Henk Lategan is the new leader of the Desafío Ruta 40 after a third stage that swallowed up the top three overall. The South African from Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC won the longest special of the week, a loop of 409 timed kilometres in San Rafael, with a time of 4h14m34s. Sébastien Loeb, who on Tuesday had deliberately lost time in order not to open the road, executed his plan perfectly and finished second, 1m36s behind. The Frenchman’s strategy now leaves him fifth overall, 8m09s behind the leader.
Photo By A.S.O The day began to claim victims very early. Carlos Sainz stopped his Ford Raptor at kilometre 33 with a mechanical problem that he and his co‑driver Dani Oliveras could not fix. Minutes later, the leader Joao Ferreira and champion Lucas Moraes collided at kilometre 63. The Brazilian broke the suspension of his Sandrider and called for outside help. Ferreira managed to continue for a few more kilometres, but a steering failure on his Toyota left him stranded at kilometre 94. All three were out of the special.
With the favourites out, the stage became a duel between Lategan and Loeb. The South African passed the first checkpoint 19 seconds behind Ferreira and took the lead at kilometre 69. From there he controlled the gap to the Frenchman, who had started ninth and used every kilometre of sand and mountain tracks to climb up the order.
Photo By A.S.O Lategan already knows what it’s like to lead a rally – at the Dakar in January he was at the front of the overall standings for several days until a wheel‑bearing failure on stage 11 knocked him out of contention. This victory in San Rafael is his sixth in the W2RC and puts Toyota in the top four positions on the leaderboard. Nasser Al‑Attiyah, winner of Tuesday’s stage, opened the road and finished fourth, 5m15s behind. The Qatari moves up to third overall, 5m28s behind Lategan. Seth Quintero was third on the stage and keeps second place, 1m39s behind his teammate. Saood Variawa is fourth, 7m42s back.
Kevin Benavides, who on Tuesday was the star of the day finishing second on the special, lost more than an hour and a half and ended up in fifteenth place. The Argentine had been within one second of Al‑Attiyah at the first checkpoint, but faded as the kilometres went by.
Photo By A.S.O The overall standings now have six drivers within less than ten minutes. Lategan leads, followed by Quintero at 1m39s, Al‑Attiyah at 5m28s, Variawa at 7m42s, Loeb at 8m09s, and Nani Roma at 18m45s in the Ford Raptor. The fourth stage takes place tomorrow between San Rafael and San Juan, with 324 timed kilometres.
Ruta 40 Rally Raid 2026 - Stage 3
| Pos | Nº | Drivers | class | team | car | Time | difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #202 |  H. LATEGANB. CUMMINGS |
Ultimate | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING W2RC | TOYOTA HILUX GR | 4:14:34 | — |
| 2 | #219 |  S. LOEBE. BOULANGER |
Ultimate | THE DACIA SANDRIDERS | DACIA SANDRIDER | 4:16:10 | +0:01:36 |
| 3 | #203 |  S. QUINTEROA. SHORT |
Ultimate | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING W2RC | TOYOTA HILUX GR | 4:18:57 | +0:04:23 |
| 4 | #299 |  N. AL-ATTIYAH F. LURQUIN |
Ultimate | THE DACIA SANDRIDERS | DACIA SANDRIDER | 4:19:49 | +0:05:15 |
| 5 | #227 |  N. ROMAA. HARO |
Ultimate | FORD RACING | FORD RAPTOR | 4:21:46 | +0:07:12 |
| 6 | #218 | S. VARIAWAF. CAZALET |
Ultimate | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING SA | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 4:23:30 | +0:08:56 |
| 7 | #201 |  Y. AL RAJHI T. GOTTSCHALK |
Ultimate | OVERDRIVE RACING | TOYOTA HILUX GR | 4:25:51 | +0:11:17 |
| 8 | #228 | M. GUTHRIEK. WALCH |
Ultimate | FORD RACING | FORD RAPTOR | 4:30:22 | +0:15:48 |
| 9 | #250 |  S. HALPERNE. SAGUI |
Ultimate | X-RAID TEAM | X-RAID MINI JCW RALLY 3.0I | 4:39:38 | +0:25:04 |
| 10 | #238 |  M. GASTALDIC. SACHS |
Ultimate | SVR | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 4:41:59 | +0:27:25 |
| 11 | #204 |  A. MIURAA. MONLEON |
Ultimate | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING W2RC | TOYOTA HILUX GR | 4:42:18 | +0:27:44 |
| 12 | #236 | C. BAUMGARTL. ECKEL |
Ultimate | SVR | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 4:43:47 | +0:29:13 |
| 13 | #221 |  M. PROKOPV. CHYTKA |
Ultimate | ORLEN JIPOCAR TEAM | FORD RAPTOR | 4:47:50 | +0:33:16 |
| 14 | #205 |  E. GOCZALS. GOSPODARCZYK |
Ultimate | ENERGYLANDIA RALLY TEAM | TOYOTA HILUX DKR EVO | 4:48:21 | +0:33:47 |
| 15 | #217 |  D. KROTOVK. ZHILTSOV |
Ultimate | M-SPORT RALLY RAID TEAM | FORD RAPTOR | 4:51:23 | +0:36:49 |
| 16 | #302 | P. KLAASSENA. SANZ |
Challenger | KTM X-BOW POWERED BY G RALLY TEAM | GRALLYTEAM G-ECKO | 4:52:05 | +0:37:31 |
| 17 | #307 |  M. WALKNERP. MORENO |
Challenger | BBR MOTORSPORT | TAURUS T3 MAX | 4:52:44 | +0:38:10 |
| 18 | #402 | J. GONZALEZ FERIOLIG. RINALDI |
SSV | CAN-AM FACTORY TEAM | BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R | 4:53:40 | +0:39:06 |
| 19 | #301 |  A. PINTOB. OLIVEIRA |
Challenger | OLD FRIENDS RALLY TEAM | TAURUS T3 MAX | 4:55:09 | +0:40:35 |
| 20 | #502 |  R. BACIUSKAO. VIDAL |
Stock | DEFENDER RALLY | DEFENDER DAKAR D7X-R | 4:55:43 | +0:41:09 |
| 21 | #222 | M. BAUMGARTK. CINCEA |
Ultimate | SVR | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 4:57:02 | +0:42:28 |
| 22 | #504 | S. PRICES. GRAY |
Stock | DEFENDER RALLY | DEFENDER DAKAR D7X-R | 4:58:41 | +0:44:07 |
| 23 | #500 | S. PETERHANSELM. METGE |
Stock | DEFENDER RALLY | DEFENDER DAKAR D7X-R | 5:03:10 | +0:48:36 |
| 24 | #407 | M. ANDUJARC. FRINI |
SSV | 7240 TEAM | BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R | 5:11:43 | +0:57:09 |
| 25 | #210 |  H. GARCÉSJ. LATRACH |
Ultimate | OVERDRIVE RACING | TOYOTA HILUX GR | 5:17:20 | +1:02:46 |
| 26 | #247 | K. BENAVIDESL. SISTERNA |
Ultimate | OVERDRIVE RACING | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 5:36:58 | +1:22:24 |
Upcoming Races
Drivers Standings 2026
| POS | PILOTO | PTS | ↕ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sébastien Loeb | 114 | |
| 2 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | 111 | |
| 3 | Seth Quintero | 101 | |
| 4 | Nani Roma | 59 | |
| 5 | Lucas Moraes | 57 | |
| 6 | Henk Lategan | 56 | |
| 7 | Mattias Ekström | 53 | |
| 8 | Joao Ferreira | 52 |
Manufacturers Standings 2026
| POS | CONSTRUCTOR | PTS | ↕ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Dacia Sandriders | 315 | |
| 2 | Toyota Gazoo Racing W2Rc | 250 | |
| 3 | Ford Racing | 175 |
Evans wins the Rally Japan and leads Katsuta by 20 points in the WRC
Evans leads Toyota's 1-2-3-4 finish in Japan following Solberg's retirement
Seth Quintero wins the Desafío Ruta 40, his first victory in Ultimate
Sainz wins Stage 4 and Quintero is the new leader of the Desafío Ruta 40
Al-Attiyah wins the second stage of the Desafío Ruta 40
Eryk Goczal wins the first stage of the Desafío Ruta 40
The W2RC returns to Argentina with Loeb in the lead and a record number of entrants
Sébastien Loeb wins the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal and takes the lead in the W2RC
New co-driver for Sainz in the Ford Raptor of the W2RC
Dacia ends its Dakar Sandrider program at the end of 2026
Carlos Sainz loses his navigator Lucas Cruz
