Daniel Sanders wins Desafío Ruta 40 to take W2RC lead

Sanders finally adds Desafío Ruta 40 to his trophy haul

Daniel Sanders finally added Argentina’s Desafío Ruta 40 to his rally-raid CV, the Australian taking four stage wins from five to move into the lead of the 2026 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship.

Daniel “Chucky” Sanders arrived in Argentina with one clear gap on his current World Rally-Raid Championship record. The Desafío Ruta 40 YPF was the only event on the present W2RC calendar that he had not previously won.

Six days later, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider had fixed that. Sanders claimed overall victory in round three of the 2026 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship after a commanding week in San Juan, winning four of the five full stages and sealing the result with another stage win on the final day.

Daniel Sanders turned a messy prologue into a launchpad, charging through dust on stage one to grab the rally lead and set up his eventual Desafío Ruta 40 victory.

It was not a rally he led from the opening kilometre. A difficult prologue, where navigation errors left him seventh, could have made the week more complicated. Instead, Sanders responded immediately on stage one, charging through dust and passing six riders on the road to claim the stage win and move into the rally lead.

Daniel Sanders carves through the dust on stage two, where his second straight stage win began to turn Argentina from a missing trophy into a serious championship statement.

From there, the Australian kept turning the screw. He won stages one, two and three, helped Red Bull KTM Factory Racing to back-to-back one-two stage results, then managed the damage when stage four proved more awkward.

Before the racing came the cold reality of an Argentine morning. Sanders warms his hands by the fire, a small behind-the-scenes reminder that rally-raid days begin long before the stopwatch starts.

With a useful advantage in hand heading into the final day, Sanders could have gone conservative across the 340 km San Juan loop. Instead, he pushed for another win and took the final stage by 50 seconds over Ricky Brabec.

The RallyGP podium in Argentina, with Daniel Sanders flanked by Honda HRC pair Tosha Schareina and Ricky Brabec after a rally that tightened both the rider and manufacturer championship fights.

The result gave Sanders the overall win in 15h58m04s, 12m09s clear of Monster Energy Honda HRC’s Tosha Schareina, with Brabec third at 18m04s. Luciano Benavides finished fourth on home soil, 22m38s behind his KTM team-mate, while Skyler Howes and Adrien Van Beveren completed the top six for Honda.

Chucky and the flag. Daniel Sanders’ first Desafío Ruta 40 win was also a major championship swing, with the Australian leaving Argentina three points clear in the RallyGP standings.

It’s been a really good week for us. To come away with another win after Dakar and Portugal is a huge boost, and taking over the championship lead makes it even more rewarding. I felt comfortable on the bike all week and the team did an incredible job. Of course, I always like to look back and find areas where I can improve because there are always things to work on, but overall it’s been a strong performance and a great result heading into the break. We’ll keep working hard and come back ready to fight again in Morocco.

Daniel Sanders

Daniel Sanders was all smiles after finally ticking the Desafío Ruta 40 off his W2RC hit list, the Australian winning four of the five full stages in Argentina.

Schareina again proved the chief Honda threat. The Spaniard opened the final stage and was still able to limit his losses to Sanders to less than two minutes, securing second overall at the Desafío Ruta 40 for the second time. He now sits second in the championship, only three points behind Sanders with two rounds remaining.

I’m happy to be back on the podium and to repeat the second place I achieved here two years ago. Today’s stage felt a lot like Dakar, very long, physically demanding and with a big focus on navigation from start to finish. I gave everything out there and pushed as hard as possible. Of course, the goal is always to fight for the top step, so we need to keep working and improving to reach that first position. Now we leave Argentina sitting second in the championship, very close to Daniel in the standings. Everything is still open and the title will be decided in the final two rounds of the season.

Tosha Schareina

Tosha Schareina again left Argentina as Sanders’ closest challenger, the Spaniard opening the final stage and still limiting his losses to less than two minutes.

Brabec’s third place came despite a week complicated by illness. The American had to defend his podium position against Luciano Benavides on the final stage, and did so with a strong second place on the day. It was his third consecutive Desafío Ruta 40 podium.

Desafío Ruta 40 was good. I got sick on day two so I’ve been battling sickness all week and that was irritating. I’m not feeling so good right now but I’m happy to get away with no injuries and a solid finish. Now it’s summer break, we’ll go home and recover and we’ll keep pushing forward for the Dakar.

Ricky Brabec

Ricky Brabec salvaged a gritty podium despite battling illness through the week, the American defending third overall with a strong final-stage ride.

For Luciano Benavides, fourth place at home was strong but costly. The Argentine had started the round as championship leader, won the prologue in San Juan, then moved into podium contention with second-place finishes on stages two and three. Small mistakes and a minor crash on the final stage ultimately left him just outside the overall podium and third in the championship.

Luciano Benavides had the speed to keep himself in the podium fight at home, but small errors and a final-stage crash left the Argentine fourth overall.

Edgar Canet continued his RallyGP education with seventh overall for KTM, while Hero pair Ross Branch and José Ignacio Cornejo were eighth and ninth. Lorenzo Santolino completed the RallyGP top ten for Sherco TVS.

Edgar Canet fronted the media after another valuable RallyGP learning week, the Spanish rookie reaching the finish seventh overall for Red Bull KTM after a consistent run through Argentina.

The championship picture is now extremely tight. Sanders leads on 67 points, three clear of Schareina, with Luciano Benavides only another three points further back. Brabec remains within reach on 54, meaning the top four are separated by just 13 points heading into the final two rounds. Sanders is chasing a piece of history as he attempts to become the first rider to successfully defend a RallyGP world crown.

The final stage took riders through the sort of high, exposed terrain that made the 2026 Desafío Ruta 40 much more than a ceremonial run to the finish.

Ventura leads Honda Rally2 charge

Monster Energy Honda HRC also had plenty to celebrate in Rally2, where Martim Ventura took his maiden Rally-Raid World Cup victory. The Portuguese rider was the benchmark across the Argentine event, winning four stages and converting that pace into the overall class win.

Ventura’s result also moves him to the top of the Rally2 championship standings, four points ahead of Toni Mulec, who finished third overall in Argentina as the best privateer.

Ventura’s Rally2 win was forged in terrain that looked spectacular from afar but demanded precision up close, particularly as the route climbed and dropped through the San Juan landscape.

It was an impressive event for Honda’s Rally2 structure as a whole. Bruno Crivilin, making his World Rally-Raid Cup debut, finished second overall after a breakthrough week that included his first career stage win. Preston Campbell also claimed a maiden stage win during the rally, but a heavy crash on the penultimate day and further issues on the final stage left the American fourth overall.

It was a good race in Argentina, my first time here in this country and everything went well with me, with the bike and with the team. We have been improving the bike and I feel we reached a really good level. This race was the result of that. We put everything together, we’ve been looking to do that for quite for a few races, but we had some issues every race. This race we were able to put it all together and I’m super happy we won.

Martim Ventura

Ventura celebrates a maiden Rally-Raid World Cup victory, the result giving Honda HRC a Rally2 one-two in Argentina with Bruno Crivilin second overall.

Crivilin’s second place was particularly notable given his lack of desert rally experience at this level, while Campbell remains third in the championship picture despite missing the Argentina podium.

The terrain around San Juan gave Rally2 riders no gentle introduction, with Crivilin’s podium coming across fast tracks, rocky climbs and technical dry riverbeds.

In the other FIM classes, Murun Purevdorj won Rally3 for Xraids Experience and moved to the top of the championship standings, while local rider Lucas Domínguez took the quad win. Antanas Kanopkinas strengthened his lead in the quad championship.

The 2026 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship now heads into its mid-season break before resuming with Rallye du Maroc from September 28 to October 3. After that, the season concludes at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in November.

Sanders’ third consecutive stage win came with the Australian looking increasingly in control, the KTM rider again converting speed and navigation into time on the field.

2026 Desafío Ruta 40 RallyGP final results

2026 Rally2 final results

Provisional FIM World Rally-Raid Championship standings after round three

Rally2 championship picture after Argentina