Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin returned The Dacia Sandriders to stage-winning ways in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship with the fastest time on Stage 2 of Desafío Ruta 40 today (Tuesday).
The 22nd stage win in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) for The Dacia Sandriders since it made its debut in the series in October 2024, and the sixth for the squad this season, came on the back of a challenging opening stage on Monday when all three Dacia-powered crews were delayed by tyre damage.
But Al-Attiyah/Lurquin shrugged off their earlier frustrations with a fine drive on the run from San Juan to San Rafael in Argentina’s Mendoza region, moving up from eighth to fifth in the overall classification.
The Dakar Rally winners’ victory on Stage 2, which was shortened from the planned 334 kilometres to 128, earned them five points, which puts them two behind team-mates Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger in the provisional W2RC standings. Al-Attiyah, meanwhile, has now won stages on all eight of his Desafío Ruta 40 appearances.
After three deflated tyres hampered their progress on Monday, Loeb/Boulanger – who won round two of the season in Portugal – enjoyed a trouble-free day, electing to stop during the stage to secure the most favourable road position possible for Stage 3 tomorrow (Wednesday).
Lucas Moraes was also in fightback mode following the navigational issues that held the Brazilian back on Monday. With Dennis Zenz alongside, defending world champion Moraes impressed by going fifth quickest to climb from 15th to 12th in the overall classification.
The Dacia Sandriders continues its Desafío Ruta 40 initiation with a challenging loop stage that starts and finishes in San Rafael. With 408 kilometres against the clock and a maximum altitude of 2715 metres to overcome, a tough test is in store for the crews on round three of the 2026 W2RC.
KEY QUOTES
NASSER AL-ATTIYAH (QATAR), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « It was a short stage, but it was really tough, easy to lose everything. But we’ve been on a good pace from the start to the finish. We decided to push without any risk, and we win the stage, which was really good. Five points for the championship and we’ll see for tomorrow because tomorrow we will open the road. But Fabian and me will try to do our best. We work to catch the leaders, but it looks like it’s a tough race for everyone. We need to be good every day, and this will be the target to win this rally. »
SÉBASTIEN LOEB (FRANCE), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « Everything was okay today, we tried to take a good rhythm in the stage with no mistakes and no problems. I didn’t want to be first on the road tomorrow so I decided to stop for one minute to be sure to have a good position for tomorrow. That’s done and there is no problem, it was a good day. Now we have three long stages to come so we’ll see, anything can happen. »
LUCAS MORAES (BRAZIL), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « It was a better day for us, and I was happy with the pace that we managed to have, especially after the first split when we had a small navigation doubt, let’s say, and we lost a little bit there. Overall, my Dacia Sandrider was performing really well and congratulations to Nasser and Fabian for the stage win. We have good road position for tomorrow, but this race is like a mini Dakar in some points and it can really bite you quickly. Everything is quite wide open still and we will see how it goes. »
FABIAN LURQUIN (BELGIUM), NAVIGATOR, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « We had a good day. There were two options today because we knew it was a short stage, and we had a good position to start in. Somehow, we can say the rally really starts tomorrow, with some long stages to come. We chose to push and take five points today, which we did, so that’s a stage victory and I’m happy with that. It might be a bit tricky tomorrow, but we will handle the situation. »
DESAFÍO RUTA 40 STAGE 2 RESULTS (UNOFFICIAL) – San Juan–San Juan
Stage distance: 128km Liaison distance: 506km Total distance: 634km
1. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), 1h45m42s
5. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Dennis Zenz (GER), 1h46m47s
9. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), 1h48m22s
DESAFÍO RUTA 40 ULTIMATE CATEGORY OVERALL RESULTS AFTER STAGE 2 (UNOFFICIAL)
5. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), +3m06s
8. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), +9m26s
12. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Dennis Zenz (GER), +12m51s
DESAFÍO RUTA 40: THE BIG NUMBER
22: The Dacia Sandriders is now a 22-time stage winner in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship following victory for Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin on Stage 2 of Desafío Ruta 40.
THE DAY AHEAD: STAGE 3, MAY 27
A notable feature of Desafío Ruta 40’s third stage, which starts and finishes in San Rafael, is the crossing of the El Nihuil dunes ahead of a high-speed section on salt flats followed by a closing section through mountain-based tracks. At 408 kilometres, no stage is longer in terms of the timed distance.
Stage distance: 408km Liaison distance: 166km Total distance: 574km
Linda Hirvonen,