The second round of the World Rally-Raid Championship, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, truly lived up to its name as teams battled through heat and mechanical issues over five stages.
Missed any of The Checkered Flag‘s coverage? Take a look below!
Pre-race stories
- 24 November 2022: 2023 Road to Dakar races include W2RC legs, South Africa
- 13 January: Ricky Brabec expects to return for Abu Dhabi after vertebrae injuries in Dakar
- 20 January: TCF‘s Dakar Rally newsroom
- 3 February: João Ferreira affirms W2RC T3 pursuit
- 16 February: Justin Gerlach making W2RC début in Abu Dhabi
- 16 February: Martin Macík Jr. forgoing Abu Dhabi, returning in Morocco
- 16 February: Mattias Ekstrom joins South Racing for Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
- 18 February: 55 on W2RC entry list
- 21 February: T4 leader Eryk Goczał forgoing W2RC pursuit for studies
- 22 February: 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge: Non-W2RC racers join the fight
- 22 February: Wrist injury sidelines Michael Docherty
- 23 February: Kevin Benavides to miss ADDC after breaking femur in testing
- 24 February: Sam Sunderland withdraws after broken ankle on final test day
- 25 February: Rebecca Busi unable to race due to organisational roadblocks
- 26 February: Travel situation keeps Oskar Andersson out
- 26 February: 5 stages of desert await
Mid-race stories
Overall winners
| Class | Number | Competitor | Team | Time | Recap |
| T1 | 207 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Overdrive Racing | 16:28:06 | Recap |
| T3 | 302 | Seth Quintero | Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team | 16:58:31 | Recap |
| T4 | 400 | Rokas Baciuška | Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing | 17:25:47 | Recap |
| RallyGP | 42 | Adrien Van Beveren | Monster Energy Honda Rally Team | 17:13:39 | Recap |
| Rally2 | 96 | Tobias Ebster* | SRG Motorsports | 2:36:51 | Recap |
| Quad | 174 | Abdulaziz Ahli | Abu Dhabi Team | 22:01:51 | Recap |
Stage recaps
| Stage | Date | Overall Cars winner | Overall Bikes winner | Recap |
| Prologue | 26 February | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Pablo Quintanilla | Recap |
| 1 | 27 February | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Pablo Quintanilla | Recap |
| 2 | 28 February | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Luciano Benavides | Recap |
| 3 | 1 March | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Toby Price | Recap |
| 4 | 2 March | Sébastien Loeb | Luciano Benavides | Recap |
| 5 | 3 March | Henk Lategan | Toby Price | Recap |
