Rodrigo Gutierrez finished 2nd in the Desafio Ruta 40

Rodrigo Gutierrez © DR

– Fourth stage delay costs South Racing’s fourth-placed Halpern title chance

South Racing followed up two cars finishing the gruelling Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge on April 6th with Bolivian driver Rodrigo Gutierrez just missing out on the overall victory in second overall and Argentinean Sebastien Halpern finishing fourth on the other side of the world at Argentina’s Desafio Ruta 40 Sur on Friday (April 7th).

 

The five-day opening round of the Argentine Cross-Country Championship took place in southern Patagonia. Gutierrez and his new South American-based Croatian navigator Tomislav Glavic led going into the final stage, before narrowly missing out on the victory in Las Grutas to Argentina’s Emiliano Spataro.

Halpern and fellow Argentinean Eduardo Pulenta led until they broke a drive shaft on their Toyota Hilux in stage four and eventually finished fourth overall, setting the fastest time in the sand dunes of the Bahia Creek area on the final stage. The Argentinean had won the Desafio Ruta event in the La Rioja area in the north pf the country last year.

“This was a very difficult and technical race in Argentina,

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