2023 Desafio Ruta 40: Manuel Andujar holds off Moreno for Quad victory

The Desafío Ruta 40‘s Quad category had seven times as many entrants as the previous World Rally-Raid Championship round in Sonora four months prior, which makes it ironic that the battle for the win came down to just two riders yet again. Argentinians Manuel Andújar and Francisco Moreno split the five stages, and the former gained the upper hand with three wins en route to the overall victory.

Moreno, who is not competing for the W2RC, fell behind early as he finished eighth and seventeen minutes back in Stage #1 while Andújar drew first blood. He responded by winning the second stage, only to create a pattern of the two trading stage victories.

Entering the fifth and final day, Andújar led Moreno by 11:32 and increased the gap by another 1:35 en route to the win. The victory is a strong rebound for Andújar after being forced to retire from the Dakar Rally with a mechanical failure before a herniated disc sidelined him from riding until May, when he returned to racing in the Campeonato Argentino de Rally y Navegación (CaNav) series.

“We completed the song. We have the last verse,” began Andújar. “I am very happy to have won the historic race that is the Desafío Ruta 40. It was the difficult figure that we hadn’t been able to achieve, then the race was discontinued and we didn’t have the chance to run it. Now, with a little more experience, we came back and we ran a smart race and we were able to take it home. The key was to be consistent in the stages.”

Marcelo Medeiros provided the next closest competition to the two when he set the fastest time in their class in the Prologue before joining them on the podium in all five stages. His closest shot at interfering with their duel came in Stages #3 and #5 when he finished fifty-two and fifty-one seconds behind Andújar, respectively, but ultimately placed half an hour back due to sixteen- and eighteen-minute deficits in the even-numbered legs.

Rodolfo Guillioli and Juraj Varga, the only other W2RC riders in the class, respectively placed sixth and eighth. Varga, who raced under his own banner but had support from Andújar’s 7240 Team, struggled with mechanical problems throughout the rally’s second half. In Stage #3, his Yamaha Raptor lost power before the oil hose burst as did the air hose thirty kilometres before the finish; electronic issues then plagued him on the fourth and fifth legs. As points-eligible competitors, they joined Andújar on the W2RC podium and received the same honours for finishing second and third.

Quad riders Ayelén Bogado and Suany Martinez were among six women competing in the DR 40. Martinez finished as high as eighth before bowing out on the final day, while Bogado was the final rider to complete the rally.

After finishing fourth in Stage #1, Tobias Carrizo retired three days later due to a rollover.

Following his Dakar retirement and missing the next two races, Andújar’s Argentina win gave him his first W2RC points of the season. Receiving twenty-five points as the overall winner, he is tied with Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge champion Abdulaziz Ahli for fifth. Laisvydas Kancius, who ran the first three rounds and won Sonora before sitting out the DR 40, remains the points leader while Guillioli and Varga move past Pablo Copetti for second and third. Going into the final round in Morocco, Guillioli trails Kancius by sixteen points and Varga does so by twenty-three.

Quad overall results

Finish	Number	Rider	Team	Time	Margin
1	152	Manuel Andújar	7240 Team	19:24:30	Leader
2	154	Francisco Moreno*	Franci Moreno Rally Team	19:37:37	+ 13:07
3	179	Marcelo Medeiros*	Taguatur Racng Team	19:55:0	+ 30:39
4	174	Facundo Viel*	Viel Team	20:57:23	+ 1:32:53
5	177	Gaston Gonzalez*	Gonzalez Racing	21:07:35	+ 1:43:05
6	165	Rodolfo Guillioli	Pepitas Racing Team	22:38:12	+ 3:13:42
7	175	Matias Canalis*	Paparrelli	23:26:28	+ 4:01:58
8	153	Juraj Varga	Varga Motorsport	39:55:39	+ 20:31:09
9	178	Mariano Bennazar*	Bennazar Quad Team	41:05:08	+ 21:40:38
10	176	Mariano Viel*	Viel Team	43:30:41	+ 24:06:11
11	170	Leonardo Martinez*	Martinez Racing	44:55:47	+ 25:31:17
12	173	Ayelén Bogado*	MEC Team	49:57:57	+ 30:33:27
DNF	171	Suany Martinez*	Martinez Racing	DNF	N/A
DNF	172	Tobias Carrizo*	MED Racing Team	DNF	N/A

Quad stage winners

Stage	Rider	Time
Prologue	Marcelo Medeiros*	59:28 (7:26)
Stage #1	Manuel Andújar	3:23:00
Stage #2	Francisco Moreno*	4:31:37
Stage #3	Manuel Andújar	3:40:06
Stage #4	Francisco Moreno*	3:40:48
Stage #5	Manuel Andújar	2:57:25

Overall winners

Class	Number	Competitor	Team	Time
T1	200	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Toyota Gazoo Racing	15:10:03
T3	302	Mitch Guthrie	Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team	16:22:31
T4	403	Gustavo Gallego*	South Racing Can-Am	18:34:37
RallyGP	68	Tosha Schareina*	Honda Team	15:58:46
Rally2	21	Bradley Cox	BAS World KTM Racing Team	17:01:01
Rally3	122	Ardit Kurtaj	Xraids Experience	23:15:45
Quad	152	Manuel Andújar	7240 Team	19:24:30
Open Auto	650	Blas Zapag*	Copetrol Rally	23:06:34
Open T3	670	Jeremías Gonzalez Ferioli*	Ferioli Racing Team	17:34:31
Open T4	678	Juan José Semino*	Xcorpion Rally Racing	20:59:00
Open Moto	608	Rodrigo de Abreu Sallum*	MED Racing Team	22:36:24
Open Quad	623	Santiago Rostan*	Pampa Rental Rally Team	25:28:33
Road to Dakar Auto	678	Juan José Semino*	Xcorpion Rally Racing	20:59:00
Road to Dakar Moto	69	Juan Santiago Rostan*	Pampa Rental Rally Team	25:28:33

W2RC Quad standings

Rank	Rider	Points	Margin
1	Laisvydas Kancius	69	Leader
2	Rodolfo Guillioli	53	– 16
3	Juraj Varga	46	– 23
4	Pablo Copetti	38	– 31
T-5	Abdulaziz Ahli	25	– 44
T-5	Manuel Andújar	25	– 44
7	Carlos Alejandro Verza	20	– 49
8	Adomas Gančierius	16	– 53
9	Antonas Kanopkinas	11	– 58