The third round of the championship is based out of the city of San Juan, the capital of the province of the same name, and will visit San Rafael in the Mendoza region for two nights for the first time in 10 years. The route for the five-day classic also crosses the daunting El Nihuil dunes after a nine-year absence.
Thirty-eight crews will tackle Argentina’s return to the W2RC, with all but seven of those registered for championship points. Twenty-one teams are competing in the Ultimate category, with four registered in SSV and three in each the Challenger and Stock categories.
The Dacia Sandriders Team has made a strong start to this year’s campaign and is well on course to stop Toyota Gazoo Racing from claiming another FIA W2RC Manufacturers’ title. In what is thought to be the team’s last official season, Dacia holds an 83-point lead over the Japanese manufacturer, following wins for Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Sebastien Loeb at the first two rounds in Saudi Arabia and Portugal.
Of the 21 teams registered in the Ultimate section, three Dacias will line-up against a dozen Toyota Hiluxes, five Ford Raptors and a solitary X-Raid Mini JCW Rally.
Loeb and Edouard Boulanger lead the Drivers’ and Navigators’ Championships by seven points from team-mates Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin. Brazil’s Lucas Moraes teams up with Dennis Zenz in the third Sandrider. Al-Attiyah won the South American event when it was last a round of the series in 2024.
Al-Attiyah said: “For Argentina, it will be a nice and very difficult race. I have a lot of experience there. It’s fantastic that we (Dacia) have two cars leading the championships. It will be a big fight but we know our car and it’s very strong. We have a good chance to win. Some places are very difficult. There are some soft dunes, different colour of the dunes as well. That will be tough for everyone. Our car will be fine at altitude. We have done a lot of tests and that should not be a big issue.”
An army of Toyotas will be aiming to derail Dacia’s early season control of the championship. Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Henk Lategan and Seth Quintero represent Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC in the Manufacturers’ Championship with their respective navigators, Timo Gottschalk, Brett Cummings and Andrew Short. Quintero is currently the highest-ranked in the Drivers’ Championship in third place but all three are more than capable of winning the event outright.
Overdrive Racing oversees all three cars, in addition to running Hilux GRs for Chilean privateer Hernan Garces, the former Dakar-winning biker Kevin Benavides and a TGR Toyota for Japan’s Akira Miura.
The Polish duo of young Eryk Goczal and his father Marek have entered two Toyota Hilux DKR Evos under the Energylandia Rally Team banner. Marek currently leads the W2RC Master Drivers’ category by 54 points from Garces.
There are SVR Racing Toyota entries for Brazil’s Marcos and Cristian Baumgart, Lucio Alvarez and Marcelo Gastaldi and Toyota Gazoo Racing SA cars for the talented Portuguese driver Joao Ferreira and South African Saood Variawa. Only Gastaldi is not registered for the W2RC, while Ferreira is the highest-placed of the drivers in sixth in the points’ standings.
Ford Racing continues to progress in leaps and bounds and has made a strong start to the 2026 campaign. The team trails Toyota by just 38 points in the Manufacturers’ Championship and is represented in Argentina by the multiple Dakar-winning Spanish duo of Carlos Sainz and Joan Roma and American Mitch Guthrie.
Roma holds seventh in the Drivers’ Championship, with Sainz and Guthrie down in 10th and 12th. Roma finished an excellent second at the Dakar Rally but did not compete at the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal. The event was a disaster for Ford Racing in any case, with all three registered drivers withdrawing after the opening leg.
Czech privateer Martin Prokop is entered in an Orlen Jipocar Team Raptor and works closely with the official team. Denis Krotov has an M-Sport Rally Raid Team machine at his disposal and Dutch businessman Kees Koolen tackles the event in an RD Limited-entered Raptor.
Sebastian Halpern teams up with Edu Palanta for the first time since 2018 in a solitary petrol-engined Mini JCW Rally, but is not registered for the W2RC. The 2024 edition was the Argentine’s last event when he drove a diesel version of the German-built X-Raid car.
Klaassen and Pinto top Challenger field
Only three crews are registered for the W2RC in a disappointing Challenger turn out with just five entries. The absent Pau Navarro currently holds a two-point cushion over Dutch girl Puck Klaassen in the Drivers’ Championship with the absent Yasir Seaidan, Nicolas Cavigliasso and Paul Spierings rounding off the top five. Klaassen and her navigator Augusto Sanz have entered and have a great opportunity to snatch the advantage in a G Rally Team G-ECKO.
Their main competition will come from the Portuguese duo of Alexandre Pinto and Bernardo Oliveira. Pinto retired his Odyssey Academy by BBR Taurus T3 Max from the Dakar Rally but won the Challenger category in Portugal. He trails Klaassen by just 15 points, while Odyssey Academy by BBR leads the W2RC Teams’ Championship by 46 points.
Pedro Goncalves is also tackling the W2RC in a BBR Motorsport Taurus and holds 11th in the rankings after two rounds. The Portuguese teams up with Frenchman Sebastien Delaunay in the absence of his usual driver Dania Akeel.
Former Dakar motorcycle winner Matthias Walkner partners Pablo Moreno in another BBR Motorsport Taurus with the local crew of Nazareno Lopez and Fernando Acosta crewing the other BBR Taurus. Neither team is registered for W2RC points.
Local star Ferioli looks for SSV success
Only four of the six SSV crews are registered for the W2RC. Joao Monteiro, Kyle Chaney and Francisco Lopez currently hold first, third and fourth in the points’ standings and are conspicuous by their absence from the South American encounter.
Argentina’s Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli trails Monteiro by 11 points and tops the entry with Gonzalo Rinaldi in a Can-Am Factory Team Maverick R.
Lithuania’s Mindaugas Sidabras and Spaniard Juan Piferrer are fifth and sixth in the rankings after two rounds and have also made the trip to Argentina in a pair of privately-entered Mavericks. Brazil’s Pedro Macdowell is the fourth of the registered drivers in a South Racing Can-Am.
Manuel Andujar scored points at the opening round in Saudi Arabia but has not registered for the W2RC at his home event in Argentina. Old Friends Rally Team driver Jose Oscar Nogueira wheels out the sixth Can-Am on the entry list.
Baciuska heads the Defender Rally Team challenge in Stock
Land Rovers again dominates the Stock category and team-mates Rokas Baciuska, Sara Price and Stephane Peterhansel will lock horns for the third time this season in their Defender Dakar D7x-Rs.
Points for first in Dakar and second place in Portugal have given Baciuska and his Spanish navigator Oriol Vidal the early bragging rights. They lead their respective championships by 26 points from Price and Sean Berriman. In Argentina, however, Price teams up with fellow American navigator Saydiie Gray.
Dakar legend Peterhansel was only able to pick up points for fourth place in Saudi Arabia but the Frenchman hit back strongly in Portugal to claim the Stock win. He and navigator Michaël Metge are just nine points behind Price heading into the event in Argentina.
Organised by Automóvil Club Argentino, competitors will tackle approximately 1,692 competitive kilometres against the clock in a route of 2,660km (subject to final route checks).
After scrutineering and documentation formalities at the Autódromo San Juan Villicum in San Juan, the opening stage of around 341km will loop through rural tracks in the Andes foothills and features tricky river beds crossings and narrow trails with the emphasis on precise navigation.
Stage two heads south towards San Raphael for 298km, crossing several salt flats, sandy terrain and passing between areas of vegetation, again placing the emphasis on navigation. The stopovers in San Raphael are based out of the Centro de Congresos Y Exposiciones.
The third stage of 455km loops around San Raphael and is the longest of the event, beginning along an arid river bed before entering the dunes of Nihuil and concluding over daunting mountainous tracks up to an altitude in excess of 2,500 metres.
The penultimate stage of 310km returns to the San Juan province, climbing to over 3,000 metres and featuring winding roads, hairpins and steep drops with navigation over dusty tracks and through choking dust on the return to San Juan via the Mendoza area.
The final stage of 288km loops around the San Juan province, starting at the stunning Cuesta del Viento lake and climbing to over 3,000 metres, before reaching open wilderness with dry river beds and sparse vegetation.
2026 Desafio Ruta 40 – entry list:
Ultimate
201. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Timo Gottschalk (GER) Toyota Hilux GR
202. Henk Lategan (RSA)/Brett Cummings (RSA) Toyota Hilux GR
223. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Dennis Zenz (GER) Dacia Sandrider
225. Carlos Sainz (ESP)/Dani Oliveras (ESP) Ford Raptor
299. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL) Dacia Sandrider
203. Seth Quintero (USA)/Andrew Short (USA) Toyota Hilux GR
205. Eryk Goczal (POL)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Toyota Hilux DKR Evo
217. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (KGZ) Ford Raptor
218. Saood Variawa (RSA)/Francois Cazalet (FRA) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo
219. Sebastien Loeb (FRA)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA) Dacia Sandrider
221. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Viktor Chytka (CZE) Ford Raptor
227. Joan Roma (ESP)/Alex Haro (ESP) Ford Raptor
228. Mitch Guthrie (USA)/Kellon Walch (USA) Ford Raptor
204. Akira Miura (JPN)/Armand Monleon (ESP) Toyota Hilux GR
206. Marek Goczal (POL)/Maciej Marton (POL) Toyota Hilux DKR Evo
210. Hernan Garces (CHI)/Juan Pablo Latrach (CHI) Toyota Hilux GR
222. Marcos Baumgart (BRA)/Kleber Cincea (BRA) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo
230. Lucio Alvarez (ARG)/Bernando Graue (ARG) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo
231. Kees Koolen (NED)/Wouter Rosegaar (NED) Ford Raptor
236. Cristian Baumgart (BRA)/Luis Felipe Eckel (BRA) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo
238. Marcelo Gastaldi (BRA)/Carlos Sachs (BRA) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo*
240. Joao Ferreira (POR)/Filipe Palmeiro (POR) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo
247. Kevin Benavides (ARG)/Lisandro Sisterna (ARG) Toyota Hilux GR*
250. Sebastian Halpern (ARG)/Eduardo Pulenta (ARG) X-Raid Mini JCW Rally 3.0i*
Challenger
301. Alexandre Pinto (POR)/Bernardo Oliveira (POR) Taurus T3 Max
302. Puck Klaassen (NED)/Augusto Sanz (ARG) G Rally Team G-ECKO
306. Pedro Goncalves (POR)/Sebastien Delaunay (FRA) Taurus T3 Max
307. Matthias Walkner (AUT)/Pablo Moreno (ESP) Taurus T3 Max*
308. Nazareno Lopez (ARG)/Fernando Acosta (ARG) Taurus T3 Max*
SSV
402. Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli (ARG)/Gonzalo Rinaldi (ARG) Can-Am Maverick R
404. Mindaugas Sidabras (LTU)/Ernestas Cesokas (LTU) Can-Am Maverick R
407. Manuel Andujar (ARG)/Cesar Andres Frini (ARG) Can-Am Maverick R*
408. Pedro Macdowell (BRA)/Daniel Spolidorio (BRA) Can-Am Maverick R
410. Juan Piferrer (ESP)/Xavier Blanco (ESP) Can-Am Maverick R
412. Jose Oscar Nogueira (POR)/Arcelio Couto (POR) Can-Am Maverick R*
Stock
500. Stephane Peterhansel (FRA)/Michaël Metge (FRA) Defender Dakar D7X-R
502. Rokas Baciuska (LTU)/Oriol Vidal (ESP) Defender Dakar D7X-R
504. Sara Price (USA)/Saydiie Gray (USA) Defender Dakar D7X-R
*denotes not registered for W2RC
Timetable of events
Saturday, May 23
Administration checks 08.00-17.00hrs – Autodromo Villicum
Scrutineering 08.30-18.00hrs – Autodromo Villicum
Sunday, May 24
Administration checks 07.00-11.00hrs – Autodromo Villicum
Scrutineering 07.30-11.30hrs – Autodromo Villicum
Shakedown Albardon, San Juan
Pre-event press conference 18.30hrs – Centro Cultural Conte Grand
Ceremonial start 19.20hrs – Centro Cultural Conte Grand
Monday, May 25
Stage 1 (San Juan – San Juan) – 341km 09.07hrs – Autodromo Villicum
Tuesday, May 26
Stage 2 (San Juan – San Rafael) – 298km 08.37hrs – Autodromo Villicum
Wednesday, May 27
Stage 3 (San Rafael – San Rafael) – 455km 09.32hrs – Centro de Congresos, San Rafael
Thursday, May 28
Stage 4 (San Rafael – San Juan) – 310km 08.17hrs – Centro de Congresos, San Rafael
Friday, May 29
Stage 5 (San Juan – San Juan) – 288km 08.22hrs – Autodromo Villicum
Post-event press conference 16.30hrs – Plaza 25 de Mayo
Prize giving ceremony 17.00hrs – Plaza 25 de Mayo
