The Brazilian finished the Argentine stage in fifth place, securing points to move into the top three in the championship
Lucas Moraes ended his participation in the Ruta 2024 Challenge on Friday (07/06) with fifth place overall in the rally. The driver of the official Toyota Gazoo Racing team car, along with navigator Armand Monléon, experienced moments of glory and difficulty in the Argentine stage, the penultimate of the World Rally Raid Championship. The results over the five days of competition helped Lucas to place third in the World Championship points table.
Lucas started the rally with difficulties after having one of his wheels hit by a rock in the prologue, forcing him to start in last position. However, the two-time Rally dos Sertões champion managed to impose himself on the challenging Argentine mountain range and finished the first special in third place. The following day, in a satisfactory performance, he won the longest special of the stage.
More problems and effective recovery - The third day of activities brought an even more satisfactory performance, with fourth place in the special. The fourth round of the rally was challenging. The right rear suspension of Moraes and Monléon's car broke, putting the pair in a difficult situation: they finished 17th and dropped from third to seventh in the overall standings.
With just one special stage remaining, the challenge of finishing the Ruta 40 in a good position increased. But experience spoke louder and Moraes managed to finish the special, which left La Rioja for Córdoba over 218 timed kilometers, in fourth place. The gap to the leaders, Yazeed Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk, from Overdrive Racing, was 04min36s, finishing in 2h34min40s.
In the overall standings, Lucas managed to finish in fifth place, 1h13min03s behind Al Rajhi and Gottschalk, who won the Ruta 40 Challenge in 17h38min21s. The result helped boost Lucas Moraes in the world championship table, where he now occupies third position with 103 points. Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah leads with 156, while Saudi Yazeed Al Rajhi is second with 131.
Lucas Moraes is competing in the World Rally Raid Championship with the support of Red Bull, Repsol, Strava, Oakley and Zapalla - as well as having led Brazilian tire brand SpeedMax to sponsor the Toyota team, the reigning champions. The next stage, the Morocco Rally, is the last of the championship and takes place between October 5 and 11.
Top-5 of the 5th stage, out of 5, La Rioja to Córdoba, 218 km
1st Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU) / Timo Gottschalk (ALE) - Overdrive Racing - 2h34min40s
2nd Nasser Al-Attiyah (CAT) / Edouard Boulanger (FRA) - Nasser Racing by Prodrive, +27s
3rd Seth Quintero (USA) / Dennis Zenz (ALE) - Toyota Gazoo Racing, +3min47s
4th Lucas Moraes (BRA) / Armand Monleon (ESP) - Toyota Gazoo Racing, +4min36s
5th Sebastian Halpern (ARG) / Bernardo Graue (ARG) - X-Raid Mini JCW Team, +9min19s
Top-5 overall after the 5th special
1st Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU) / Timo Gottschalk (ALE) - Overdrive Racing - 17h38min21s
2nd Nasser Al-Attiyah (CAT) / Edouard Boulanger (FRA) - Nasser Racing by Prodrive, +40s
3rd Sebastian Halpern (ARG) / Bernardo Graue (ARG) - X-Raid Mini JCW Team, +46min16s
4th Denis Krotov (KGZ) / Konstantin Zhiltsov (ISR) - Overdrive Racing, +1h02min29s
5th Lucas Moraes (BRA) / Armand Monleon (ESP) - Toyota Gazoo Racing, +1h13min03s
Top-5 of the World Rally Raid Championship
1st - Nasser Al-Attiyah (CAT), 156 points
2nd - Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU), 131 points
3rd - Lucas Moraes (BRA), 103 points
4th - Carlos Sainz (ESP), 100 points
5th - Guerlain Chicherit (FRA), 69 points
Automatic translation from the original Brazilian Portuguese version
Source: Lucas Moraes official press release
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