Close fight between Honda and Al Rajhi’s dominance in the car category
Ricky Brabec and Tosha Schareina are virtually tied in the Motorcycle overall standings after the first stage. The American was ahead by one second in the day’s classification but the Spaniard managed to defend the first place in the overall standings -which adds up the time of the prologue with today’s time- by just one second. Behind, the third Honda, in the hands of Adrien Van Beveren, is 1:29 behind the leader.
In Rally2 Bradley Cox (KTM) is in command, while in Rally3 the leader is John Medina (KTM).
Manuel Andujar (Yamaha) is the one to look at among the Quads after Facundo Viel (Yamaha), who had dominated until the last kilometers but ran out of gas with less than 50 kilometers to go and lost the first place. In this way Andujar leads the overall standings with a 3:04 advantage over Viel.
On the other hand, Yazeed Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk (Toyota) had no problem to take the first place among the Ultimate Cars. The Saudi driver flew in Cordoba hills and took 2:20 ahead of Nasser Al Attiyah and Edouard Boulanger (Hunter). Third are Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon (Toyota) who recovered from yesterday’s incident in which they lost a rear wheel in El Condor and are already in the fight for the lead again.
Rokas Baciuskas and Sebastien Delaunay (Can-Am Factory Team) are the best so far in Challenger, while Sebastián Guayasamín and Fernando Acosta (Can Am) are first among the SSV.
Las voces del bivouac:
Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda Team): “It feels good to get a stage win here. We’ve done a good job with all the team. I was in a fight all day with Tosha. I’m a little bit nervous for tomorrow but it’s rally. We have to do what we can do tomorrow opening the stage. The day was good with fast tracks on slippery roads, so I happy to escape the day and finish off well where we did with no injuries. Definitely looking forward to the next 4 days. The fight with Tosha was only 1 sec for the las 100 km. It’s awesome. There is no opener bonus here and it’s road, speed and navigation. It’s cool to be opening. We’ll be in the old school here.”
Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Racing): “It was not easy, quite a technical stage, we caught a lot of cars with dust, but everything is going well with us. I hope to continue like this. It’s the most important. There were a lot of spectators, it was really nice. It was a long stage and we found a lot of spectators every 4 or 5 kilometers. For sure, they are big fans of motorsport and this makes us happy. Tomorrow is a very long stage. Timo and me will do our best.”
Rokas Baciuska (Can-Am Factory Team): “Today was quite a nice stage. At the beginning it was fast and then tight and narrow, all the time left, right, left, right. Tomorrow will be also long. I just want to keep the place, taking it easy. We saw people on every corner. I cannot say how many, but really lots of people.”
W2RC : Honda / Hero neck-to-neck
The two motorcycle manufacturers competing in this season’s world championship have dominated every race since January. In Dakar, Honda won with Ricky Brabec, the day’s winner. At Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Aaron Mare won with his Hero. In Portugal last April, it was Tosha Schareina, overall leader tonight and defending 2023 DR40 winner, who gave the victory to the Reds. But the constructors’ classification is a team race, in which the top two riders of each brand give points for the manufacturer championship. And in this game, the Indian firm currently has 106 points to Honda’s 103… which today said Here! by placing three of its riders ahead of two Hero riders. Honda is the reigning double world manufacturer’s champion, but has yet to win an individual title. Adrien Van Beveren and Ricky Brabec, on the overall W2RC podium behind Ross Branch, have not said their final words. The Desafío Ruta 40 YPF INIFINIA could well prove decisive in Honda’s quest for a rider’s title.
Cordovan roots, Portuguese accent
Cristian and Marcos Baumgart are two Brazilian drivers in the Ultimate category who arrived at Desafío Ruta 40 YPF INFINIA with a unique design on their Hunter with the Brazilian flag on one side and the Argentinean flag on the other. It is not just a wink to the grandstand, the Brazilians are visiting Córdoba for the first time, the province where their father was born and they meet their Argentine roots. Read this story in this article.
Stage 2: A varied stage to get to San Juan
The second stage of Desafío Ruta 40 YPF INFINIA will be a long day of 724 kilometers between Córdoba and San Juan. There will be 423 kilometers of full speed, and it will also be the longest selective section of the week.
The race will start in the sector where the first stage ended and will go through winding mountain roads typical of rally, with ascents and descents through fast sectors combined with other technical ones in sections that are usually run by national and international rally competitions.
For the second half, the race enters the first kilometers of “off road” in the middle of chott and fesh fesh areas which will demand putting into practice all the knowledge in navigation.
