Sam Sunderland returns to action in the Emirates Desert Championship this weekend as he bids for victory in another record-breaking round of the national Baja rally series.

Sunderland, a key member of the Red Bull KTM Factory Rally Team, finished runner-up in the recent final round of the 2014 FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship in Morocco, but knows there will be no easy ride on home territory.

“There are a few fast guys to race against, and the events are very strategic because the guy in front is doing all the work,” he said. “The guy behind can follow, read his body language and see if there is any danger, so it’s always fun and competitive.”

Beaten in Morroco by team-mate and new world champion Marc Coma, the Dubai-based British rider is now fully focused on the Emirates Desert Championship, which continues with the second of six short-course rallies in the Dubai desert on Friday morning.

He will be in good company as the event, taking place in the Margham area, looks certain to eclipse the record entry of 100 competitors set in the first round earlier this month.

“It's great for the sport to have more entries as it’s growing fast in the Middle East and this Baja championship is awesome,” said Sunderland.

Elsewherere, former Polish bikes star Marek Dabrowski makes his series debut on four wheels. Dabrowski has been a regular competitor in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in recent years, as well as in the Dakar Rally where he drove to seventh place overall in January after switching from bikes to cars.