After a month off, the World Rally-Raid Championship roared back to life this past week with the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
Missed The Checkered Flag‘s daily coverage? We’ve got you covered with a nifty archive of our stories below.
Pre-race stories
- 7 March 2023: TCF‘s 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge newsroom
- 9 October 2023: Road to Dakar returns for 2024
- 29 November 2023: 2024 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge to feature “revamped format”
- 6 December 2023: CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team to run nearly full 2024 W2RC
- 22 December 2023: Kamil Wiśniewski to miss 2024 Dakar Rally, plans return for W2RC
- 27 December 2023: CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team skipping Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge amidst Red Sea shipping crisis
- 26 January: TCF‘s 2024 Dakar Rally newsroom
- 29 February: Michael Docherty on track to recover for Abu Dhabi
- 5 February: Gustavo Gugelmin stepping away from racing
- 8 February: Michaël Metge joins Yasir Seaidan for rest of 2024 W2RC
- 11 February: Aliyyah Koloc doing triple duty in W2RC, Middle East Baja, 24H Series
- 13 February: Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel split
- 13 February: 1,902 km in total from Al Dhannah to Abu Dhabi
- 14 February: Audi drops out of W2RC, ending rally raid programme early
- 16 February: 101 on entry list
- 20 February: Benavides, Van Beveren enter Enduro del Verano over Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
- 26 February: Laia Sanz a last-second challenger in Challenger
Mid-race stories
- 27 February: Audi fined for no-show
- 28 February: João Ferreira, already retired, disqualified as well
- 1 March: Juan Cruz Yacopini disqualified for Stage 3 crew assistance
Stage winners
| Stage | Date | Overall Cars Winner | Overall Bikes Winner | Recap |
| Prologue | 26 February | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ross Branch | Recap |
| Stage #1 | 27 February | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Michael Docherty | Recap |
| Stage #2 | 28 February | Guerlain Chicherit | Aaron Marè | Recap |
| Stage #3 | 29 February | Seth Quintero | Ross Branch | Recap |
| Stage #4 | 1 March | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Aaron Marè | Recap |
| Stage #5 | 2 March | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Ross Branch | Recap |
Overall winners
| Class | Number | Competitor | Team | Time | Recap |
| Ultimate | 206 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Nasser Racing | 16:20:09 | Recap |
| Challenger | 304 | Austin Jones | Can-Am Factory Team | 17:10:50 | Recap |
| SSV | 411 | Mansour Al-Helei* | R-X Sport | 17:42:37 | Recap |
| RallyGP | 44 | Aaron Marè | Hero MotoSports | 16:36:13 | Recap |
| Rally2 | 26 | Konrad Dąbrowski | DUUST Rally Team | 16:41:09 | Recap |
| Malle Moto | 40 | Hamdan Al-Ali* | Hamdan Al-Ali | 21:47:30 | Recap |
| Junior Trophy | 26 | Konrad Dąbrowski | DUUST Rally Team | 16:41:09 | Recap |
| Veteran Trophy | 92 | David Mabbs* | Vendetta Racing UAE | 21:10:24 | Recap |
| Quad | 174 | Abdulaziz Ahli | Abu Dhabi Team | 20:14:22 | Recap |
