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00:04Welcome to Argentina, La Casa de la Ruta 40.
00:07Welcome to Round 4 here in Argentina.
00:09Welcome to Ruta 40 in Argentina.
00:12Welcome to Argentina for Round 4 of the World Rally Raid Championship.
00:17This is the 11th edition of Desafia Ruta 40, which returns to the calendar after a five-year absence
00:23and it promises to be a spectacular comeback.
00:26The night before the first stage, the 71 vehicles in the official FIM and FIA classes
00:31were cheered onto the starting podium by the assembled crowds in La Rioja.
00:36But who would still be smiling by the time they reached the finish line in Salta?
00:58The rally gets underway in the province of La Rioja in western Argentina
01:02before heading up to Belen in the province of Catamarca
01:05and then up via the famous Fiambala dunes to the finish in Salta.
01:09Five stages on the menu and a total distance of almost 3,000 kilometres, including over 1,500 against the
01:16clock.
01:22As ever, there is a stellar field in the bikes featuring some of the world's top riders in the Rally
01:27GP and Rally 2 classes.
01:29Gas Gas, KTM, Husqvarna, Hero and Honda, all the major brands are here
01:33and things are hotting up nicely in the W2RC where KTM's Toby Price boasts a slender lead.
01:42For sure, we're always trying to be on the top step of the podium
01:44but also, yeah, trying to conserve and just make sure, yeah, we get championship points.
01:50So, very small margin but it's, yeah, we're in the lead at the moment so it's not too bad for
01:55an old guy.
01:57Two-time winner Kevin Benavides is unfortunately out of action due to a wrist injury
02:02but his younger brother Luciano is flying the flag for Argentina.
02:06He's second behind Price.
02:10I feel confident and motivation is really high and I will try to do my best here for me, for
02:17my team, for Argentina.
02:22Well, Kevin had the best view in the house as Luciano had an excellent start to the rally.
02:27The younger Benavides brother was the fastest W2RC rider over the first three stages
02:32opening up a lead of more than 15 minutes on Honda's Ricky Braybeck.
02:43Things quickly began to unravel for the Red Bull KTM team, however.
02:48Price ran into major trouble on stage two when he broke his rear shock absorber and it wasn't a quick
02:53fix.
02:53In the end, the Australian got a helping hand from his teammate Matthias Wackner but the damage was done over
03:00an hour lost and a serious blow to his world championship hopes.
03:06Disappointing with the championship. It's done but I'll hold on the 1% of it.
03:12Try and see what we can do by the last round of Morocco but I'm pretty sure the chances are
03:17very, very, very slim at the moment but we'll keep going.
03:23Well, Price would end up in eighth place overall. As for Wackner, he'd already lost 45 minutes on the first
03:29stage when the bib moose in his tyre overheated
03:31and after giving his shock absorber to Price the next day, he was forced to retire.
03:36It continues a rather disappointing campaign for the Austrian who has only reached the finish line at one of the
03:41four championship rounds, the Sonora Rally.
03:43Wackner sacrificing himself for Price and reminding us that sometimes Rally Raid can be a team game.
03:50It's important for the team to keep the chance alive for the big goal for the world championship.
03:56Of course it destroys my race but in the end it was important for Tobi and the team, I think.
04:12While the misery continued for the KTM family as Gas Gas star Sam Sunderland, the defending world champion, also had
04:19to withdraw on stage three.
04:20The British rider was suffering with illness and it got to a point where he felt it was unsafe to
04:25continue so he stepped off the bike.
04:28Sunderland has also had a tough campaign with crashes at the Dakar and Sonora and another one just before Abu
04:33Dhabi.
04:34He will be targeting his first finish of 2023 in Morocco as he looks to get back on track for
04:40next season.
04:43The season has been not easy for him. He had to retire in every race this year.
04:47So this will be also hard mentally to swallow but it is what it is and it's important that he's
04:54OK, he's safe
04:55and we hope that he can recover and come back stronger.
04:59Ross Branch was competing in Argentina for the very first time and the man from Botswana said he had an
05:05absolute blast discovering the variety of terrain in this part of the world.
05:09The Kalahari Ferrari has had some ups and downs this year but he took his best result of the season
05:14in fourth place overall.
05:18As far as he's concerned, Hiro are already up there fighting with the big boys and the future is looking
05:23bright.
05:25The team has put so much hard work in. I've been working so hard back at home so things are
05:30coming together slowly but surely
05:32and the pieces of the puzzle are getting together so looking forward to the next couple of months.
05:41The Honda team blew hot and cold this week although all five of their riders did manage to finish.
05:47Chilean duo Nacho Cornejo and Pablo Quintanilla were happy to be racing in South America again
05:53but neither of them quite found their groove.
05:56Cornejo was affected by illness and finished almost an hour back in seventh.
06:03Quintanilla fared slightly better in sixth but he said it wasn't a good rally for him and that he felt
06:08limited on the bike.
06:13Adrian van Beveren just about snuck into the top five.
06:16The Frenchman also had issues with his bib mousse in the first few days and made a couple of small
06:20navigation mistakes.
06:22On the flip side he won the prologue and the final stage.
06:25The winner of this year's Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Van Beveren remains in the fight for the W2RC crown.
06:32He's third in the standings.
06:39It was a rather frustrating rally for Ricky Brebeck even if he finished on the overall podium.
06:44The American finding himself on the wrong side of the bonus system for the openers.
06:49So in spite of some fine performances he struggled to make up time at the top of the leaderboard and
06:54had to be content with third place.
06:57You can open the stage all day and you can gain seven minutes or you can ride your ass off
07:00in the back and not even get close to advancing in the overall classification.
07:05So for me I don't really agree with how much time there is but it is what it is.
07:11Well Brebeck has some busy months ahead. He won't be heading home until after Morocco.
07:25It turned out to be an excellent week for local hero Luciano Benavides.
07:29The man from Salta didn't quite land the overall victory but he did finish as the top W2RC rider in
07:35Argentina snatching the championship lead from price.
07:39Benavides finished in the top two on four of the five stages and he took the honours on the penultimate
07:44day which meant he got to open on the road to his home city.
07:48The Husqvarna man ended up with a sore left wrist after hitting a tree on stage two but otherwise it
07:53was smooth sailing over these dunes.
07:57As I feel Ruta 40 was a really nice race. Now I am the leader in the world championship so
08:02it is really nice the feeling and now I will try to enjoy and keep this moment for Morocco and
08:08try to fight for the world title.
08:13But one man proved to be head and shoulders above the rest this week.
08:16Tosha Shirena who led the rally from start to finish.
08:20Although he is sponsored by both Honda and Monster Energy the Spaniard isn't yet a part of the official HRC
08:26line up although after this showing you suspect it may only be a matter of time.
08:31Having won the first three stages Shirena really made the most of the bonus system picking up almost 18 extra
08:36minutes at the front.
08:38He isn't part of the W2RC this year but again that may well change in 2024.
08:44Shirena with his first major victory at this level.
08:48I am really happy with this race, unbelievable for me, first win with Honda so super super very happy and
08:57lots more.
09:00Shirena won by 11 minutes 36 from Benavides with Brabeck, Branch and Van Beveren all over 20 minutes back.
09:07Price was the lowest rally GP finisher in 8th.
09:11Benavides leads the W2RC by 9 points from Price before the final round in Morocco. It ain't over yet.
09:27We've also had a change of championship leader in the rally 2 class.
09:32Paolo Lucci was leading the standings by 3 points when we got to Argentina but the Italian unfortunately suffered a
09:39nasty crash on stage 2 and he wasn't able to keep going.
09:45Lucci had been on the rally 2 podium in every round this year although he was still seeking a first
09:50victory.
09:55His loss might well be Romain Dumontier's gain. The Frenchman didn't get off to the best start at Ruta Quarenta.
10:01He was forced to change an engine after the prologue and incurred a 15 minute penalty but he fought back
10:05to finish third in the rally 2 class.
10:11That means that he now leads the championship standings by 13 points.
10:18The rally 2 honours went to Bradley Cox who thus claimed his first overall victory in the W2RC.
10:25The South African hasn't had an easy year notably crashing out of the Dakar early but this was a timely
10:30reminder of what he can do.
10:31The son of desert racing legend Alfie Cox, Bradley took a commanding win by almost 40 minutes.
10:38He jumps up to 4th place in the season standings.
10:42In this rally I fell in love with it from the start and I'm happy with my week.
10:46Every day I was strong and I put my best foot forward and the results showed itself.
10:53Cox winning by nearly 40 minutes from Konrad Dabrowski, Mike Doherty showed great speed but mechanicals cost him over 6
11:00hours in penalties.
11:03Dumontier has a decent cushion over Lucci in the W2RC with his fellow Frenchman Jean-Louis Lupin over 20 points
11:09back in third.
11:17Arditt Curtay took the honours in the rally 3 class for riders who were new to rally raid.
11:22Born in Albania and raised in Austria, Curtay came out on top of a fascinating battle with Ecuador's Mauricio Cueva.
11:29He now tops the world championship standings and hopes to fulfil his dream of one day competing in the Dakar.
11:45There was a good old fashioned South American rumble as the quads returned to their spiritual home.
11:50Since they became a separate category at Dakar 2009, almost half of the victories have gone to Argentine riders,
11:56although Marcelo Medeiros was flying the flag for Brazil this week.
12:00He lost around 30 minutes on his way to third place overall.
12:06It was nevertheless an Argentine 1-2 with Francisco Moreno just falling short despite a couple of stage wins.
12:13The man from Mendoza has finished as runner up to Alexandre Giroux at the last two editions of the Dakar,
12:18and he was second best again at Ruta Quarenta, coming in 13 minutes down on his compatriot Manuel Andujar.
12:26Moreno isn't competing in the W2RC, but he will definitely be a man to watch again in Saudi Arabia in
12:32January.
12:33So too will the man who beat him, Andujar. The former Dakar winner has described this part of Argentina as
12:40a rally raid paradise,
12:41although it seemed anything but this week as he battled with issues like radiator damage, broken shock absorbers and oil
12:47leaks.
12:49However, whatever the rally could throw at him, Andujar had an answer for it.
12:53He led from wire to wire as he secured overall glory.
13:08Just over half an hour separating Andujar, Moreno and Medeiros, the next best man, Facundo Viel, was some way back
13:15and forth.
13:18Lasvidas Cantius wasn't competing this week, but he still leads the W2RC, and Dujar's win pushes him up to joint
13:25fifth.
13:34Shinsuke Umeida was the only W2RC entrant in the T4s.
13:38In the absence of the runaway championship leader Rokas Pachuska and the Dakar winner Eric Gokshal,
13:44the Japanese driver was looking to move up to second place in the standings.
13:48And despite a scare on stage four, when he got his buggy stuck in a canyon,
13:52he made it safely through to the finish line and picked up a maximum haul of points.
13:57Edouard Ponce is building towards his first Dakar, so he was happy to be taking part in a top level
14:03rally like Ruta Cuarenta.
14:04The Spanish driver won the first two stages, but then ran into major mechanical trouble on stage three.
14:09He couldn't finish and was slapped with huge penalties, which ended any overall hopes.
14:15He was still pleased though, to have picked up valuable experience.
14:21And how about this for a story?
14:23Former quad rider Gustavo Gallego, who has come as high as third at the Dakar,
14:27took victory in the T4s in his very first outing in a car.
14:31Unlike his three rivals in the class, the Argentine avoided any major mechanical problems
14:35and consequently won by a considerable margin.
14:39Another win for the host nation and what has been a great event for their athletes.
14:49Gallego finished over four hours ahead of Enrico Gasparri, who only had two trouble-free days.
14:54He made it almost 24 hours back, but he got what he came for, maximum points in the W2RC.
15:00He goes up to second, but he won't catch Puchuska, who is already officially the world champion.
15:10In the T3s though, the fight for supremacy is going down to the wire.
15:15I'm really excited. Other than bikes, you know, I would say that this is the most competitive class.
15:21AJ and I have been going back and forth all year long.
15:24We're just about tied. He's got me by one point, so it's going to be a war to the end
15:28for sure.
15:29A heavyweight line-up in the lightweight prototypes, with just a single point separating Austin Jones and Seth Quintero as
15:35hostilities began.
15:37But third-placed Mitch Guthrie was keen to remind his fellow Americans that he was very much part of the
15:42fight as well,
15:43steering his tour as T3 Max to victory in two of the first three stages.
15:48Just try to keep stacking up those points. That's the name of the game, and the stage wins definitely matter
15:53for the points race,
15:54so I'm happy to get another one.
15:57This is Matthias Ekstrom's third straight W2RC round in a south race in Canham.
16:02The Swede won stages two and five, but a broken differential ended his overall hopes on stage three.
16:08Before returning to action with Audi, he is trying to clock up as many kilometers as possible,
16:12so that he can keep up with his factory teammates, the rally raid legends that are Stefan Petterhansel and Carlos
16:18Sainz.
16:22I'm lacking 15 years probably to the guys in the front, so if you do everything the same and drive
16:28little, you will never catch it up.
16:30So I take all the driving I can.
16:32It wasn't the best of rallies for Joao Ferreira, who had a series of gearbox problems in his X-rayed
16:38Yamaha.
16:38The Portuguese driver was forced to retire on stages one and five.
16:42But he did serve a reminder of his speed with victory on stage four.
16:47A Dakar stage winner this year, Ferreira is a man to keep an eye on.
16:52And what about the man who holds the all-time record for Dakar wins in a single edition with 12?
16:58Well, Seth Quintero made a solid start and briefly snatched the championship lead from Jones,
17:02but he was then let down by a damaged intercooler just seven kilometers into stage four, which forced him back
17:08to the bivouac.
17:11We're kind of speechless, to be honest, kind of knocked us out of the championship.
17:14We're in a big fight, three wide and ready to go for the last round, hoping to get to the
17:17last round,
17:17but after this I'm not too sure we're that much in the fight anymore.
17:26Nicolas Cavigliasso won Ruta Quarenta on a quad in 2018 before going on to conquer the Dakar.
17:32But he was competing here in the same Tourist T3 Max as Guthrie under the Weaver's Sport banner.
17:38Cavigliasso and his wife Valentina were second overall after stage three,
17:42but they lost two and a half hours due to technical issues on stage four.
17:45They ended up seventh, but clearly have the potential to aim higher.
17:49And they weren't the only ones to have problems.
17:56Austin Jones was plagued by electrical issues in the early part of the rally
18:00and looked like he was going to lose ground in the W2RC.
18:03But on the very same day that Quintero, Cavigliasso and others lost significant time,
18:08AJ had a smooth run and found himself propelled up to third place overall.
18:11That's where he finished and it means that he is still within three points of top spot in the championship.
18:21Cristina Gutierrez was flying under the radar at this rally.
18:24She didn't post a single top three finish, yet her consistency earned her an impressive second place overall.
18:30The Spaniards a little way down in the W2RC after failing to score points in Abu Dhabi,
18:35but she and her co-driver Pablo Moreno are dovetailing very nicely in that Red Bull Can-Am.
18:44But for the second round in a row, overall victory went to Mitch Gutierrez, even if the American had a
18:49bit of a scare on the final stage.
18:52He lost around ten minutes due to a technical issue, but luckily he and co-driver Kellan Walsh had enough
18:58of a cushion to come home in P1.
19:05Gutierrez going back to back after Mexico and storming his way to the top of the W2RC leaderboard.
19:11So Mitch, tell us, what has been the secret to your success?
19:16Just consistency for sure is the key. Every day we stayed smooth, never really got out of the car, had
19:23flat tires or anything like that.
19:24Just kind of kept the car moving and kept a great pace for sure. So overall, just keeping the car
19:30moving all day long and staying fast paced, of course.
19:35Gutierrez leading in the Red Bull Can-Am's of Gutierrez Jones and Chileco Lopez, with Hernan Garces taking fifth after
19:42Ferreira retired on the final day.
19:46It's looking like a three-horse race in the World Championship, with only nine points separating the American trio of
19:51Gutierrez, Jones and Quintero.
19:58Finally, to the cars, where the five-strong Toyota Armada of Nasser Alatia, Yazid Al-Raji, Juan Cruz Jacopini, Eugenio
20:06Amos and Denis Crotov are taking on a local hero, the two-time winner Sebastian Halpern in his X-Raid
20:12Mini.
20:16W2RC leader Alatia will be out to land a decisive blow in the title race, especially in the absence of
20:22Bahrain Red Extreme and Sebastian Loeb.
20:28We try to do our best and to win this race, you know, and for Ferreira's time, you know, to
20:33compete in Ruta 40 and also if we can make it to be the world champion before the last race,
20:41it will be amazing.
20:42Well, the Qatari certainly didn't hang about, winning the prologue and the first stage.
20:47Alatia is expected to leave Toyota when his contract ends after the rally to Maroc and he's clearly looking to
20:53go out on a high note.
21:04Halpern won Desafia Ruta 40 in 2018, the last time it was held, and two years before that in 2016.
21:10But it quickly became apparent that it wasn't going to be easy to complete his hat trick.
21:15Try as he might, the Argentine simply couldn't keep pace with the top Toyotas.
21:19He already trailed by 50 minutes after two stages.
21:22Things would get even worse on stage three when a broken gearbox forced him to retire from the special.
21:28Luckily, some friends from Mendoza were nearby for an improvised asado.
21:32Halpern finishing as the last of the six cars over 20 hours off the pace.
21:43This was only a second rally in the top car class for Eugenio Amos, who managed to finish within an
21:48hour of the winner.
21:50The Italian came as high as third on stage two despite being stuck behind Guthrie for 100k.
21:54And he was delighted with everything Argentina had to offer, even the cursed Fiambello Dunes.
21:59He ended up in fourth overall and was full of praise for his co-driver, Paolo Cecchi.
22:08I said, let's try to push until the end.
22:11We'll see if I will break before the car and if that will happen, I broke definitely before the car.
22:18And then big up to this guy because he made a huge effort on the navigation.
22:31With no Sebastian Loeb in Argentina, Yazid Al-Raji was out to shore up second place in the W2RC, but
22:37he had to deal with various issues throughout the week.
22:40The Saudis suffered no fewer than four punctures on stage two and then hit a big stone on stage four.
22:49That was perhaps why he couldn't quite land a stage win, finishing second on three occasions.
22:54Ultimately, Al-Raji had to set up for third place overall.
23:07Juan Cruz Jacopini was one of the sensations of the rally.
23:10This sport is very much a family affair for the young Argentine who's followed in the footsteps of his father
23:15Alejandro, a veteran of nine Dakars.
23:19His mother and two sisters also came along to see him in action this week.
23:23And a lucky thing they did, because on stage two, he took his first ever stage victory in the World
23:28Rally Raid Championship.
23:32I'm very happy to have this first victory in the W2RC Championship.
23:38It was quite a difficult stage for us today, but we make it really good.
23:43The other makes some mistakes and the car has some problems.
23:45That makes us finish in the first position, so I'm very happy to have this first position now here in
23:53my country.
23:54Well, not only did he get that win, but Jacopini managed to hold off Al-Raji over the remaining stages
23:59and come second overall.
24:01It'll be fascinating to see if he can build on this excellent performance in the coming months.
24:09However, when it comes to rally raid in the cars, it's Nasa's world and the rest of us are just
24:13living in it.
24:15Alatia and Mathieu Bommel led from start to finish, showing their usual class and experience to handle whatever the rally
24:21could throw at them, including five punctures on stage two.
24:28This win means that Bommel is officially world champion for co-drivers.
24:32Alatia will have to wait until Morocco to get over the line.
24:37Well done for Mathieu, he's a world champion and still I need some points.
24:44Next race will be in Morocco and he will do his best for me.
24:52Alatia's final margin of victory was 22 minutes with all five Toyotas in the top five.
24:57Denis Krotov nearly three hours back in fifth.
25:02Alatia's lead isn't quite unassailable, but it would take something remarkable to deny him the title.
25:07Loeb slips down to fourth behind Al-Raji and Iacopini.
25:11I hope you enjoyed it in Argentina.
25:14Saluda a todos.
25:15A hug.
25:16It's a gift, this is a gift.
25:21And so we reach the end of a spectacular edition of Desafia Ruto Quarenta, which has made a very successful
25:27comeback on the W2RC calendar.
25:29And the good news is that we'll be back again here in 2024.
25:33So do join us then.
25:34And thanks for watching.
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