Video highlights and results from Desafio Ruta 40 penultimate stage four, World Rally-Raid Championship round in Argentina, where Honda occupy six of the top 10 positions and Tosha Schareina pushes Ricky Brabec for the overall lead.

If ever there was a dominant manufacturer performance at a race this is it. Honda riders, the five factory pilots Ricky Brabec, Tosha Schareina, Adrien Van Beveren, Skyler Howes and Pablo Quintanilla, plus new Rally2 recruit Romani Dumontier all sit within the top 10.

KTM? They are literally nowhere after their riders DNS with injuries (and they sacked Toby Price), ditto Husqvarna their one rider and GASGAS have Daniel Sanders down in P8 on his own after Sam Sunderland went out earlier in the rally.

Only Hero Motorsports have any answers to Honda with three riders, Ross Branch in fifth, Sebastien Buhler P7 and Jose Nacho Cornejo struggling to acclimatise with his new Hero machine in P10.

Stage 4 in a nutshell: 

  • Stage four, the penultimate stage went from San Juan to La Rioja and the bivouac at Súper Domo.
  • Among the Rally GP riders, the Monster Energy Honda brothers in arms Ricky Brabec and Tosha Schareina clashed once again, with the title holder in Argentina prevailing by 7 seconds. Overall, the American remains 1′27″ clear of the Spaniard.
  • Romain Dumontier (Team Honda) claimed his third consecutive Rally 2 stage win ahead of Bradley Cox (BAS World KTM Racing) and bolstered his lead.
  • In Rally 3, Fernando Hernández (MED Racing) crashed out, handing the lead to John Medina (Xraids Experience). Manuel Andújar remains unbeaten in quads and firmly in control overall.

 

Schareina not going down without a fight

Ricky Brabec and Tosha Schareina have been locked in a battle of seconds since the start of the rally. On Sunday, the Spaniard won the prologue by two seconds over the American, who hit back the very next day, taking stage one by just under a second.

That was also the gap separating them today at the km 370 time check, the last before the finish. The rider from Valencia eventually won by seven seconds over the Californian, who retained the overall rally lead. 

Brabec will start the final special with an advantage of 1′27″ over Schareina and 4′28″over Adrien Van Beveren, third on the day and overall. Their teammate Skyler Howes remains fourth at 9′01″, with Ross Branch fifth as the top non-Honda rider astride his Hero. The Botswanan is 12′26″ back and will keep his Rally GP championship lead if he stays in this position by a margin of only nine points on Brabec and 16 on VBA.

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Unbeaten for three days in Rally 2, Romain Dumontier drove the nail home, doubling his advantage over Bradley Cox, now seven minutes adrift. Jiří Brož (BAS World KTM Racing), third, can almost touch the first W2RC podium of his career.

The Rally 3 race saw a change of leader after Fernando Hernández crashed out of the rally. The Chilean John Medina took over and is charging towards a victory that would also hand him the championship lead. The Argentinian Eduardo Alan inherited the runner-up's spot.

Desafio Ruta 40 stage 4 results:

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Desafio Ruta 40 classification after stage 4 (RallyGP):

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Tomorrow's stage 5 between La Rioja and Córdoba will span 519 km, including 218 km against the clock.

 

Photo Credit: A.S.O E.Bauer | DPPI