Desafio Ruta 40 Monster Honda : Brabec gets podium in Argentina

The 11th edition of the Desafio Ruta 40 YPF was over today with the arrival of the caravan in Salta, northeast of Argentina. All four riders from the Monster Energy Honda Team reached the end and Dakar winner Ricky Brabec got a podium position. Also riding an Honda CRF 450 Rally, Tosha Shareina won the race, meaning that Honda enlarged its record in this competition with 9 victories out of 11.

For the last stage, riders did a 305 km liaison and 258 km of Special Stage between the cities of Belén and Salta. The margin to recover was short on a fast day of gravel and sand tracks. In the end, the penalties handed down to several riders for exceeding the speed limit in the special made the organization recalculate the results. Schareina, Brabec, Quintanilla, Branch and Dumontier got two minute penalties upon arrival at the bivouac. Price, Benavides and Docherty got 6 minute penalties.

In the overall standings, besides Brabec’s third place Van Beveren finished 5th, Pablo Quintanilla 6 th and José Ignacio Cornejo 7th place.

After the Desafio Ruta 40 YPF in Argentina there is one more stop to go at the World Rally-Raid Championship W2RC: the Morocco Rally will close the season between 13 and 18 of October. It will be a decisive moment for the dispute of the riders and manufacturers titles and Monster Energy Honda Team will certainly play an important role.

Ruben Faria – General Manager : « This was a great competition and made me remember the Dakars in South America. It was like a small Dakar with a lot of quality in every small detail. Regarding Monster Energy Honda Team today Adrien finally showed his great performance, he was the best. Ricky also did a great race and it was great to see him on the podium. Nacho was sick during the race and could not show his full potential. Pablo was great at the start of every special. In fact this was a great race for us. I want to enlighten here the winning from Tosha Shareina, he is a Honda satelite rider and made a great race. »

Ricky Brabec #2 : « We have finished the rally and it was a good week with a brutal first day of course with some issues but fought through them and managed to finish off Ruta 40. It feels good to be back in South America and after this week I think I am looking forward to coming back here next year. Today it was a close stage that I almost won, but then I got a penalty. »

Adrien Van Beveren #42 : « Today was a better day for me. The first part was really stony and I tried to stay safe. The second part I could push hard like a WRC track, a bit like Andalucia. I won the stage and with this at least I am not going home with my empty pockets. It’s good! Now let’s focus on Morocco and on the possibility of winning the title. »

Pablo Quintanilla #7 : « This was not a good race for me, I had to face many issues and felt limited. I could not race at my usual level but I am sure I gave my best. Even so I know I gave my best and this is very important. We need to keep the focus and work hard everyday even if things are not going the way we want. Now we have Morocco and my mind is already there and also in the Dakar preparation. »

José Ignacio Cornejo #11 : « We have finished Ruta 40 and this was a tough rally as always. I was feeling pretty good the first couple of days, feeling comfortable with the bike. Then I got a flu and some kind of virus in the end and could not race the same way. I tried to do my best, it was not easy but that is rally. »

Rider Standings
Provisional Final Standings after Stage 5
1. Schareina Tosha – SPA – Honda Team, 15:58:46
2. Benavides Luciano – ARG – Husqvarna Factory Racing, 16:10:22
3. Brabec Ricky – USA – Monster Energy Honda Team, 16:20:02
4. Evan Branch Ross – BWA – Hero Motorsports Team Rally, 16:25:31
5. Van Beveren Adrien – FRA – Monster Energy Honda Team, 16:27:38
6. Quintanilla Pablo – CHI – Monster Energy Honda Team, 16:37:54
7. Cornejo José Ignacio – CHI – Monster Energy Honda Team, 16:51:03
8. Cox Bradley – RSA – BAS Dakar KTM Racing Team, 17:01:01
9. Price Toby – AUS – Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team, 17:24:00
10. Dabrowski Konrad – POL – Duust Rally Team, 17:39:54…

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