Seth Quintero scores his first victory in the Ultimate with a win in Argentina

Lategan won the final stage, and Toyota took the top two spots in the overall standings

Seth Quintero wins the Desafío Ruta 40, his first victory in Ultimate

Seth Quintero scores his first victory in the Ultimate with a win in Argentina

Lategan won the final stage, and Toyota took the top two spots in the overall standings

Photos: A.S.O
Argentina
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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 Pilotos Clase Equipo Vehículo Tiempo Diferencia
1 #203 S. QUINTERO
A. SHORT
Ultimate TOYOTA GAZOO RACING W2RC TOYOTA HILUX GR 15:55:38
2 #202 H. LATEGAN
B. CUMMINGS
Ultimate TOYOTA GAZOO RACING W2RC TOYOTA HILUX GR 15:57:33 +0:01:55
3 #299 N. AL-ATTIYAH
F. LURQUIN
Ultimate THE DACIA SANDRIDERS DACIA SANDRIDER 15:58:04 +0:02:26
4 #219 S. LOEB
E. BOULANGER
Ultimate THE DACIA SANDRIDERS DACIA SANDRIDER 15:59:32 +0:03:54
5 #218 S. VARIAWA
F. CAZALET
Ultimate TOYOTA GAZOO RACING SA TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO 16:27:42 +0:32:04
6 #201 Y. AL RAJHI
T. GOTTSCHALK
Ultimate OVERDRIVE RACING TOYOTA HILUX GR 16:47:29 +0:51:51
7 #238 M. GASTALDI
C. SACHS
Ultimate SVR TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO 16:50:23 +0:54:45
8 #227 N. ROMA
A. HARO
Ultimate FORD RACING FORD RAPTOR 16:56:15 +1:00:37
9 #250 S. HALPERN
E. SAGUI
Ultimate X-RAID TEAM X-RAID MINI JCW RALLY 3.0I 17:01:26 +1:05:48
10 #307 M. WALKNER
P. MORENO
Challenger BBR MOTORSPORT TAURUS T3 MAX 17:13:12 +1:17:34
11 #301 A. PINTO
B. OLIVEIRA
Challenger OLD FRIENDS RALLY TEAM TAURUS T3 MAX 17:13:41 +1:18:03
12 #302 P. KLAASSEN
A. SANZ
Challenger KTM X-BOW POWERED BY G RALLY TEAM GRALLYTEAM G-ECKO 17:16:51 +1:21:13
13 #205 E. GOCZAL
S. GOSPODARCZYK
Ultimate ENERGYLANDIA RALLY TEAM TOYOTA HILUX DKR EVO 17:31:35 +1:35:57
14 #210 H. GARCÉS
J. LATRACH
Ultimate OVERDRIVE RACING TOYOTA HILUX GR 17:49:45 +1:54:07
15 #221 M. PROKOP
V. CHYTKA
Ultimate ORLEN JIPOCAR TEAM FORD RAPTOR 17:58:43 +2:03:05
16 #247 K. BENAVIDES
L. SISTERNA
Ultimate OVERDRIVE RACING TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO 18:10:41 +2:15:03
17 #402 J. GONZALEZ FERIOLI
G. RINALDI
SSV CAN-AM FACTORY TEAM BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R 18:11:05 +2:15:27
18 #500 S. PETERHANSEL
M. METGE
Stock DEFENDER RALLY DEFENDER DAKAR D7X-R 18:11:12 +2:15:34
19 #502 R. BACIUSKA
O. VIDAL
Stock DEFENDER RALLY DEFENDER DAKAR D7X-R 18:20:30 +2:24:52
20 #504 S. PRICE
S. GRAY
Stock DEFENDER RALLY DEFENDER DAKAR D7X-R 19:06:04 +3:10:26
21 #228 M. GUTHRIE
K. WALCH
Ultimate FORD RACING FORD RAPTOR 19:41:39 +3:46:01
22 #231 K. KOOLEN
W. ROSEGAAR
Ultimate RD LIMITED FORD RAPTOR 20:12:57 +4:17:19
23 #404 M. SIDABRAS
E. CESOKAS
SSV IZOTON SPORT BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R 20:14:44 +4:19:06
24 #236 C. BAUMGART
L. ECKEL
Ultimate SVR TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO 20:32:37 +4:36:59
25 #410 J. PIFERRER
X. BLANCO
SSV BUGGY MASTERS TEAM BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R 20:33:14 +4:37:36
26 #412 J. NOGUEIRA
A. COUTO
SSV OLD FRIENDS RALLY TEAM BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R 20:59:51 +5:04:13
27 #408 P. MAC DOWELL
D. SPOLIDORIO
SSV SOUTH RACING CAN-AM BRP CAN-AM MAVERICK R 28:07:15 +12:11:37
28 #308 N. LOPEZ
F. ACOSTA
Challenger BBR MOTORSPORT TAURUS T3 MAX 29:24:34 +13:28:56
29 #222 M. BAUMGART
K. CINCEA
Ultimate SVR TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO 30:44:54 +14:49:16
30 #240 J. FERREIRA
F. PALMEIRO
Ultimate TOYOTA GAZOO RACING SA TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO 35:56:46 +20:01:08
31 #230 L. ALVAREZ
B. GRAUE
Ultimate SVR TOYOTA HILUX IMT EVO 36:00:36 +20:04:58
32 #225 C. SAINZ
D. OLIVERAS
Ultimate FORD RACING FORD RAPTOR 36:06:37 +20:10:59
33 #206 M. GOCZAL
M. MARTON
Ultimate ENERGYLANDIA RALLY TEAM TOYOTA HILUX DKR EVO 36:15:02 +20:19:24
34 #223 L. MORAES
D. ZENZ
Ultimate THE DACIA SANDRIDERS DACIA SANDRIDER 36:28:34 +20:32:56
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