Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah continues the defence of his FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) title at Argentina’s Desafio Ruta 40 from June 1st to 7th, but the current series leader faces fierce competition from five Toyotas, two more Prodrive Hunters and a Mini JCW Rally Plus in South America. 

Last year’s event winner tops a 29-car FIA field. He again teams up with French co-driver Edouard Boulanger in a Prodrive Hunter entered by his Nasser Racing by Prodrive team that currently trails Toyota Gazoo Racing by 23 points in the W2RC Manufacturers’ Championship. 

After a non-finish and only stage points earned at the Dakar Rally, Al-Attiyah has bounced back strongly with wins at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid on the Iberian Peninsula. 

With closest rival Carlos Sainz not entering the fourth round in Argentina, Al-Attiyah has an excellent chance to increase his lead in the Drivers’ Championship and close in on Toyota Gazoo Racing in the Manufacturers’ series with the support of his Brazilian team-mates Cristian and Marcos Baumgart in their X Rally Team Hunters. Boulanger, meanwhile, holds a 28-point advantage in the W2RC Co-drivers’ Championship.

Yazeed Al-Rajhi is third in the Drivers’ Championship - albeit 33 points adrift of Al-Attiyah. He, Brazilian Lucas Moraes and American Seth Quintero have been assigned to score points for Toyota Gazoo Racing. Moraes is currently three points behind Al-Rajhi in fourth in the rankings after picking up points for third place in Portugal. Al-Rajhi’s co-driver Timo Gottschalk is second in the W2RC Co-drivers’ Championship.

Joining Al-Rajhi in the Overdrive Racing line-up are Denis Krotov and Juan Cruz Yacopini in their Toyota Hiluxes. They are 14th and 16th in the Drivers’ Championship after two rounds. Yacopini shadowed Al-Attiyah to the finish in second place last year. 

The Córdoba-based six-day event is a local one for Sebastian Halpern and Bernardo Graue and they are entered in the solitary X-Raid Mini Cooper Works Rally Plus. They round off the entry in the Ultimate category and are also registered for points in the Manufacturers’ Championship.

Runaway leader Baciuška tops Challenger entry

Points for second place in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi and maximum points in Portugal have given Lithuanian driver Rokas Baciuška a 34-point lead over Austin Jones in the Drivers’ Championship in the W2RC’s Challenger category. Frenchman Sébastien Delaunay replaces the championship-leading Oriol Vidal as his co-driver on this occasion.

Jones is not present among the 12 Challenger entries for the Desafio Ruta 40 and his absence has opened the door for Argentina’s Nicolas Cavigliasso and Brazilian Marcelo Tiglia Gastaldi to try and close the gap on the leading Can-Am Factory Team driver in their Taurus T3 Max machines. 

W2RC-registered competition for the leading trio comes from Saudi female driver Dania Akeel and local driver David Zille in their Taurus T3s. 

Series leader Seaidan heads SSV field

Eight crews will compete for honours in the SSV category with six registered for the W2RC. 

Saudi Arabia’s Yasir Seaidan arrives in South America with a lead of 37 points in the class over Ecuador’s Sebastien Guayasamin and a 63-point cushion over third-placed Spaniard Ricardo Ramilo. Ramilo’s co-driver Fausto Mota is the current leader of the SSV Co-Drivers’ Championship. He heads Guayasamin’s co-driver Fernando Acosta by five points.

The three Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR drivers top the entry, where they face competition from registered drivers Rebecca Busi, Claude Fournier and Enrico Gaspari, the latter driving the only Polaris RZR Pro R in the field.

The 12th edition of the Desafio Ruta 40 features a heavily revised route and starts out of Argentina’s second city, Córdoba, with a 17km Prologue to determine the starting order on Sunday, June 2nd. 

Intricate detail of the actual route for rounds of the W2RC is always a closely guarded secret but race organisers have laid on five challenging selective sections and approximately 1,792 competitive kilometres.

Day one (June 3rd) features a loop stage of 381km around Córdoba, before the route heads to San Juan to the east of the Andes on June 4th for a second stage of 423km. The city will host the event overnight and then crews will tackle a loop close to San Juan for stage three on June 5th. 

The route then heads to La Rioja, the largest city in the Province of La Rioja, at the foot of the Velasco Sierras range and includes a stage of 412km on June 6th. Crews will overnight in La Rioja before embarking upon the final 218km stage and a long liaison back to Córdoba for the ceremonial finish.

2024 Desafio Ruta 40 – entry list: 

Timetable of events