Monster Energy Honda HRC’s Rally 2 rider Martim Ventura stormed to victory at the Desafío Ruta 40, dominating the final stage to seal an emphatic overall win.
The Monster Energy Honda HRC Rally 2 squad swept the stage results throughout this year’s event, delivering an outstanding performance despite all three riders competing as rookies at Desafío Ruta 40. For Bruno Crivilin, it was also his debut appearance in the Rally-Raid World Cup, making the team’s achievements even more impressive.
The final day featured a demanding loop around San Juan, with 340 km of timed special stages still separating the riders from the finish. The route offered no respite, climbing high into the mountains before charging through fast WRC-style tracks and technical dry riverbeds.
Ventura capped off a sensational week by claiming his fourth stage win aboard the Honda CRF450RX RALLY. Adding to his prologue victory and two earlier stage wins, the Portuguese rider dominated the stage with a margin of nearly three minutes over second place. He ultimately secured his maiden Rally-Raid World Cup victory by over eight-and-a-half minutes in his first-ever appearance in Argentina.
The result also propels Ventura to the top of the Rally-Raid World Cup standings with just two rounds remaining.
Crivilin enjoyed a breakthrough event of his own, claiming his first career stage victory earlier in the week before finishing sixth on the final stage to secure second place overall – an exceptional result for the Brazilian rookie.
Preston Campbell also celebrated a maiden stage win during the rally. Although a heavy crash on the penultimate day hampered his chances, he fought through to finish sixth on the final stage and after spending much of the week in provisional podium contention, the Dakar Rally runner-up narrowly missed out in fourth overall, but remains third in the championship standings heading into the next round.
The team will now regroup for the Rallye du Maroc, taking place from 28th September to 3rd October, where the championship battle is set to intensify.
Ruben Faria
General Manager
Martim Ventura delivered a very strong performance today to win the Rally 2 class. Bruno crashed during the stage but still managed to finish sixth. Considering this was his first desert rally, his result was extremely impressive.
Preston encountered some issues near the end of the stage and finished fifth today. In the overall standings, Martim secured the victory, Bruno finished as the runner-up and Preston, after today’s problems and yesterday’s crash, finished fourth overall.
Everything remains open in the championship. We are now leading with Martim and the team is fully focused on continuing to work hard and fight for more race wins.
Bruno Crivilin 69
Stage: 6th Overall: 2nd
I’m really pleased with my first podium finish in the World Championship and I’m also very pleased with my performance at this rally. I’m happy for Martin too. Everything’s gone really well over the last few days, the bike was perfect, the team worked really hard, so I’m happy with the result. I really enjoyed it, so thanks to everyone. We’ll train harder and hope for better results in the next ones.
Martim Ventura 84
Stage: 1st Overall: 1st
It was a good race in Argentina, my first time here in this country and everything went well with me, with the bike and with the team. We have been improving the bike and I feel we reached a really good level. This race was the result of that. We put everything together, we’ve been looking to do that for quite for a few races, but we had some issues every race. This race we were able to put it all together and I’m super happy we won.
Preston Campbell 85
Stage: 5th Overall: 4th
I enjoyed the last stage in the desert. I am stoked to get my first stage win this week but had some other tough days. Thank you to Monster Energy Honda HRC for their support and effort!
Source: Monster Energy Honda HRC
Disclaimer:
As a service to the sport we all love and follow, Rally-Raid Network posts numerous media releases from a wide variety of sources on our website. Due to the large number, and some times short time available, it is nearly impossible to review each public release. These articles are written by reporters or press officers who work for various organizers, teams, drivers, riders, and other parties, and they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Rally-Raid Network.
