Tony Lewis ABU DHABI — Spanish driver Nani Roma swept to the front of the pack in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge Monday while Dubai-based British rider Sam Sunderland overshadowed the world's best on two wheels to take the lead in the bikes class. Partnered by French co-driver Michel Perin in his Mini, Roma was fastest over the grueling 250km ADNOC Special Stage 2 which sent the rally on a difficult passage through the giant dunes of the Rub Al-Khali, and he finished it leading the cars class by 17min 10sec from Brazillian Guilherme Spinelli. Accompanied by Youssef Haddad in a Mitsubishi ASX, Spinelli was 19min 31sec clear of Dutchman Bernhard Ten Brinke and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel in third place in their HRX Ford X. With another Dutchman, Erik Van Loon, slipping one place overnight to fourth, defending champion and six-time Desert Challenge winner Jean Louis Schlesser had a much better day after his problems on the first leg, climbing to fifth, although he was more than 50 minutes off the lead. While a procession of cars and bikes became stuck in soft sand as the route wound its way through the spectacular but unforgiving dunes, Saudi Arabia's Yasir Saeidan took his Polaris into seventh position, while the UAE's Yahya Al-Helei shrugged off his first leg setback to move into the top ten, and lead the T2 production class. Roma later say: “It was definitely not easy and much harder than Sunday. I got stuck once and lost maybe seven minutes. But it's ok – I'm feeling good at the moment.” Spinelli said: “This stage was more difficult. I was climbing one of the biggest dunes in second gear and at the top I tapped my brakes slightly and got stuck. It cost us maybe 10 minutes. But this is a very good experience for me as I've never driven in the desert before.” The cars category was guaranteed a new leader when Argentina's Lucio Alvarez, who had won the Abu Dhabi Motorsport Management Special Stage 1, withdrew overnight after his Toyota Hilux Overdrive X T1 was deemed unfit to continue. It had been damaged when it rolled 2km from finish of the first stage. While many of the riders found the going particularly tough, Sunderland produced a stunning performance, outpacing world champion Marc Coma throughout the stage and finishing with a lead of 2min 13sec from the Spaniard, the defending champion in the Desert Challenge and six-time winner of the event.
