Dakar Spirit Reborn in San Juan with Desafío Ruta 40 YPF INFINIA 2024

With a classic Rally Raid stage, which had 341 kilometers of selective section and another 137 kilometers of liaison, San Juan once again surprised the riders of Desafío Ruta 40 YPF INFINIA, on that stage that was also very demanding. DR40 has already surpassed the halfway point of its route. Ricky Brabec won the day and took the lead among the motorcycles, while Seth Quintero was the best among the cars, where Yazeed Al Rajhi continues to lead. Manuel Andujar consolidates his position in the quad category. Tomorrow, it’s the turn of La Rioja.

San Juan is a province that left its mark on the passage of the Dakar Rally across South America, competitors who had the chance to travel through this desert remember it very well. This time without the oppressive heat of January, but with the same “off road” essence as always, the province of Cuyo once again surprised the competitors in the third stage of Desafío Ruta 40 YPF INFINIA 2024.

 

Brabec is the stage winner and leads in the bikes overall; Quintero makes a “scratch” in cars
Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Team Honda) had a stunning stage victory and took over the overall standings, extending Honda’s dominance of the top four positions in this race. The American rider completed Wednesday’s special stage in 3:15.15 and won by 3.27 over his teammate Skyler Howes, while third was Tosha Schareina, at 3:38 behind. The new overall leader is 1.34 ahead over the Spanish rider, winner of Desafío Ruta 40 in 2023. In third place is Adrien Van Beveren, who had started the day as leader today but lost time opening the track.

In the quad category, Manuel Andujar (Yamaha) won his third consecutive stage and is already more than half an hour ahead of his runner up in the overall standings, Facundo Viel (MEC Team).

Among the cars, in the Ultimate class, Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz (Toyota Gazoo Racing) completed the stage in 3:14.0 and beat Nasser Al Attiyah and Edouard Boulanger (Nasser Racing by Prodrive) by 1:09. The latter managed to gain a few seconds on Yazeed Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk (Overdrive Racing) who, despite being third, still dominates the overall with a 2.21 advantage over the driver from Qatar.

In the Challenger class, Nazareno López and Lino Sisterna (Taurus T3 Max) surprised everyone by winning the stage in a category dominated by Rokas Baciuska and Sebastien Delaunay (Can-Am Factory Team).

 

Voices from bivouac:
Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda Team): “The day was good with more open desert, and some fast tracks as well. This morning was really cold so I had a slow start but after the transfer I thought it was time to give it gas. It’s cool to be the race leader, but there are still two days left. Tomorrow looks like everything is open. Hopefully, we ca do the job tomorrow and then on the final day give it a little push. I want to stay on top, but it- is not easy. To end in the podium will be sweet, but preferably aiming to the top thinking of the championship.”

Manu Andujar: «It was a pure rally-raid stage, very nice, with several changes of pace, a lot of off-road and fast parts as well. Regarding the quad, we found a couple of cracks in things that we have to fix, but we have time. The guys are already doing their part of the job, and I did mine today. We all count to put the team together and that’s how it works».

Seth Quintero (Toyota Gazoo Racing): “Today was a lot of fun. Yesterday for some reason I couldn’t go fast l, but I woke up confident today. I felt like home in the Arizonian desert, I could say. I gave 100% percent today. I made a few mistakes but it got out fine. I’m happier. I’ll try to do the same tomorrow.”

Nasser Al Attiyah (Nasser Racing by Prodrive): “Today we had a good run except that we got fire from the exhaust and we stopped for two minutes to put the fire down and to change that part and then we had one puncture, but then we tried to push. We are quite happy for having had a good stage today.”

 

W2RC: A Story from the Far West
Ricky Brabec in bikes and Seth Quintero in cars today achieved the first American double win for one country in the history of the W2RC. Four such double wins had already been recorded. The first came on stage 11 of 2022 Dakar Rally, when Argentinians Kevin Benavides (FIM) and Lucio Alvarez (FIA) won. Frenchmen Adrien Van Beveren (FIM) and Sébastien Loeb (FIA) did so at the Morocco Rally, scoring a double win on stages 2 and 5. The fourth and last time was at Desafío Ruta 40 2023! Luciano Benavides (FIM) and Juan Cruz Yacopini (FIA) won stage 2.
Quintero’s chances of overall victory have faded in Cordoba since he went off the track in Stage 1, with the Californian more than 30 minutes behind the leader. But the chances of the other Golden State native are at their best, with the Dakar winner now leading after crossing the halfway point of the race. In the event of a DR40 victory, Ricky would become the first American to win Desafío Ruta 40.

DR40 Green
Esta semana (del 1 al 9 de junio) se está celebrando la Semana de la Sostenibilidad de la FIM. Además, este miércoles 5 de junio es el Día Mundial del Medioambiente. En ese marco, el Desafío Ruta 40 YPF INFINIA también ha adoptado medidas en pos del cuidado del planeta. Solo por citar una, en cada bivouac se puede encontrar el Punto Verde donde se recolecta el aceite y se realiza la trazabilidad de los residuos acopiados.

 

Stage 4: A farewell to San Juan and the arrival to La Rioja tracks.
Tomorrow there will be more time for navigation in the first part of the 412-kilometer selective section of the penultimate stage of Desafío Ruta 40 YPF. The start of this speed sector will be in a sector of dunes that will again test the navigation skills of those who will be opnening the track.
Small dunes with vegetation that gradually turn into fesh-fesh, with some areas of chott where off-road specialists will be able to take some advantage. Then, the race enters some of the roads in La Rioja that this race visited last year. These are some very technical final kilometers that test the physical condition of the riders as the margin of error is nil.

 

La Rioja is expecting Desafío Ruta 40 YPF INFINIA
As in 2023, Desafío Ruta 40 will land in the province of La Rioja. The bivouac will be located in Estadio Superdomo. Spectators can visit the bivouac from 11am to 7pm, with free admission.
those who wish to witness the competitors’ on the selective section will be able to do so through the Spectator zones: www.desafioruta40.ar/zona-espectadores/

 

The great closing in Cordoba is near
This Friday, the rally caravan will return to Córdoba for its closing. The awards giving ceremony of Desafío Ruta 40 YPF INFINIA will take place in the capital of the province of Córdoba.
The bivouac will again be located at Complejo Ferial Córdoba which will be open to the public with free admission. The first competitors will start arriving at noon. The awards ceremony and podium will start at 15hs at the Parque del Chateau.