The fourth of five FIM WR2C championship rounds —the eleventh Desafío Ruta 40 YPF— takes place in Argentina from 26 August to 1 September. The competitors will face a gruelling 2,804 km route between La Rioja, Belén (Catamarca) and Salta, split into five stages.
Among the 24 W2RC FIM entrants, Toby Price (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) is perched at the summit of the RallyGP standings with a 7-point margin over the local hero Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna Factory Racing) and a 9-point gap over Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Honda).
KTM commands the manufacturer ranking with 113 points, but Honda, second with 95, will find strength in numbers. There will be four red riders against just two for the orange team and the same number for Hero MotoSports. Husqvarna and GasGas are fielding one competitor apiece.
There are 10 entrants in the RallyGP category for pro riders. Toby Price, the overall leader with 62 points, will be escorted by a single Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate, Mathias Walkner, after Kevin Benavides crashed again during training.
The albiceleste star, fourth in the championship (43 points), who claimed his second Dakar in January and is a two-time winner of the DR40 (2016 and 2017), will not be on the start line, but his brother Luciano Benavides, second overall with 55 points, is already revving up his motorbike for the home crowds.
The Argentinian will be the only rider sporting the crowned H-mark. Over at Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing, Sam Sunderland will also have to fend for himself in the absence of Daniel Sanders. India's Hero MotoSports has again picked Ross Branch and Sebastian Bühler as its champions.
All in all, no factory team will be fielding more than two riders. As usual, Monster Energy Honda is going for a "shock and awe" strategy, with no fewer than four factory riders. Adrien Van Beveren, third overall with 53 points, is the highest ranked of them. In the manufacturer ranking, the red riders —the reigning world champions— will once again rely on their numerical superiority to try and catch up with the orange team, who are dominating the season so far. KTM now has 113 points to Honda's 95 and Husqvarna's 89.
There are 8 riders on the Rally2 start list. Paolo Lucci (BAS World KTM Racing), perched at the top of the standings with 66 points, is up for a rematch with Romain Dumontier (Husqvarna HT Rally Raid). The Frenchman only needs to make up 3 points on the Italian. Third overall with 45 points, another Frenchman, Jean-Loup Lepan (Duust Diverse Racing), will be flanked by riders of the calibre of his teammate Konrad Dąbrowski and regulars such as BAS World KTM Racing's Michael Docherty and Bradley Cox.
The 8 Rally3 competitors will be tackling their second race ahead of the finale in the Rallye du Maroc.
Finally, there will be 3 championship entrants in the quad race. The top two riders in the standings, Laisvydas Kancius (69 points) and Pablo Copetti (38 points), are skipping this one, clearing the way for Rodolfo Guilioli (Pepitas Racing), third with 33 points, and his closest pursuer, Juraj Varga (30 points), to inch closer to the lead in a star-studded field that also includes local hero Manuel Andújar.
PROGRAMME:
· 22 August: Opening of the bivouac at the Estadio Superdomo de La Rioja at 8 am
· 25 August: Opening of the press room and distribution of accreditations at the Estadio Superdomo de La Rioja from 9 am
· 26 August:
- Administrative scrutineering at the Estadio Superdomo de La Rioja from 9 am to 5 pm
- Technical scrutineering at the Estadio Superdomo de La Rioja from 10 am to 6 pm
- Press conference at the Estadio Superdomo de La Rioja at 12 pm
· 27 August:
- Completion of the administrative and technical scrutineering at the Estadio Superdomo de La Rioja from 8:30 to 10 am
- Publication of the starting order at 11:30 am
- General briefing at the Estadio Superdomo de La Rioja at 1 pm
- 9 km prologue at Dique Los Sauces at 3 pm
- Choice of starting order by the top 10 in the prologue at the Estadio Superdomo de La Rioja at 6:30 pm
- Ceremonial start at the Estadio Superdomo de La Rioja from 7:30 to 8:30 pm
· 28 August: stage 1 - La Rioja–Belén (road section: 362 km / special: 334 km / total: 696 km)
· 29 August: stage 2 - Belén–Belén (road section: 121 km / special: 339 km / total: 460 km)
· 30 August: stage 3 - Belén–Belén (road section: 196 km / special: 268 km / total: 464 km)
· 31 August: stage 4 - Belén–Belén (road section: 236 km / special: 348 km / total: 584 km)
· 1 September: stage 5 - Belén–Salta (road section: 304 km / special: 257 km / total: 561 km)
- Finish of the first competitors at 2 pm
- Finish podium ceremony at the Centro de Convenciones de Salta from 5 to 6 pm
Local time: GMT -3
List of FIM riders registred for the race HERE.
ASO