Desafío Ruta 40 YPF: Sanders and Goczal Shone as Brightly as the San Juan Sun
Desafío Ruta 40 YPF completed its first stage with a demanding San Juan–San Juan route, which included 340 kilometers of selective section and 171 kilometers of road section, on a day where Daniel Sanders and Eryk Goczał stood out as the stars of the day. After the first run through the challenging roads of San Juan, the rally raid convoy will set off tomorrow for San Rafael, in the province of Mendoza, to continue with the second stage of the competition, which counts toward the World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC).
Desafío Ruta 40 YPF kicked off with its first stage San Juan-San Juan (340 km of selective section and 171 km of road section). Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who had never won a rally-raid on Argentine soil, claimed his first victory by taking the top spot in the bikes category in San Juan. The Australian thus secured his 30th victory in the RallyGP class (a record among riders), Australia’s 36th victory (a record among countries), and KTM’s 48th, bringing them closer to the symbolic milestone of 50 victories.
The KTM rider defeated the Monster Energy Honda Team riders, Tosha Schareina (06m02 behind) and Ricky Brabec (07m29 behind).
In the quad category, Argentine Lucas Dominguez (LD Racing Team) took the win, claiming his first victory in the class and becoming the 132nd winner in W2RC history.
In the car category, the victory went to Eryk Goczal and Szymon Gospodarczyk (Energyland Rally Team), who won a stage of the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF for the first time. The Polish driver finished ahead of the Fords driven by Mitch Guthrie (Ford Racing) (50 seconds behind) and Carlos Sainz (Ford Racing) (56 seconds behind), thereby also taking the lead in the FIA overall standings—a milestone in his career.
Voices from the bivouac
Daniel Sanders (Bikes -RallyGP-): “It was a good stage. Lots of dust. I think I passed six riders. Overtaking was easy and safe; I lost a bit of time, but that’s just how desert races go. It was really fun. The tracks were intense and physically demanding, but I felt good—I’m happy with the first stage of the race. I remembered some parts of the stage from 2024, but the terrain changes a lot. It was really good, with all those rough sections. It was constantly changing, with different styles—really very technical.”
Lucas Dominguez (Quads): “We managed to finish, but the first stage was extremely tough. Let’s hope the next one is a little easier. It was tough, tough, tough—especially at the start. I was expecting something a bit more laid-back since it was the first stage, but I’m glad to have made it. It took me quite a while to pass a couple of bikes—maybe 10–15 km; there was dirt everywhere. And once the cars passed, in the last 30 kilometers, they left the ground in terrible shape, and that’s when things got really complicated; I had to slow down a lot.
The stage had a little bit of everything: rally roads, fast-flowing rivers beds, rocky rivers, trial sections… tough.”
Eryk Goczal (Cars -Ultimate-): “I’m completely surprised, because this is exactly the opposite of what we’ve been dealing with in previous races. We worked on this car’s suspension for this race and set it up completely differently, and it worked. The car handled like a dream. We did a great job all day, we were precise everywhere, and we didn’t even push, so that opens up a whole new outlook for the future. We’re starting to be competitive with this car, and I’m very happy because this isn’t the end—we’ve shown how much we’ve improved over the years and that we can keep doing so.”
“My visit is to show my support for David Eli”
Cesar Carman, President of the Executive Committee of the Automóvil Club Argentino, was present at the bivouac in San Juan, and he spoke about the Argentine public’s enthusiasm at seeing the sport’s top drivers:
“Argentinians are passionate about motorsports. When drivers come to Argentina, they love it; they feel that energy—it really grabs their attention. It’s the Argentine public. Combined with the Colapinto effect—what he’s generating among the Argentine public, across all generations, with motorsports—it’s something worth seeing. It’s thrilling.” He also highlighted the significance of an international event of this magnitude and the role of +Eventos as the organizer of this competition: “This is the only FIA world-level event we’ve maintained in Argentina. My visit is to show my support for David Eli, who for so many years organized these events in a very professional, very efficient manner. He has many friends at the club, and in the club president, he has a friend today because he has kept this going—which for us means having a world championship event in Argentina. As motorsports leaders, we are proud that Argentina has it.” Cesar Carman, President of ACA at the bivouac in San Juan.
Party in the city
Last night, downtown San Juan was the scene of a true celebration with the traditional starting ramp for the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF. The 147 participating drivers paraded before a large crowd of fans and spectators who gathered to enjoy an evening full of excitement, color, and passion for rally raid, on the eve of the start of the competition counting toward the World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC).
Source: Desafio Ruta 40 official press release
Photo: Paco Foto Agencia
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