Seth Quintero won the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF this Friday and became the fourth different leader of a rally that did not allow anyone to sleep two nights at the front of the overall classification. The American from Toyota Gazoo Racing arrived at the final stage with only 7 seconds over Nasser Al-Attiyah, withstood the Qatari's pressure and the attack of his teammate Henk Lategan, and won by 1 minute and 55 seconds. Al-Attiyah finished third, 2 minutes and 26 seconds behind.
The fifth and final stage, a 340‑kilometre loop around San Juan with a 114‑kilometre neutralisation that split the special in two, was won by Lategan. The South African set a time of 2 hours and 31 minutes, with Sébastien Loeb 1 minute and 28 seconds behind and Quintero 2 minutes and 58 seconds back. Toyota placed its two official drivers at the front of the overall standings, with Quintero and Lategan separated by 1 minute and 55 seconds. Loeb finished fourth, 3 minutes and 54 seconds behind.
The race turned at kilometre 101, when Quintero stopped his Hilux for several minutes, lost about two minutes, and Al-Attiyah took the virtual lead. The Qatari also stopped at kilometre 253 and lost two and a half minutes, which returned Quintero to the top. This is the first victory by a driver from the United States in the history of the Desafío Ruta 40 and the sixth for Toyota in this event.
The week began with Eryk Goczal at the front after winning the first stage and with Joao Ferreira snatching the lead from him in the second. The real turning point came on the third special, the longest of the event at 409 kilometres, where the dunes of Nihuil became a trap. Carlos Sainz was knocked out by a mechanical failure, and a collision between Ferreira himself and Lucas Moraes left both out of contention. That debacle handed the lead to Lategan, who held it until the fourth stage. That day, a Sainz returning to the fray after his retirement won the special, while Quintero snatched the overall lead from his teammate to arrive at the final stage with a minimal advantage.
Loeb keeps the world championship lead with 114 points, although Al-Attiyah closed to within just 3 points after scoring more stage points and finishing ahead of him in the final classification. Quintero moved to third, 13 points behind the Frenchman and 10 behind the Qatari.
In the remaining categories, Matthias Walkner won in Challenger by 29 seconds over Alexandre Pinto without having won any stage. Puck Klaassen left Argentina as the new championship leader. Jeremias Ferioli controlled SSV with four stage victories, and Stéphane Peterhansel added another win in Stock with the Defender. The W2RC season now moves to Morocco.
Ruta 40 Rally Raid 2026 - Clasificación General
| Pos | Nº | Pilotos | Clase | Equipo | Vehículo | Tiempo | Diferencia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #203 | Ultimate | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING W2RC | TOYOTA HILUX GR | 15:55:38 | — | |
| 2 | #202 | Ultimate | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING W2RC | TOYOTA HILUX GR | 15:57:33 | +0:01:55 | |
| 3 | #299 | Ultimate | THE DACIA SANDRIDERS | DACIA SANDRIDER | 15:58:04 | +0:02:26 | |
| 4 | #219 | Ultimate | THE DACIA SANDRIDERS | DACIA SANDRIDER | 15:59:32 | +0:03:54 | |
| 5 | #218 | Ultimate | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING SA | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 16:27:42 | +0:32:04 | |
| 6 | #201 | Ultimate | OVERDRIVE RACING | TOYOTA HILUX GR | 16:47:29 | +0:51:51 | |
| 7 | #238 | Ultimate | SVR | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 16:50:23 | +0:54:45 | |
| 8 | #227 | Ultimate | FORD RACING | FORD RAPTOR | 16:56:15 | +1:00:37 | |
| 9 | #250 | Ultimate | X-RAID TEAM | X-RAID MINI JCW RALLY 3.0I | 17:01:26 | +1:05:48 | |
| 10 | #307 | Challenger | BBR MOTORSPORT | TAURUS T3 MAX | 17:13:12 | +1:17:34 | |
| 11 | #301 | Challenger | OLD FRIENDS RALLY TEAM | TAURUS T3 MAX | 17:13:41 | +1:18:03 | |
| 12 | #302 | Challenger | KTM X-BOW POWERED BY G RALLY TEAM | GRALLYTEAM G-ECKO | 17:16:51 | +1:21:13 | |
| 13 | #205 | Ultimate | ENERGYLANDIA RALLY TEAM | TOYOTA HILUX DKR EVO | 17:31:35 | +1:35:57 | |
| 14 | #210 | Ultimate | OVERDRIVE RACING | TOYOTA HILUX GR | 17:49:45 | +1:54:07 | |
| 15 | #221 | Ultimate | ORLEN JIPOCAR TEAM | FORD RAPTOR | 17:58:43 | +2:03:05 | |
| 16 | #247 | Ultimate | OVERDRIVE RACING | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 18:10:41 | +2:15:03 | |
| 17 | #402 | SSV | CAN-AM FACTORY TEAM | BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R | 18:11:05 | +2:15:27 | |
| 18 | #500 | Stock | DEFENDER RALLY | DEFENDER DAKAR D7X-R | 18:11:12 | +2:15:34 | |
| 19 | #502 | Stock | DEFENDER RALLY | DEFENDER DAKAR D7X-R | 18:20:30 | +2:24:52 | |
| 20 | #504 | Stock | DEFENDER RALLY | DEFENDER DAKAR D7X-R | 19:06:04 | +3:10:26 | |
| 21 | #228 | Ultimate | FORD RACING | FORD RAPTOR | 19:41:39 | +3:46:01 | |
| 22 | #231 | Ultimate | RD LIMITED | FORD RAPTOR | 20:12:57 | +4:17:19 | |
| 23 | #404 | SSV | IZOTON SPORT | BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R | 20:14:44 | +4:19:06 | |
| 24 | #236 | Ultimate | SVR | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 20:32:37 | +4:36:59 | |
| 25 | #410 | SSV | BUGGY MASTERS TEAM | BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R | 20:33:14 | +4:37:36 | |
| 26 | #412 | SSV | OLD FRIENDS RALLY TEAM | BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R | 20:59:51 | +5:04:13 | |
| 27 | #408 | SSV | SOUTH RACING CAN-AM | BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R | 28:07:15 | +12:11:37 | |
| 28 | #308 | Challenger | BBR MOTORSPORT | TAURUS T3 MAX | 29:24:34 | +13:28:56 | |
| 29 | #222 | Ultimate | SVR | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 30:44:54 | +14:49:16 | |
| 30 | #240 | Ultimate | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING SA | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 35:56:46 | +20:01:08 | |
| 31 | #230 | Ultimate | SVR | TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO | 36:00:36 | +20:04:58 | |
| 32 | #225 | Ultimate | FORD RACING | FORD RAPTOR | 36:06:37 | +20:10:59 | |
| 33 | #206 | Ultimate | ENERGYLANDIA RALLY TEAM | TOYOTA HILUX DKR EVO | 36:15:02 | +20:19:24 | |
| 34 | #223 | Ultimate | THE DACIA SANDRIDERS | DACIA SANDRIDER | 36:28:34 | +20:32:56 |
Photo By A.S.O
Photo By A.S.O
Photo By A.S.O
Photo By A.S.O