Desafio Ruta 40 2024: 4th podium in 5 days for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing in Argentina

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Quintero and Zenz finish 3rd in Stage 5
Moraes and Monleon end 5th overall
Moraes and Monleon climb to 3rd in W2RC

TOYOTA GAZOO RACING hit back well in the 5th and final stage of the 2024 Desafío Ruta 40 in Argentina. Following a disappointing 4th stage for the team, the TGR crews were determined to end with a strong showing in South America, and that they did, as Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz grabbed their 2nd podium spot of the week, while Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon finished just behind their teammates on the day, but 5th overall.
The finale of the 12th edition of the Desafío Ruta 40 saw competitors return to Córdoba over a total distance of 519 km, of which 218 km comprised the racing route. The terrain – gravel, gravel and more gravel.
While Moraes and Monleon were late starters, they quickly made amends, topping the timesheets at the 37 km mark, just 04sec clear of their closest challengers – TGR teammates Quintero and Zenz.
Lucas and Armand lost control of the lead, but while the title in Argentina was beyond their grasp, there were still vital World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) points on offer. The duo pushed hard over the relatively short stage to come home in 02h 39min 16sec and capture 4th position, finishing just outside the podium places but enough to see them climb to 3rd in the year-long W2RC table. That despite having sat in the dust of some slower competitors ahead of them on the stage.
There’s still much work to do for the pair if they are to claim W2RC top honours, but having risen into the top three, they are very much in contention with one round remaining – the Rally du Maroc in Morocco in October.
Quintero and Zenz went one better in the stage, delivering a great drive to capture 3rd place on the day. The young American driver and his German navigator were desperate to build on their Stage 3 victory, and they came extremely close, getting to within 05sec of the leaders at the 174 km mark. While they couldn’t claim the win, they did enough to secure yet another podium position in 2h 38min 27sec, finishing just 03min 47sec off the pace.
Lucas and Armand finished the 2024 Desafío Ruta 40 in 5th position overall, while teammates Seth and Dennis ended in 11th place. While victory in the Ultimate class eluded them, the two crews can be exceptionally proud of their efforts, having produced a combined haul of two stage wins and two third-place finishes across five days of racing action.
They have the talent, the team and the vehicles, and victory can’t be too far away. All roads lead to Morocco, and possibly, top step on the podium.

Alain Dujardyn, W2RC Team Principal: "Thanks to the entire Toyota family present in Argentina for doing a tremendous job. This will be remembered as an incredibly close battle up until the very last km, with the Toyota privateer crew of Yazeed Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk claiming an epic win to hand TOYOTA GAZOO RACING the manufacturer title for which we are very grateful. Our young TGR driver crews truly made their mark in this fourth round with two consecutive stage wins against highly-established drivers, and what they delivered today just solidified how talented they are. We can’t emphasize enough how proud we are of the two crews, who showed consistent progress and produced exceptionally strong performances across the four W2RC rounds.

Lucas Moraes: “It was a hard, but successful week, which was ultimately decided by one stage. We showed how strong we are across four of the five days, and I’m very proud of what we managed to achieve. We are not just contenders, but future champions.”

Seth Quintero: “Our Stage 3 victory will live long in the memory as this was an extremely tough rally. We were in the hunt for most of the race, proving just how strong we are. I’m delighted to have captured another podium, and am so thankful to the team for delivering a car that delivered in all aspects.”

DESAFÍO RUTA 40 – STANDINGS AFTER STAGE 5

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