Elite level rally-raid competition returns to Argentina this week to contest Desafío Ruta 40 YPF. The five-stage race will retrace many of the tracks made famous during the Dakar Rally’s 10-year stint in the South American country. The penultimate round of the 2023 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship will witness outstanding off-road talent pushing hard on a gruelling 2,804-kilometre route as the season’s chequered flag approaches.
Five-time Dakar champion Nasser Al-Attiyah will receive the welcome of an honorary Argentinian due to his immense popularity in the country. Al-Attiyah’s first two Dakar victories were claimed in Buenos Aires and he’s clearly keen to relive that winning feeling on his return to Argentina.
« I’m really happy to come back again to Argentina for this next rally. We have a lot of good memories of the Dakar Rally in South America and specifically in Argentina. We can’t wait to race in Argentina again! » – Nasser Al-Attiyah
Al-Attiyah and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel are on course to retain their W2RC T1 title this season, racing all five rounds in their Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+. The duo currently enjoy a lead of 30 points over their nearest rival going into Desafío Ruta 40.
« I am excited to be able to complete the final two rounds of the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing, and the upcoming races offer fantastic opportunities for us to score valuable points in our quest to win back-to-back W2RC titles. » – Nasser Al-Attiyah
Sébastien Loeb, currently third in the W2RC T1 rankings, will not be racing in Argentina. The Frenchman is due to rejoin the championship for the fifth and final race of season in Morocco in his BRX Prodrive Hunter alongside co-driver Fabian Lurquin.
Over in the W2RC’s bike category it’s another name who got his first taste of Dakar glory in Argentina who’s leading the charge. Toby Price won both of his Dakar titles to date in South America and comes back to Argentina on the hunt for further success. The Australian can cement his place at the top of the bike rankings when Desafío Ruta 40 gets underway with a Prologue stage on Sunday, August 26.
Price will be up against his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team-mate Matthias Walkner, another rider to have won the Dakar during its South American chapter.
« I’m super excited and looking forward to coming back to Argentina. I know the race is going to be super, super tough but the stages will also be really beautiful. » – Matthias Walkner
Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing rider Sam Sunderland will be looking to get ahead of his former KTM team-mates in Argentina. Two-time Dakar winner Sunderland is one of many bikers targeting Desafío Ruta 40 as the perfect moment to get on the pace ahead of the next trip to Saudi Arabia.
« Desafío Ruta 40 is always a hard race with lots of difficult terrain like stoney riverbeds. This year hasn’t gone perfectly for me so I’m looking forward to getting back to a good rhythm. » – Sam Sunderland
Reigning Dakar champion biker Kevin Benavides misses the rally which finishes in his hometown of Salta due to an injury to his right wrist.
The tightest category of the entire W2RC remains the T3 contest where a battle royale between two drivers of the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA presented by BFGoodrich is being played out. Austin ‘AJ’ Jones and co-driver Gustavo Gugelmin have stayed on the pace since their Dakar win earlier this year and currently hold a slim advantage in the T3 rankings.
« I’ve never been to Argentina before so I’m really excited to go and check it out. I’ve seen videos of some of the old Dakar routes that we’ll be going through and it all looks really cool. I’m always up for exploring somewhere new and racing in another desert. » – Austin ‘AJ’ Jones
Seth Quintero is just a single point behind team-mate AJ going into Desafío Ruta 40. Quintero arrives in Argentina fresh off a stunning UTV victory at the famous Vegas to Reno race in his native USA. Now the 20-year-old is back to rally-raid business with co-driver Dennis Zenz.
« We’ve been working hard throughout the whole year to be on the top step of the podium and championship. One point separates me from my team-mate and I’m ready to go to work to try and make a gap in the points standing. » – Seth Quintero
The previous round of the championship saw T3 victory at the Sonora Rally in Mexico claimed by Mitch Guthrie Jr. and co-driver Kellon Walch in their MCE5 machine. That result has the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA presented by BFGoodrich pair third overall with Desafío Ruta 40 and Rallye du Maroc still to race.
The Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team crews of Cristina Gutiérrez/Pablo Moreno and Chaleco López/Juan Pablo Latrach are fourth and fifth overall respectively in the T3 rankings. Expect pressure to be exerted by these pairings as well as Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist as the T3 category once again promises exciting racing across all five stages.
« I’m very happy to compete again in Argentina since we will cross areas that are very familiar to me from Dakar stages. We’re always delighted to come back, especially as Argentinian fans are some of the best in the world. » – Cristina Gutiérrez
Rokas Baciuška will not be adding to his substantial lead in the W2RC T4 category in Argentina as he and co-driver Oriol Vidal will miss the rally. The duo will rejoin the series at its concluding round in Morocco in October.
For the off-road racers that will take the start line of Desafío Ruta 40 there’s a perilous route mapped out from La Rioja to Salta via Belén. Of the total distance of 2,804km to be covered, 1.555km will be raced during the five timed special stages. We’ll find out who has come out on top when the chequered flags flies in Salta on Friday, September 1.
World Rally-Raid Championship: Rankings
T1 : 1. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) Toyota 136 points ; 2. Y. Al Rajhi (SAU) Toyota 106 pts ; 3. S. Loeb (FRA) Prodrive 101 pts…
T3 : 1. A. Jones (USA) Can-Am 146 points ; 2. S. Quintero (USA) Can-Am 145 pts ; 3. M. Guthrie Jr. (USA) MCE5 126 pts…
T4 : 1. R. Baciuska (LTU) Can-Am 189 points ; 2. E. Goczal (POL) Can-Am 86 pts ; 3. S. Umeda (JPN) Polaris 79 pts…
Bike : 1. T. Price (AUS) KTM 62 points ; 2. L. Benavides (ARG) Husqvarna 55 pts ; 3. A. Van Beveren (FRA) Honda 53 pts…
QUOTES
Nasser Al-Attiyah: « I’m really happy to come back again to Argentina for this next rally. We’ve got a lot of good memories of the Dakar Rally in South America and specifically in Argentina. We can’t wait to race in Argentina again!
« I am excited to be able to complete the final two rounds of the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing, and the upcoming races offer fantastic opportunities for us to score valuable points in our quest to win back-to-back W2RC titles. »
Matthias Walkner: « I’m super excited and looking forward to coming back to Argentina. I really love the country. I know the race is going to be super, super tough but the stages will also be really beautiful. And the people around there are really cool. »
Sam Sunderland: « Before heading down to Argentina we did some testing in the States. Desafío Ruta 40 is always a hard race with lots of difficult terrain like stoney riverbeds. It’ll be a little taste of the old Dakars. I’m looking forward to rediscovering the place. This year hasn’t gone perfectly for me so I’m looking forward to getting back to a good rhythm. »
Austin ‘AJ’ Jones: « I’ve never been to Argentina before so I’m really excited to go and check it out. I’ve seen videos of some of the old Dakar routes that we’ll be going through and it all looks really cool. I’m always up for exploring somewhere new and racing in another desert. »
Seth Quintero: « We’ve been working hard throughout the whole year to be on the top step of the podium and championship. One point separates my team-mate and me and I’m ready to go to work to try and make a gap in the points standing. »
Cristina Gutiérrez: « I’m very happy to compete again in Argentina since we will cross areas that are very familiar to me from Dakar stages that we did when the rally was there. We’re always delighted to come back, especially as Argentinian fans are some of the best in the world. »