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Desafio Ruta 40 2023: The Desafio Ruta 40 YPF returns in style
The long-awaited return of the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF is just around the corner. The competition, which will take place from August 26 to September 1 in La Rioja, Belén and Salta and will be valid for the World Rally Raid Championship, has a hundred pilots registered.
The return of the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF, after five years of waiting, has resonated deeply in the rally-raid community, generating an impressive response in terms of registrations. The participation of 99 crews, between W2RC and OPEN, added to the 16 competitors that Desafío Ansenuza will have, shows the great interest and passion that surrounds this emblematic competition.
The stars of the race
The long list of entered riders includes some of the biggest names in all the categories. Toby Price (RED BULL KTM Factory Racing), Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna Factory Racing), Ricky Brabec, Adrien Van Beveren, Pablo Quintanilla and Ignacio Cornejo (Monster Energy Honda Team), San Sunderland (RED BULL GAS GAS Factory Racing) and Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports Team Rally), among others, will be on the start line in what promises to be a great battle in the FIM RallyGP competition.
With the World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC) as a target, the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF will play a crucial role in the definition of this prestigious event. In this sense, all eyes will be on what may happen between the Australian KTM rider, Toby Price, who arrives in our country as leader of the championship, and the Argentinean rider from Salta, Luciano Benavides, who -without a doubt- will be one of the favorites of the local fans.
With the national flag as a symbol, another of the great leaders of the competition, who will surely have his own fans, will be Manuel Andujar. The quad rider, champion of the Dakar Rally in 2021, will be looking for glory.
This 11th edition of the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF presents a great singularity, both in the FIM competition and in the OPEN for bikes and quads: None of the 63 riders registered in these categories has been crowned in DR40, so when arriving in Salta we will see new winners write their names in the list of honors of this emblematic race.
The scenario will be different among the cars. Sebastián Halpern (X-raid Mini JCW) will try to win this Desafío for the third time. But it will not be an easy task to repeat what he did in 2016 and 2018 for the driver from Mendoza, as he will have to face -among others- Juan Cruz Yacopini and Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Racing) and none other than Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing). To the delight of the thousands of fans he won over during the years of the Dakar Rally in South America, the Qatari prince and leader of the FIA general classification is one of the stars of the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF 2023 and will be looking to win the crown in the north of Argentina.
Seth Quintero and Austin Jones (Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA), Cristina Gutierrez and «Chaleco» López (Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing), Jeremías Gonzalez Ferioli (winner of the 2016 DR40 in 4×2 quads – Ferioli Racing Team) as well as Nicolás Cavigliasso (Wevers Sport / Taurus) will be some of the great competitors in the SSV categories.
Ansenuza: Another Desafío within a Desafío
The Desafío Ansenuza also adds its exciting contribution to this edition of the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF. This regularity race, which will have its own route, will add an extra attraction to the competition, adding 16 entries to further enrich the caravan of competitors.
The numbers of the Desafío Ruta 40
- 5 stages
- 2,804 km (1,555km of special stages)
- 115 total number of competitors (99 competitors W2RC & OPEN, 16 competitors Desafío Ansenuza)
Check out the Entry List here: https://desafioruta40.ar/entry-list/
Source: Desafio Ruta 40
Photo: A.S.O/DPPI/J.Delfosse
Helder