2023 Desafio Ruta 40: 99 on entry list

Home » 2023 Desafio Ruta 40: 99 on entry list

After a four-month summer break, the World Rally-Raid Championship returns with the Desafío Ruta 40 in Argentina, its first edition since 2018. 99 names are on the entry list, with 24 being from the FIA side, 46 from the FIM, and 29 are domestic and amateur teams not under regulation of either sanctioning body.

While the DR 40 is the penultimate race of the W2RC season, Sébastien Loeb abandons his pursuit as Bahrain Raid Xtreme skips Argentina to focus on the finale in Morocco and the 2024 Dakar Rally. With Loeb out of the picture, Nasser Al-Attiyah will have his second straight championship all but clinched barring disaster and domination for Yazeed Al-Rajhi. The DR 40 will also be Al-Attiyah’s final race with Toyota under his current contract, though he has launched negotiations with the team and others—including BRX—over the summer.

Only six cars make up the top-level T1 class, all but one of which are Toyota Hiluxes. BRX’s absence means none of the other Prodrive Hunters like Guerlain Chicherit and the Baumgart brothers are taking part; although they impressed at Sonora and Argentina is a stone’s throw away from their home country of Brazil, the Baumgarts will likely still be in debrief mode as the DR 40 is a week after the ongoing Sertões Rally.

Fourteen Light Prototypes are in T3, nine of whom have declared for W2RC points. Alongside the usual suspects, Nicolás Cavigliasso and Gabriel Rodríguez will make their T3 débuts in MCE-5 cars. Austin Jones has a one-point edge in the championship over fellow Red Bull driver Seth Quintero.

While four cars make up T4, only Shinsuke Umeda will be earning points towards the championship. Points leader Rokas Baciuška has his second straight title nearly locked up as he leads Umeda, who sits third behind Dakar-only Eryk Goczał, by 110 points but will not race in Argentina. Eight-time Spanish Enduro Champion Jaume Betriu will enter his first W2RC race as navigator to Eduard Pons, having débuted at the Baja Aragón in July. Gustavo Gallego, who finished third overall among quads at the 2017 Dakar Rally before becoming an SSV driver, makes his maiden world championship start in the class.

The top echelon of bike racing is also missing names as Kevin Benavides, Skyler Howes, or Daniel Sanders are not among the eleven RallyGP entries. Benavides broke his wrist while testing in late July and will consequently miss his second race of the year, continuing a difficult season despite winning Dakar, while Sanders is still recovering from a broken femur from a training crash in May a month after winning the Sonora Rally. Howes departed Husqvarna in June, leaving Luciano Benavides as the manufacturer’s lone RallyGP representative. Toby Price leads the latter Benavides by seven points.

After sweeping Sonora, Romain Dumontier looks to leapfrog Paolo Lucci for the Rally2 points lead as he trails by just three points. Third-placed Jean-Loup Lepan, who is behind Lucci by twenty-one, also hopes to spoil the party after skipping Sonora. Carlos Llibre enters his first W2RC race of the year in pursuit of making the 2024 Dakar Rally, while Michael Docherty is back after a wrist injury forced him out of the last two rounds. Sebastián Urquía, a mainstay of the Dakar Rally during its time in South America in the 2010s and winner of the most recent DR 40 in the Group N class, is taking part as well.

Six Rally2 riders, Leo Dari of Rally3, eight Open Moto riders, and five Open UTV drivers are on the Road to Dakar, with the best bike and UTV finishers among them earning free registration for the 2024 Dakar Rally. Names include Jeremías Pascual, who finished second at the South American Rally Race in February, SARR T3.2 champion Diego Blas, 2021 Campeonato Argentino de Rally y Navegación (CaNav) and SARR N1 winner Marcio Yampa, 2022 CaNav M2 champion Iván Martín and runner-up Martín Franco.

Blas Zapag is one of the three Open Auto drivers. He was the first Paraguayan to compete in rallycross when he ran a GRC Lites round in 2015 before competing in the Dakar Rally five years later.

Joaquín Debeljuh headlines the Open Moto entries on an RVM 450, a rebadged Kove Moto bike. RVM prepares Kove’s motorcycles in the region, a similar arrangement that the Chinese manufacturer had with Rocky Mountain Detours for the Sonora Rally and Mexican 1000.

Matias Innocente and his father Lucas Innocente comprise half of the Open Quad riders. The elder Innocente finished second in class at the 2014 DR 40.

The Desafío Ruta 40 begins on 28 August in La Rioja and runs through 1 September, ending in Salta.

FIA entry list

T1

Number Driver Co-Driver Team Vehicle
200 Nasser Al-Attiyah Mathieu Baumel Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+
201 Yazeed Al-Rajhi Timo Gottschalk Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux Overdrive
202 Sebastián Halpern Bernardo Graue X-raid Team Mini John Cooper Works Rally Plus
203 Juan Cruz Yacopini Daniel Oliveiras Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux Overdrive
204 Denis Krotov Konstantin Zhiltsov Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux Overdrive
205 Eugenio Amos* Paolo Ceci Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux Overdrive
* – Not competing in World Rally-Raid Championship

T3

Number Driver Co-Driver Team Vehicle
300 Austin Jones Gustavo Gugelmin Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team Can-Am Maverick X3
301 Seth Quintero Dennis Zenz Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team Can-Am Maverick X3
302 Mitch Guthrie Kellon Walch Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team MCE-5 T3M
303 Cristina Gutiérrez Pablo Moreno Huete Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing Can-Am Maverick X3
304 Francisco Lopéz Contardo Juan Pablo Latrach Red Bull Can-Am Factory Racing Can-Am Maverick X3
305 João Ferreira Manuel Porem X-raid Team Yamaha YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype
306 Mattias Ekström Emil Bergkvist South Racing Can-Am Can-Am Maverick X3
307 Claude Fournier Szymon Gospodarczyk BBR Motorsport Can-Am Maverick X3
308 David Zille Sebastian Cesana South Racing Can-Am Can-Am Maverick X3
309 Nicolás Cavigliasso* Valeria Pertegarini Wevers Sport MCE-5 T3M
310 Juan Carlos Cerda* Álvaro León Terracop Rally Can-Am Maverick X3
311 Gabriel Rodríguez* Santiago de la Vega Wevers Sport MCE-5 T3M
312 Hernán Garcés* Bruno Jacomy South Racing Can-Am Can-Am Maverick X3
313 Oscar Santos Peralta* Loutival Roldan Santos Racing Can-Am Maverick X3

T4

Number Driver Co-Driver Team Vehicle
400 Shinsuke Umeda Maurizio Dominella Xtremeplus Polaris RZR Pro R
401 Enrico Gaspari* Ricardo Torlaschi Xtremeplus Polaris RZR Pro R
402 Eduard Pons* Jaume Betriu South Racing Can-Am Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR
403 Gustavo Gallego* Eugenio Arrieta South Racing Can-Am Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR

FIM entry list

RallyGP

Number Rider Team Bike
1 Sam Sunderland Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing GasGass 450 Rally Factory
2 Ricky Brabec Monster Energy Honda Rally Team Honda CRF 450 Rally
7 Pablo Quintanilla Monster Energy Honda Rally Team Honda CRF 450 Rally
8 Toby Price Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 450 Rally Factory
11 José Ignacio Cornejo Monster Energy Honda Rally Team Honda CRF 450 Rally
14 Sebastian Bühler Hero MotoSports Hero 450 Rally
16 Ross Branch Hero MotoSports Hero 450 Rally
42 Adrien Van Beveren Monster Energy Honda Rally Team Honda CRF 450 Rally
52 Matthias Walkner Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 450 Rally Factory
68 Tosha Schareina Honda Team Honda CRF 450 Rally
77 Luciano Benavides Husqvarna Factory Racing Husqvarna 450 Rally Factory

Rally2

Number Rider Team Bike
17 Romain Dumontier HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing Husqvarna 450 Factory Rally
21 Bradley Cox BAS World KTM Racing Team KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
23 Konrad Dąbrowski BAS World KTM Racing Team KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
29 Diego Llanos Xraids Experience KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
35 Dominique Cizeau Girault Xraids Experience KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
46 Paolo Lucci BAS World KTM Racing Team KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
55 David Martin David Martin KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
56 Jiří Brož BAS World KTM Racing Team KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
57 Fabien von Thüngen Fabien von Thüngen KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
60 Francisco Arredondo BAS World KTM Racing Team KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
61 Carlos Llibre Xraids Experience GasGas RX 450F Replica
63 Sebastián Urquía Xraids Experience KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
64 Carlos Malo Peña Carlos Malo Peña Honda CRF450X
65 Iván Martín Iván Martín Kove 450 Rally
66 Jeremías Pascual Jeremías Pascual Beta 430 RR
67 Rolando Martinez Xraids Experience KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
76 Jean-Loup Lepan DUUST Diverse Racing KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
111 Michael Docherty BAS World KTM Racing Team KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
Underscore – Road to Dakar participant

Rally3

Number Rider Team Bike
121 Leo Dari Leo Dari KTM 450 EXC-F
122 Ardit Kurtaj Xraids Experience KTM 450 EXC-F
123 Mauricio Cueva Xraids Experience KTM 450 EXC-F

Quad

Number Rider Team Quad
152 Manuel Andújar 7240 Team Yamaha Raptor 700
153 Juraj Varga Varga Motorsport Yamaha Raptor 700
154 Francisco Moreno Franci Moreno RallyTeam Yamaha Raptor 700
165 Rodolfo Guillioli Pepitas Racing Team Yamaha Raptor 700
170 Leonardo Martinez Martinez Racing Can-Am Renegade
171 Suany Martinez Martinez Racing Can-Am Renegade
172 Tobias Carrizo MED Racing Team Yamaha Raptor 700
173 Ayelen Bogado MEC Team Yamaha Raptor 700
174 Facundo Viel Viel Team Yamaha Raptor 700
175 Matias Canalis Paparrelli Yamaha Raptor 700
176 Mariani Viel Viel Team Yamaha Raptor 700
177 Gaston Gonzalez Gonzalez Racing Yamaha Raptor 700
178 Mariano Bennazar Bennazar Quad Team Yamaha Raptor 700
179 Marcelo Medeiros Taguatur Racing Team Yamaha Raptor 700

Open entry list

Auto

Number Driver Co-Driver Team Vehicle
650 Blas Zapag Juan Jose Sanchez Copetrol Rally Toyota Hilux
651 Ramon Nuñez Juan Antonio Cosiani Salta Rally Team Toyota Hilux
652 Sergio Larreguy Nestor Norha Etap Racing Toyota Hilux

UTV

Number Driver Co-Driver Team Vehicle
670 Jeremías Gonzalez Ferioli Gonzalo Rinaldi Ferioli Racing Team Can-Am Maverick
671 Alfredo Olmedo Daniel Lopez CAn-Am Racing Team Can-Am Maverick
672 Pablo Macua Antonela Fazzi Macua Sport Team Can-Am Maverick
673 Ruben Gentile Yessica Gentile HV Racing Can-Am Maverick
674 Rodrigo Caballero Nicolas Bollero Rodrigo Caballero Can-Am Maverick
675 Diego Blas Conrado Ismael Azategui GM Motorsport Can-Am Maverick
676 Javier Velez Fernando Imperatrice GM Motorsport Can-Am Maverick
677 Antonio Pennesi Martin Wintersteter ATV Sport Rally Can-Am Maverick
678 Juan Jose Semino Gonzalo Oltra Xcorpion Rally Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS

Moto

Number Rider Team Bike
600 Joaquín Debeljuh RVM Rally Team RVM Rally 450
601 Santiago Rostan Pampa Rental Rally Team Husqvarna FE 450
602 Martín Franco MED Racing Team KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
603 Matias Araona Enfermos por el Dakar Rally Team Yamaha WR450F
604 Agustin Pedersen Revo Honda XR250 Tornado
605 Rodrigo de Abreu Sallum MED Racing Team Husqvarna FE 450
606 Blas Zapag Peralta MED Racing Team KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
607 Juan Nimo Particular Revo Honda XR250 Tornado
608 Marcio Yampa MEB Belen Rally KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
609 Agustin Donovan Donovan Racing Team Honda XR250 Tornado
610 Eduardo Parra Revo Honda XR250 Tornado
611 Juan Cruz Carrizo JC Electricidad SA KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica
612 Marcelo Carozza MHC Rally Parts Honda CRF 450 Rally

Quad

Number Rider Team Bike
620 Lucas Innocente Corrientes Dakar Team Can-Am Renegade
621 Matías Innocente Corrientes Dakar Team Can-Am Renegade
622 Samuel Martinez Yamaha Team Colombia Yamaha Raptor 700R
623 Santiago Rostan Pampa Rental Rally Team Can-Am Renegade