Source: Supplied.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team’s Sam Sunderland kicked off his 2017 FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship campaign with an overall victory at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge this week.

The 2017 Dakar Rally winner rode his factory KTM to the overall victory with a winning margin of over six minutes ahead of second-place finisher Pablo Quintanilla.

Behind Sunderland and Quintanilla it was Matthias Walkner, also part of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team, who claimed the final step on the podium just over eight minutes behind his teammate.

Behind Sunderland, Quintanilla and Walkner it was Paulo Goncalves who took home fourth position followed by Pela Renet who rode his Husqvarna entry to fifth position at the end of the fifth stage.

Australia’s Toby Price was absent from the event as he continues to recover from a broken femur sustained during the 2017 Dakar Rally and is expected to return to racing at the Tatts Finke Desert Race in the Northern Territory on 9-12 June.

The 2017 FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship will now head to Qatar for round two of the series on 17-22 April.