For the Rally-Raid lovers, the Desafio Ruta 40 is a race not to be missed. Fourth round of the 2R World Rally Raid Championship, the Desafio Ruta 40 sees at the start all the best teams and drivers, making the Argentinian round a mini Dakar.
For this special occasion, Xtremeplus Team lines up two crews: #400 Japanese Shinsuke Umeda teaming up for the first time with the experienced co-driver and Dakar Legend Maurizio Dominella – CST Polaris Xtremeplus, and #401 Italian Enrico Gaspari and Argentinian Ricardo Torlaschi – ABC TOOLS Polaris Xtremeplus.
The race
As anticipated by Pablo Eli, the designer of the route, five demanding days will test the skill and the tenacity of the participants. The race will start this weekend in La Rioja and will then visit the cities of Belén (Catamarca), and Salta, where the final awards ceremony will take place on September 1st after five exhausting days of racing. The route features a little bit of everything thanks to the variety of terrain that the competitors will meet in the three regions of La Rioja, Catamarca and Salta. On Sunday, August 27th the prologue.
Shinsuke Umeda – CST Polaris Xtremeplus: « I really look forward to competing the Desafio Ruta 40. It’s my first rally in South America. This is the 4th round of the 2R World Rally Raid Championship so the target is to continue improving and earn important points for the championship. » Alongside Umeda, the Dakar legend Maurizio Dominella. For the Italian the route of the Desafio Ruta 40 is a familiar playground as he has competed many Dakar when the legendary rally was in South America (2009-2019).
Enrico Gaspari – ABC TOOLS Polaris Xtremeplus : « I’m really excited as it’s the first time that I compete the iconic Desafio Ruta 40. It’s also the first time that I team up with the Argentinian Ricardo Torlaschi and I really look forward to start racing as we get along very well. After the 5th place in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge i am confident. The key will be to keep a consistent pace. »