Tosha Schareina He won in Motorcycles, but could not take ground from the leader Ricky Brabec. In Ultimate, Nasser Al Attiyah and Edouard Boulanger They won the stage but due to a penalty they were unable to take the lead of the race. While on Quads, Manuel Andujar He cherishes the title in the race and in the World Championship. Tomorrow, the last stage reaches Córdoba, where the great awards ceremony will take place from 3:00 p.m. in the Chateau Park.
A pure day Rally Raid on the roads and a party in the camp. As is customary on each visit of the YPF INFINIA Route 40 Challenge to La Rioja, the public responded and filled the camp located in the Superdomo Stadium. On the roads, the action gave no respite but there are still many unknowns to be revealed on the last day of this competition, which will take place tomorrow, Friday, and will link the capitals of La Rioja and Córdoba, with a 218-kilometer stage of full speed and another 301 link.
Stage 4: Brabec defends and Al Attiyah attacked at the right time
The leader of the competition among the motorcycles, Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda Team) did a great deal this Thursday. Despite opening the track and facing a complicated navigation section at the beginning of the 391-kilometer special (it was shortened a few kilometers), the American managed to maintain a good pace that allowed him to lose just 7 seconds compared to the fastest of the day, his teammate Tosha Schareina, who completed the day with a time of 3:37.25.
In this way, Brabec wins the general classification with a cumulative time of 15:31.35, beating Schareina by 1.27, while third appears Adrien Van Beveren (also with Honda) at 4.28.
In Quads, Manuel Andujar (Yamaha) is increasingly established at the top and is excited about securing his second consecutive World Cup crown, something he will achieve if he arrives in Córdoba tomorrow as leader and his Saudi rival, Hani Alnoumesi (Yamaha) – which is currently sixth in the valid W2RC classification, does not climb to second place overall. The Lobos driver already has more than 40 minutes of advantage over Facundo Viel, his escort.
For his part, Romain Dumontier (Honda Team) won the stage in Rally2 and is 7 minutes ahead of Bradley Cox (KTM), while in Rally3 the Chilean John Medina (BAS WORLD KTM RACING TEAM) took the lead after the delay of who Until today, Fernando Hernández (MED RACING TEAM) was the leader.
The fight for the lead in cars, more precisely in Ultimate, is red hot and will be defined tomorrow in the last kilometers. Nasser Al Attiyah and Edouard Boulanger (Nasser Racing by Prodrive) attacked at the right time and, with a time of 3:39.15, achieved a very important victory to surpass Yazeed Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk (Overdrive Racing) in the overall standings. The difference at the end of the stage was 47 seconds in favor of the Qatari but then a one-minute penalty was confirmed due to an infraction in Stage 3. The sanction arises from evidence from an onboard camera which shows that they did not use correctly seat belt and FHR during a period of the section.
In this way, the Saudi maintains the lead but with a minimal advantage of just 13 seconds over the Hunter driver. Third, the best Argentines Sebastián Halpern and Ronnie Graue (X-Raid Mini JCW Team) appear.
In Challenger, Rokas Baciuska and Sebastien Delaunay (Can-Am Factory Team) won the stage and have already accumulated almost ten minutes over Nicolás Cavigliasso and Valentina Pertegarini (Taurus BV). In SSV, Ricardo Ramilo and Fausto Mota (BRP Can Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR) lead the General classification.
Baltazar Frezze Pissoni (KTM) took the day among the Open Motorcycles, where Julián Sánchez Dabín (Honda) continues as the leader. Jeremías González Ferioli and Gonzalo Rinaldi (Can Am) dominate with authority in Autos Open.
| Tosha Schareina. Photo credit: Paco Foto Agency | |
| The voices of the bivouac:
Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda Team): “At the beginning, we had a lot of sand. It was very different from other days. I tried to push at the end and I think I made up about seven seconds from the morning. Tomorrow will be an interesting day. Tomorrow will be all track and I think it will be difficult to make up time but we are going to push hard and see what happens.” Manu Andujar: “There is one more stage left and we will try to get to Córdoba in the best way. I want to enjoy”. It’s full of people. La Rioja always surprises us and more and more people come. It would be special to win at home. It was a nice race, it was my birthday, my mother came who doesn’t like to come to races, my friends came. The truth is that everything has been very nice.”
Yazeed Al Rajhi (Toyota Overdrive): “This stage has not been easy for us. In the first 88 km we lost a lot of time because it was very bumpy, and it was hard on our front suspension. We have had problems with the suspension since the Dakar. We try to do our best, and we try to be careful. But after km 88 we pushed and made up some time. Tomorrow will be a big battle again. I hope everything goes well.”
W2RC: Girls Power
Today, there are 3 women on the W2RC podium: Pilot Danial Akeel (BBR; 3rd in the stage) and navigator and Nicolas Cavigliasso’s partner, Valentina Pertegarini (Taurus Factory by Wevers – 2nd in the stage) in Challenger; as well as Rebecca Busi (Only Fans Racing – 2nd in the stage) who finished on the SSV podium. In the general W2RC competitions, Cristina Gutierrez has already added 6 podiums in Challenger, which makes her the queen of the discipline. In 2024, the Spaniard will become the first official female W2RC driver, competing alongside Nasser Al Attiyah and Sébastien Loeb in the new official Dacia team. | |
| Rebeca Bussi, one of the women of this DR40. Credit: Paco Photo Agency | |
| The story of the day: Canet Ardevol, the youngest driver of the Ruta 40 Challenge who challenges the limits
Edgar Canet Ardevol is the youngest pilot in the 12th edition of the YPF INFINIA Ruta 40 Challenge. Born on March 16, 2005, he came to this career at just 19 years old. The native of La Garriga, a municipality in the community of Catalonia, in Spain, is taking his first steps in the rally raid and his performance is already giving something to talk about. His participation in Ruta 40 is only the Catalan’s fourth competition in the World Championship of the specialty. In his first foray through Argentina, aboard his KTM 450 Rally Factory of the XRAIDS Experience team, Canet Ardevol has achieved second place in the Prologue, Stage 2 (Córdoba-San Juan) and Stage 4 (San Juan-La Rioja), being third in Stage 1 (Córdoba-Córdoba) and Stage 3 (San Juan-San Juan) “I did motocross until the end of 2023. I was competing in the European Championship and at the end of last year I decided to sign up for a rally raid race because I had always liked it a lot and I wanted to try and I loved it. So, from there I decided to switch to this discipline and push as hard as possible to be as professional as possible and here we are in Argentina, on Route 40,” said the young rider who comes from the world of motocross upon arriving in La Rioja.
With only one date left, the youngest of the race has already become a revelation. Stage 5: A sprint at pure speed
The last stage of the YPF INFINIA Ruta 40 Challenge, Stage 5 La Rioja-Córdoba (218km special, 298km link) will be a true sprint through mountainous roads that will require technique and a lot of skill to navigate them. The race leaves La Rioja and once again enters Cordoban territory, finding typical rally roads that do not allow any mistakes. Although there will not be many difficulties in terms of navigation, the drivers will have to maintain maximum concentration taking into account that any mistake can lose seconds or even the race. The countless curves do not allow any mistakes and the last kilometers before reaching Córdoba will be a real challenge after five intense days of competition. The big closing is coming in Córdoba!
The 12th edition of the YPF INFINIA Ruta 40 Challenge will conclude this Friday in the province of Córdoba. The first motorcycle will arrive in the capital of Cordoba around noon. The grand closing is scheduled to take place – just as the starting ceremony was – in the Chateau Park starting at 3pm, with free entry. In the first instance, the press conference will be held with the winners of all categories and the podium will begin at 3:30 p.m. | 
| Edgar Yanet Ardevol, the youngest of the competitors in the YPF INFINIA Ruta 40 Challenge. Photo credit: Paco Foto Agencia | | | YPF INFINIA Route 40 Challenge Program:
Friday June 7
Stage 5: La Rioja – Córdoba (218km special – 264km link)
11 a.m. to 7 p.m.: Opening hours of the bivouac (Córdoba Fair Complex) for the public with free entry
12:04hs Arrival of the first competitor in Córdoba
3pm: Winners Press Conference (Chateau Park) Followed by:
W2RC Medal Ceremony (Chateau Park)
3:30 p.m. Podium (Chateau Park) | | |
