Seth Quintero will start the fifth and final stage of the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF at the front of the overall classification, a position that three other drivers have already held during a week in which no one has managed to repeat as leader. The American from Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC snatched the lead from his teammate Henk Lategan during the fourth special, the longest of the event with 306 timed kilometres between San Rafael and San Juan, and went into the bivouac with a margin of only 7 seconds over Nasser Al-Attiyah and 1 minute and 53 seconds over Lategan himself. The stage was won by a Carlos Sainz who found immediate redemption after his retirement on Wednesday.
Photo By Red Bull Content Pool Sainz completed the 306 kilometres in 3 hours and 32 minutes in the Ford Raptor, just half a minute ahead of Eryk Goczal, who had won the first stage. Al-Attiyah lost 3 minutes and 21 seconds on the special, and Sébastien Loeb conceded 5 minutes and 57 seconds, putting him now fourth overall, 5 minutes and 24 seconds behind the leader.
The special began late due to a medical intervention that interrupted the motorcycle departures, and from the first checkpoint Quintero began to cut the deficit. At kilometre 45 he was already the fastest among those fighting for the overall, 16 seconds ahead of Al-Attiyah and 1 minute and 41 seconds ahead of Lategan, who was opening the road and losing time. At kilometre 140, Al-Attiyah moved to the front of the leading quartet, and Quintero took the virtual overall lead. Lategan stopped for just over a minute at kilometre 109, a setback that cost him two positions and dropped him to third overall. The South African, who had won the stage yesterday, lost the lead because of the effort of opening the road and that brief mishap.
Photo By Red Bull Content Pool Joao Ferreira, who had retired due to a steering failure during the third stage, did not respect the neutralisation time and had 20 minutes added to his day’s time. The penalty prevented him from savouring what had been a stage victory while he was running. Lucas Moraes, winner of the third stage with Dacia, also could not maintain the leading pace and finished the special with more than 43 minutes lost, far from the overall fight.
Kevin Benavides, who had been second on Tuesday’s stage, added another forgettable day. A broken shock‑absorber spring on his Toyota Hilux in the third special made him lose more than an hour and a half, and on this fourth stage he could not recover the lost ground. His rally, which had promised much, faded as the days went by.
The dunes of Nihuil and the mountain tracks above 3,000 metres that made up the route also punished several favourites in the other categories. Alexandre Pinto, the leader in Challenger, lost more than 9 minutes at the start of the special and ceded the virtual lead to Matthias Walkner, who finished second on the stage behind Puck Klaassen. In SSV, Pedro Mac Dowell won the stage and Jeremias Ferioli kept the top of the leaderboard. Stéphane Peterhansel took the stage win in Stock and extended his advantage over Rokas Baciuska.
Photo By Red Bull Content Pool The overall classification, with the top three separated by just 1 minute and 53 seconds, faces the final stage this Friday, a loop of 320 timed kilometres around San Juan. Quintero will seek his first absolute victory in the W2RC Ultimate category. Al-Attiyah, only 7 seconds behind, will push from the start. And Lategan, 1 minute and 53 seconds back, still has real chances to regain the lead. The fight for the final victory is open in all categories.
Ruta 40 Rally Raid 2026 - Stage 4
| Pos | Nº | drivers | class | team | car | time | difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #225 |  C. SAINZD. OLIVERAS |
Ultimate | FORD RACING | FORD RAPTOR | 3:32:47 | — |
| 2 | #205 |  E. GOCZALS. GOSPODARCZYK |
Ultimate | ENERGYLANDIA RALLY TEAM | TOYOTA HILUX DKR EVO | 3:33:17 | +0:00:30 |
| 3 | #299 |  N. AL-ATTIYAH F. LURQUIN |
Ultimate | THE DACIA SANDRIDERS | DACIA SANDRIDER | 3:36:08 | +0:03:21 |
| 4 | #219 |  S. LOEBE. BOULANGER |
Ultimate | THE DACIA SANDRIDERS | DACIA SANDRIDER | 3:38:44 | +0:05:57 |
| 5 | #203 |  S. QUINTEROA. SHORT |
Ultimate | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING W2RC | TOYOTA HILUX GR | 3:39:50 | +0:07:03 |
| 6 | #228 | M. GUTHRIEK. WALCH |
Ultimate | FORD RACING | FORD RAPTOR | 3:40:12 | +0:07:25 |
| 7 | #250 |  S. HALPERNE. SAGUI |
Ultimate | X-RAID TEAM | X-RAID MINI JCW RALLY 3.0I | 3:42:09 | +0:09:22 |
| 8 | #202 |  H. LATEGANB. CUMMINGS |
Ultimate | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING W2RC | TOYOTA HILUX GR | 3:43:22 | +0:10:35 |
| 9 | #201 |  Y. AL RAJHI T. GOTTSCHALK |
Ultimate | OVERDRIVE RACING | TOYOTA HILUX GR | 3:43:47 | +0:11:00 |
| 10 | #230 | L. ALVAREZB. GRAUE |
Ultimate | SVR | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 3:45:09 | +0:12:22 |
| 11 | #210 |  H. GARCÉSJ. LATRACH |
Ultimate | OVERDRIVE RACING | TOYOTA HILUX GR | 3:46:33 | +0:13:46 |
| 12 | #238 |  M. GASTALDIC. SACHS |
Ultimate | SVR | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 3:47:20 | +0:14:33 |
| 13 | #218 | S. VARIAWAF. CAZALET |
Ultimate | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING SA | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 3:48:06 | +0:15:19 |
| 14 | #302 | P. KLAASSENA. SANZ |
Challenger | KTM X-BOW POWERED BY G RALLY TEAM | GRALLYTEAM G-ECKO | 3:50:00 | +0:17:13 |
| 15 | #307 |  M. WALKNERP. MORENO |
Challenger | BBR MOTORSPORT | TAURUS T3 MAX | 3:50:06 | +0:17:19 |
| 16 | #222 | M. BAUMGARTK. CINCEA |
Ultimate | SVR | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 3:51:44 | +0:18:57 |
| 17 | #236 | C. BAUMGARTL. ECKEL |
Ultimate | SVR | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 3:52:22 | +0:19:35 |
| 18 | #240 |  J. FERREIRAF. PALMEIRO |
Ultimate | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING SA | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 3:56:54 | +0:24:07 |
| 19 | #206 | M. GOCZALM. MARTON |
Ultimate | ENERGYLANDIA RALLY TEAM | TOYOTA HILUX DKR EVO | 3:58:48 | +0:26:01 |
| 20 | #301 | A. PINTOB. OLIVEIRA |
Challenger | OLD FRIENDS RALLY TEAM | TAURUS T3 MAX | 4:00:53 | +0:28:06 |
| 21 | #308 | N. LOPEZF. ACOSTA |
Challenger | BBR MOTORSPORT | TAURUS T3 MAX | 4:04:07 | +0:31:20 |
| 22 | #247 | K. BENAVIDESL. SISTERNA |
Ultimate | OVERDRIVE RACING | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 4:06:05 | +0:33:18 |
| 23 | #223 | L. MORAESD. ZENZ |
Ultimate | THE DACIA SANDRIDERS | DACIA SANDRIDER | 4:15:57 | +0:43:10 |
| 24 | #221 |  M. PROKOPV. CHYTKA |
Ultimate | ORLEN JIPOCAR TEAM | FORD RAPTOR | 4:16:19 | +0:43:32 |
| 25 | #500 | S. PETERHANSELM. METGE |
Stock | DEFENDER RALLY | DEFENDER DAKAR D7X-R | 4:18:20 | +0:45:33 |
| 26 | #227 | N. ROMAA. HARO |
Ultimate | FORD RACING | FORD RAPTOR | 4:22:13 | +0:49:26 |
| 27 | #502 |  R. BACIUSKAO. VIDAL |
Stock | DEFENDER RALLY | DEFENDER DAKAR D7X-R | 4:22:36 | +0:49:49 |
| 28 | #408 | P. MAC DOWELLD. SPOLIDORIO |
SSV | SOUTH RACING CAN-AM | BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R | 4:22:54 | +0:50:07 |
| 29 | #412 | J. NOGUEIRAA. COUTO |
SSV | OLD FRIENDS RALLY TEAM | BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R | 4:27:38 | +0:54:51 |
| 30 | #402 | J. GONZALEZ FERIOLIG. RINALDI |
SSV | CAN-AM FACTORY TEAM | BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R | 4:28:36 | +0:55:49 |
| 31 | #410 | J. PIFERRERX. BLANCO |
SSV | BUGGY MASTERS TEAM | BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R | 4:31:07 | +0:58:20 |
| 32 | #404 | M. SIDABRASE. CESOKAS |
SSV | IZOTON SPORT | BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R | 4:31:35 | +0:58:48 |
| 33 | #504 | S. PRICES. GRAY |
Stock | DEFENDER RALLY | DEFENDER DAKAR D7X-R | 4:52:41 | +1:19:54 |
| 34 | #204 |  A. MIURAA. MONLEON |
Ultimate | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING W2RC | TOYOTA HILUX GR | 6:15:00 | +2:42:13 |
| 35 | #217 |  D. KROTOVK. ZHILTSOV |
Ultimate | M-SPORT RALLY RAID TEAM | FORD RAPTOR | 6:15:00 | +2:42:13 |
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
Henk Lategan wins Stage 3 of the Ruta 40 and takes the lead
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
