Luciano Benavides.
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