The podium places at the Abu Dhabi Challenge remain firmly in the hands of the Kiwi teams on Day 4 of racing. Qasr Al Sarab (Richard & Elina Usher, Marcel Hagnar, Nathan Fa-avae), ADCO NZ (Stu Lynch, Fleur Pawsey, Nathan Peterson and Gordon Blythen) and Vibram Sport2000 (Dwane Farley) have been travelling together for the entire desert trek so far, with teams approximately 3/4 of the way through the leg.
From previous editions of the race, the desert leg has proven difficult for the leaders to get a break - in the open sandy terrain it is hard to 'sneak away' on a different route choice, and the team in front is 'breaking ground' in the untracked sand for the teams behind to follow.
(L-R) Stuart Lynch, Nathan Peterson and Fluer Pawsey from ADCO NZ, bounding down a dune!
The leading teams all look to have taken several hours of their compulsary 8 hours of 'stop time' during this leg at CP4 during the early afternoon after some 5 hours on the feet - media reports teams arriving and making a beeline for the shade cast by the media 4WD jeeps. This fits with Stu's reported stopping plan, which was to use some of the rest time during the hot part of the day, and to take a longer stop later in the leg (probably at CP6) and get some sleep in before pushing on through the rest of the leg. With only minutes seperating some of the top placings however, these teams will all be looking at each other sideways to make sure they are staying in touch with the competition!
(L-R) Gordon Blythen, Fluer Pawsey, Nathan Peterson and Stu Lynch from team ADCO NZ sprinting for the finish of the kayak stage!
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