The 12th edition of the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF INFINIA drew to a close in Córdoba at the end of a gripping final sprint. The titles were decided by some of the narrowest margins in the history of the rally: 15 seconds.
Ricky Brabec already proved that he can handle the pressure when he won the Dakar in 2020 and 2024. This time round, he faced a threat from inside his own clan. Going into the final stage with a deficit of 1′27″, Tosha Schareina was determined to overthrow his teammate from the throne. The Spaniard gave the American no respite and came within 22 seconds of the lead after 117 km out of 218. However, even winning the last special was not enough. Brabec stayed cool as a cucumber to succeed the Spaniard on the honour roll of the Desafío Ruta 40, crossing the line with a margin of 15 seconds —the narrowest ever recorded in a W2RC Rally GP race. Adrien Van Beveren made it a Honda clean sweep on the podium (see "FIM stat"). Skyler Howes came in fourth, while Ross Branch was the top-ranked non-Honda rider in fifth place.
The Botswanan is still the super-Hero of the championship, but the Argentinian leg has shaken up the fight for the title. Brabec moved within 9 points of Branch going into the finale thanks to his second victory of the year. VBA is still in with a shout at 16 points. A three-way fight looms in Morocco in October, where the last 25 points of the season —which will decide the title— are up for grabs.
Bradley Cox came up short in the Rally 2 overall, but he still mustered his strength to snatch the final stage from Romain Dumontier. The Frenchman won the rally and did his bit for Honda's first ever Rally GP/Rally 2 double, as well as extending his championship lead to 8 points over the South African. The title will be decided in Morocco. Jiří Brož (BAS World KTM Racing) scored his first W2RC podium finish in third place.
Chile's John Medina nabbed his first win in Rally 3, standing atop an all-South American podium with the Argentinians Eduardo Alan and Marcelo Miti (MED Racing Team) on either side, He also vaulted into the championship lead with 13 points in hand over Gonçalo Amaral.
Manuel Andújar made his dream come true in the quad race. The Argentinian rider took his second DR40 on the bounce and secured the W2RC World Cup with one round to go. He prevailed over the Pole Kamil Wiśniewski (Orlen Team), the new runner-up in the championship, and the Bolivian Suany Martinez.