WRRC Desafio Ruta 40 | Prologue and Stage 1

Double victories for Monster Energy at the 2023 World Rally Raid Championship’s Desafio Ruta 40 YPF in Argentina, as Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda) got things off to a great start in winning the Prologue. Monster Energy’s Tosha Schareina (Team Honda), who finished 5th in the Prologue, then stepped up and won Monday’s 700 km Stage 1, topping Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) and Van Beveren in 3rd.

Beginning with Sunday’s Prologue, ‘AVB’ had some company up front as Monster Energy/Honda teammate Ricky Brabec finished just two seconds back of Van Beveren’s winning time. Schareina (Team Honda) then rounded out the Prologue’s top five (5th), which set the racer seeding for Monday’s opening round of race – Stage 1 of the Desafio Ruta 40 YPF.

“Overall, I had a very good feeling during the Prologue,” said Van Beveren. “I enjoy this kind of track. It’s technical and slippery. It was easy to make mistakes. I made only one when I entered too fast on a corner. My Honda CRF 450 Rally is going really well in these extreme conditions, and this makes me feel even more confident.”

Two other Monster Energy-backed racers, Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) and Ross Branch (Hero Motorsports) also placed in the top ten of the Prologue, finishing in 7th and 9th places, respectively.

Monday’s Stage 1 was all Schareina as the Spaniard mastered the 334 km of Special Stage, comprised mostly of hard pack gravel. With impressive rides earlier this year at WRRC’s stop in Mexico, along with a victory at Baja Aragon (Spain), there was no question that Schareina could ride with the world’s best off-road motorcycle racers. Starting in 6th position, it was apparent early on that the Stage 1 finish would come down to a battle between Schareina and local favorite, Benavides.

Said Schareina: “I’m super happy to be here in Argentina. It’s my first time in DR40 and nothing better than starting here with a victory. It was a very fast stage with very slippery parts with the first 50 kilometers of dry rivers, but I am very happy with this result. We all started with a lot of enthusiasm, but you never imagine to start so well. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we have a difficult mission which is to open the track, but we will try again. It will be more open desert and I will have to concentrate on navigation, which will be important. Luciano (Benavides) is very strong here at home, he is very motivated by the people. I’m happy for him. We also feel the atmosphere and all the support from the public. The warmth of the people makes you overcome any obstacle.”

Desafio Ruta 40 Results

Prologue and Stage 1

Place    Name                                         Team                                                      Time

1st         Tosha Schareina                        Honda Team/Monster Energy                3:55.00

3rd        Adrien Van Beveren                   Monster Energy/Honda                         3:56:09 

5th        Ross Branch                               Hero Motorsports/Monster Energy        3:59:06

6th        Pablo Quintanilla                       Monster Energy/Honda                         4:02:32

8th        Jose Ignacio Cornejo                 Monster Energy/Honda                         4:04:26

9th        Ricky Brabec                              Monster Energy/Honda                         4:07:32

Up next…

Stage 2 of the 2023 World Rally Raid Championship’s Desafio Ruta 40 YPF in Argentina will take the racers on a 265 km Special with a shorter liaison distance of 197 km, running on Tuesday from La Rioja to Belen. The course will be primarily gravel track at the start, after which things will get tougher with a mix of chott (dried water bed), fesh-fesh (light, dusty sand) and sand dunes.