With the Super Special Stage done and dusted at the Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge competitors now get down to the actual business of covering 1,304km over five days amidst the notorious Empty Quarter dunes in the Western Region from Sunday.

Saturday’s Super Special was meant to give spectators an opportunity to see off-road racing stars and their mean machines up-close in action on a 2.4km stretch of tarmac in exhibition style for bikes and quads, while the cars were classified in a timed run.

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The 53 riders were first to tackle the 2.4km test. Once the two-wheelers were done, 48 cars and buggies went into action against the clock with Argentina’s Lucio Alvarez setting the fastest time, followed by debutant Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi in second and Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah in third.

And now, from tarmac onto desert stages mean the flavour of the event will change dramatically from Sunday until April 2, by which time those surviving the vast expanse of the Empty Quarter will have covered stages of 262km, 279km, 272km, 258km and 233km for a total distance of 1,304km.

Speaking to Sport360, Sheikh Khalid, who is making a temporary transition from conventional rallying to cross country endurance for the event’s 25th anniversary, admitted that a difficult five days lay ahead.

The Abu Dhabi resident has swapped his Citroen World Rally Car for a Toyota Hilux, and said: “It’s hard to say anything until I experience the stages in the desert.

“We will really know about how good the car is when we race in the desert. This is only the Super Special Stage and it was just a bit of fun on the track.”

The WRC and MERC driver, however, played down any thought of him winning on home turf, saying: “To win you have to beat everybody else and be on top of your game.

“I just want to finish the Challenge safely. And let’s not forget, there are a lot of obstacles and challenges; that is why it’s called a challenge because it won’t be easy.”

Meanwhile, Al Attiyah, who has happy memories of the event having won it in 2008, said he is using the 2015 edition of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies for cars as preparation for the defence of his Dakar Rally title next year, after clinching his second trophy earlier in January.

“Of course retaining the Dakar title is very important,” said the Qatari.

“Abu Dhabi is not an easy race by any means. It has a lot of sand dunes which means the car must be faultless to go smoothly. Along with a strong line-up, this can only help me in my preparations for Dakar 2016.”