The fog did not cover the characteristic fervor of the Corbobés, who took to the famous Alta Cumbres road to see the best rally raid drivers in the world return their World Cup laurels to the stretch that connects The Condor and Copina. This is how it began Route 40 Challengewhich this year is in its twelfth edition and, being the 4th date of the world championshiphas the best pilots and the ‘irons’ they used in the Dakar Rally in Arabia or the sands of Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Argentina being at the height of the best events on the planet. The Qatari prince Nasser Al-Attiyah did not disappoint and took the honors driving his Hunterthe Spanish Tosha Schareina with Honda he set the course in motorcycles but with outstanding work from the brothers from Cordoba Facundo and Mariano Vielled by the award-winning MEC Team, took the best quadricycle places and won the applause.
The clouds were the protagonists of the Prologue, a brief section that began the acceleration. But the atmosphere will become intense with the 5 Stages and more than 3,000 kilometers that will be transited from Monday the 3rd to Friday the 7th June by Córdoba, San Juan and La Rioja. Al-Attiyah took advantage of the fact that he is one of the few drivers to know the stage, having raced in 2014 with a Ford Fiesta RCC from the World Rally Championship: “I think the time we did this year was really good, compared to the WRC,” the idol recalled. world that with a huge smile captures the public’s attention like no one else. In 2014 he sealed the route in 16m20s and now, ten years later, he clocked 16m17s with a vehicle that is not optimal for this type of roads, but designed for dunes and very broken sections, without taking into account that at times the fog did not allow us to see more than 50 meters forward.
He won the Dakar and wants to make history… again
The points accumulated after the victory in the Dakar Rally place Manuel Andujarthe young man from Lobos who runs with his own team, the 7240 Team, in an interesting position. If he wins, he needs the Saudi Hani Alnoumesi to finish off the podium to secure the points and be champion with a date in advance and repeat what was done in the 2021, when he also won the Dakar and was Champion at the end of the year. The thing started with the complications of the fog for the boy who has the support of the Boca Juniors Athletic Club in their official competition clothes. She had to take off her goggles, as can be seen in the photo, because the condensation in the middle of the fog and the cold played tricks on her, blurring all visionwhich was later corroborated with a high percentage of the riders of motorcycles and quads.
While Andújar won the world championship classification, in the sum of times with all those present he was behind the brothers Facundo and Mariano Viel, from Jesús María who in this race opted for the MEC Team, the winningest team of the Ruta 40 Challenge with 11 victories in 12 editions. “We went many times to see the rally at El Cóndor – Copina but it’s not the same as being there,” said Facu, the eldest, while the young ‘Nano’ insisted that “it was a dream of so many years watching the world rally.” The other notable venue was Jeremiah Pascualfrom Villa Dolores, who is closely watched by talent hunters and has a huge future in the specialty: “Despite the fog, you could see the people, with the cold, and it was incredible. Regarding the times, I didn’t expect to be so I thought I had a slow stage, but When I saw the times I said wow… it went well.“. The fifth place he achieved is a feat considering that the senior class has 11 scores and he participates in the second division, called Rally2, in which he finished comfortably first. An Argentinian also won in Rally3, hand in hand from Buenos Aires Fernando Hernandez (Husqvarna).
Among the motorcycles, the winner of the 2023 edition, Tosha Schareina He had the best time with his Honda, just two seconds better than his teammate Ricky Brabec. The tournament leader placed third Ross Branch (Hero), while Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) qualified behind. The youngest of the Benavides brothers gave the joy of the week when he said that his brother Kevin, accident three weeks agohe is recovering in his house in Salta from severe head trauma.
There is also action with light vehicles, special prototypes that are rarely seen with this level of mechanical preparation in Argentina except during the visit of the intercontinental championship. Besides more than one hundred scored for the World Cupthere are local cars that add up to 28 registered between the Open Cup and the amateurs of the Ansenuza Challenge closing the caravan.
Competition route:
- Stage 1 (Monday) Córdoba – Córdoba: 381 km
- Stage 2 (Tuesday) Córdoba – San Juan: 423 km
- Stage 3 (Wednesday) San Juan – San Juan: 341 km
- Stage 4 (Thursday) San Juan – La Rioja: 412 km
- Stage 5 (Friday) La Rioja – Córdoba: 218 km
How to watch the race? Check the Spectator Zones daily here.
