Schareina & Brabec go 1-2 at FIM WRRC YPF INFINIA Desafio Ruta 40’s Prologue in Argentina

The fourth round of the 2024 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship – the YPF INFINIA Desafio Ruta 40 – is officially underway and Monster Energy is up top, going 1st-2nd-3rd in the Prologue with Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally Team’s Tosha Schareina winning by a couple seconds over teammate Ricky Brabec and Hero Motosports’, fueled by Monster Energy, Ross Branch placing 3rd, some 28 seconds back of Brabec.

The short, foggy, 148 km Liaison/17 km Special Prologue kicked off the five-stage Desafio Ruta 40 on Sunday with a course drafted through a portion of the World Rally Championship’s El condor-Copina Special section. The course featured two spectacular suspension bridges that the racers crossed and sets the starting grid for Monday’s Stage 1 (of five Desafio Ruta 40 stages).

"I wasn't really expecting this result because I struggled with poor visibility every bit as much as the others in the first ten kilometers,” said Schareina, who’s the odds-on favorite to defend his 2023 victory in the Desafio Ruta 40. “It was cold, windy and, worst of all, foggy. Once that bit was out of the way, I tried to push hard in the last four kilometers and we did it.”

Added 2nd place Brabec: “This is my first Prologue after the Dakar, so yeah, it’s been a couple months. Everything feels good. Low visibility today and really cold as well – two of my least favorite things (laughter). But we managed to do pretty well. I took the goggles off, basically right out of the start. After that it was like crying for 17 kilometers because the moisture in the air with the fog was making your eyeballs all wet. But other than that it was good. I made two mistakes. One wasn’t so severe, but the other I overshot a corner. The result in the end was pretty good. So I’m happy with that and looking forward to the next five days.”

In 3rd place at the Desafio Ruta 40 Prologue was Branch, who leads the overall FIM World Rally-Raid Championship’s motorcycle class by 21 points over Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally Team’s Adrien Van Beveren and 23 out front of Brabec. Branch, who could, mathematically, clinch the WRRC title in Argentina this week, will be assisted by teammates Sebastian Buhler, who won the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in March, and newly acquired (from Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally Team) Jose “Nacho” Cornejo.

Added Branch: “I’m pretty happy with how today’s Prologue went, although it was a little bit strange. A lot of fog and a lot of mist at the top of the hill, so we couldn’t see anything for the first 10 ks. For the last five ks we could start to see and let some horses loose. Just good to keep the bike on two wheels. Managed to get 3rd, which I was really surprised about because I managed to screw up a few times. Went off the track twice and was really beating myself up. Looking forward to an awesome week in Argentina. There was a lot of fans out there, although we couldn’t see them we could hear all of them (laughter).”

Desafio Ruta 40 Prologue Results

1st – Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda)
2nd – Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda) – 0:02
3rd – Ross Branch (Hero/Monster Energy) – 0:28

2024 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship (through 3 of 5 rounds)

Overall Standings

1st – Ross Branch (Monster Energy/Hero Motosports), 61 points
2nd – Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), 40 points
3rd – Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), 38 points
4th – Pablo Quintanilla (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), 27 points
5th – Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), 25 points
6th – Aaron Mare (Monster Energy/Hero Motosports), 25 points
7th – Nacho Cornejo (Monster Energy/Hero Motosports), 20 points
8th – Skyler Howes (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), 13 points

Up next… Stage 1 of the Argentinian FIM World Rally-Raid Championship’s YPF INFINIA Desafio Ruta 40 run from Cordoba back to Cordoba, a 505 km day with 124 km Liaison and a tough 381 Special section. For more info on WRRC and Monster Energy’s racers with Honda and Hero, link to: www.worldrallyraidchampionship.com