We’re two stages down and three to go at Desafío Ruta 40 as the World Rally-Raid Championship convoy goes up against the dunes of Argentina’s Catamarca Province. There’s tight battles for top spot playing out across all categories and plenty of World Rally-Raid Championship points up for grabs among the fesh-fesh. Let’s take a look at how things stand with 1,165km down, and another 1,609km still to travel…
Leading the way in the T1 car class is five-time
Dakar Rally champion
Nasser Al-Attiyah. The Qatari followed up his win on last Sunday’s Prologue Stage by setting the fastest time on Monday. On Stage 2 the Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+ driver and co-driver
Mathieu Baumel were able to bring a narrow overall lead of 17 seconds back to the bivouac despite suffering five punctures on the perilous tracks of Catamarca.
“On the second part of the stage we broke the rear suspension and immediately after that we had two punctures together, front and rear. In total we had five punctures today so we lost a lot of time stopping. I’m pleased with how we finished the stage because it was tricky to manage the flat tyres.” – Nasser Al-Attiyah
Al-Attiyah and Baumel are reigning Dakar champions as well as W2RC title holders. If they keep picking up points at their current rate in Argentina they could be crowned this year’s W2RC winners with one round of the championship to spare.
There’s some real cat-and-mouse racing going on in the always exciting T3 category. Holding top spot in the general classification after a prologue and two special stages in Argentina is MCE5 driver
Mitch Guthrie Jr. The Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA presented by BFGoodrich racer and his co-driver
Kellon Walch could make it back-to-back W2RC victories after winning the Sonora Rally in Mexico last time out.
“It was a pretty crazy stage with a little bit of everything; fesh-fesh, gravel roads, rocks, sand washes, dunes, camel grass. You name it, we had it! We kept hold of the overall lead so we’re happy and ready to keep pushing.” – Mitch Guthrie Jr.
Keeping close to Guthrie Jr. is
Mattias Ekström and co-driver
Emil Bergkvist in their Can-Am. The Swedish duo took the stage win on Tuesday to sit just two and a half minutes off the lead.
“We lost a bit of time in the fesh-fesh at the beginning passing a quad but apart from that we had a clean stage and enjoyed ourselves a lot. The stage had everything; some boring parts and some exciting parts.” – Mattias Ekström
It’s advantage
Seth Quintero over
Austin ‘AJ’ Jones in the battle that saw the two Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA presented by BFGoodrich drivers start the rally with just one point between them at the summit of the W2RC rankings. Quintero and co-driver
Dennis Zenz are currently in fourth place at Desafío Ruta 40 while Jones and co-driver
Gustavo Gugelmin are in ninth overall.
“We made a little bit of a change to car for today and it worked out amazing so I’m really looking forward to the rest of the rally.” – Seth Quintero
The Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team crews of
Cristina Gutiérrez/
Pablo Morenoand
Chaleco López/
Juan Pablo Latrach are fifth and seventh overall respectively in the T3 rankings. With less than half an hour separating Guthrie Jr. in the lead and Jones in ninth it’s obvious that the T3 deck could still be shuffled significantly in the next three days before the chequered flag flies in Salta.
“We’re happy because we’re still in one piece and the car is going good. Tomorrow looks like another tough stage.” – Cristina Gutiérrez
In the bike race it was an extremely dramatic Stage 2 for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
Toby Price arrived in Argentina as the W2RC’s leading rider, but on Tuesday his charge for the title was in jeopardy when he came to a standstill on the route between La Rioja and Belén. The Australian was helped back on his way by KTM team-mate
Matthias Walkner who generously swapped his shock absorber with Price’s broken one. Price was able to finish the stage and stay in the hunt for W2RC glory this season while Walkner waved goodbye to this year’s Desafío Ruta 40.
Elsewhere in the bike race two-time Dakar winner
Sam Sunderland is regaining his sharpness after a long time out of the saddle due to injury. The British biker has risen into the Top 10 overall with three stages left to ride in Argentina.
“It was a long day and quite physical. It was a mix between the things I love and the things I hate. We had some stoney riverbeds which I don’t really like and then some sandy parts which were pretty fun.” – Sam Sunderland
Tomorrow’s Stage 3 of Desafío Ruta 40 features a 268km timed special route, the majority of which is over sandy tracks. The route will take the form of a loop that starts and finishes at the Belén bivouac. Even the current race leaders know that results are not yet guaranteed with three ultra-challenging days still to play out in Argentina.
Desafío Ruta 40: Top 3 after Stage 2
T1
1. N. AL-ATTIYAH (QAT) TOYOTA 6:43:25
2. J. YACOPINI (ARG) TOYOTA +00:17
3. Y. AL RAJHI (SAU) TOYOTA +16:31
T3
1. M. GUTHRIE JR. (USA) MCE5 6:59:55
2. M. EKSTROM (SWE) CAN-AM +2:31
3. N.CAVIGLIASSO (ARG) TAURUS +4:56
Bike
1. T. SCHAREINA (ESP) HONDA 7:22:40
2. L. BENAVIDES (ARG) HUSQVARNA +04:43
3. A. VAN BEVEREN (FRA) HONDA +13:20
QUOTES
Nasser Al-Attiyah: “We had a good run today, we had to be careful from the beginning because there was a lot of fesh-fesh. On the second part of the stage we broke the rear suspension and immediately after that we had two punctures together, front and rear. In total we had five punctures today so we lost a lot of time stopping. I’m pleased with how we finished the stage because it was tricky to manage the flat tyres.”
Mitch Guthrie Jr.: “We didn’t get the stage win so that’s a little disappointing, but we had a clean day with no problems with the car or flat tyres. It was a pretty crazy stage with a little bit of everything; fesh-fesh, gravel roads, rocks, sand washes, dunes, camel grass. You name it, we had it! We kept hold of the overall lead so we’re happy and ready to keep pushing.”
Mattias Ekström: “We had a good day. We lost a bit of time in the fesh-fesh at the beginning passing a quad but apart from that we had a clean stage and enjoyed ourselves a lot. The stage had everything; some boring parts and some exciting parts.”
Seth Quintero: “Today was a rough day for us. We started up front and caught up to some cars that wouldn’t let us pass. With the dust being so bad I wasn’t able to get around them until kilometre 250 and by that time the damage was done. We made a little bit of a change to car for today and it worked out amazing so I’m really looking forward to the rest of the rally.”
Austin ‘AJ’ Jones: “Today was tough, the fesh-fesh was thick like I’ve never seen it before. I’m absolutely filthy after finishing the stage, covered in dust. We also had an issue with the car today where the power switched off for about 15 minutes. We got out, took the helmets off and had to troubleshoot that issue. When something like that happens you’re always grateful to make it to the end of the stage. Now we’ve got three more days to give our best.”
Cristina Gutiérrez: “The stage was a little bit difficult for us today, especially the last 200 kilometres. We felt like we had no dampeners so for our bodies it was incredibly tough. We’re happy because we’re still in one piece and the car is going good. Tomorrow looks like another tough stage.”
Chaleco López: “It was a really dusty day today and it wasn’t comfortable in the car. We’re happy to get it done and to put ourselves in a position to push in the next days. We want to improve our position in the overall in the last three days of the rally.”
Sam Sunderland: “It was a long day and quite physical. It was a mix between the things I love and the things I hate. We had some stoney riverbeds which I don’t really like and then some sandy parts which were pretty fun. My results on these first stages haven’t been amazing, but I’m working to get back my confidence after a tough year. I’m going to keep trying to improve day by day.”
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