Home not-so-sweet home for Benavides
Luciano Benavides (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) started the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF with a home win in the prologue. Five days later, the Argentinian has finished his national race just outside the podium, 22′38″ from the winner, his teammate Daniel Sanders. Not quite there yet physically, but "stronger than ever" mentally, Benavides fought like a lion in his country, where he had landed as the 2026 Dakar winner and leader of the World Rally-Raid Championship. He now slips to third in the ranking, behind Sanders and Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda HRC). A second W2RC title is still very much on the table, though, as "Faster" is only 6 points from the top spot, which he will strive to reclaim in the Rallye du Maroc in late September/early October.
A crushing blow: Mulec on the verge of losing the championship lead
Toni Mulec (BAS World KTM) moved up to fourth overall in Rally2 yesterday, a mere 50 seconds from the podium. While he clung on to his place today, his deficit to the Monster Energy Honda HRC front-runners has ballooned to 7′27″ to Preston Campbell in third, 18′29″ to Bruno Crivilin in second, and 23′03″ to Martim Ventura in the top spot. The Slovene would even do well to keep an eye on a resurgent Alfredo Pellicer (Xraids Experience), just 55 seconds back in fifth place. Every place counts in the battle for the world championship, but Mulec is likely to lose the Rally2 lead, which he has held since the Dakar. As it stands, Ventura would fly out of Argentina with a 7-point lead over the Slovene. Even so, Mulec remains the top-ranked privateer in the class.
Notes of fado for Ferreira
João Ferreira has been one of the breakout performers of this Ultimate season, confirming that last year was no fluke. Yesterday, the Portuguese driver found himself at the top of the FIA standings for the third time of his young career. He had earlier seized the lead after stage 2 of the 2025 bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal, only to smash up the front of his Hilux shortly afterwards. This year, he did it again in his national rally, as soon as day one, but was once more unable to defend his lead. Yesterday, he made a splash again by vaulting to the summit of the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF, the first time he held the top spot on foreign soil. This morning, the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA was leading the stage when he collided with Lucas Moraes, roughing up his steering and eventually throwing in the towel about 30 km down the road. Alas, for he had seemed capable of defending his overall lead for the first time or, at the very least, staying in the fight until San Juan. Notes of fado for Ferreira…
Loeb still empty-handed
Ninth yesterday (+9′37″) and ninth again today (+2′40″), Sébastien Loeb (The Dacia Sandriders) has earned none of the points awarded to the top 5 in each FIA stage. Meanwhile, his teammate Nasser Al Attiyah picked up 5 points for his win today and moved within 2 points of Loeb in the virtual W2RC ranking. Loeb, "only" eighth overall in the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF (+9′26″), needs to turn the tide in the coming days if he does not want to lose control of the World Rally-Raid Championship, one of the few competitions he has not yet won.
Docherty goes down the boulevard of broken dreams
Michael Docherty could not have dreamed of a better start to his Hero adventure. The South African, recruited by the Indian manufacturer in a bid to shine in Rally2, was nearly 6 minutes ahead of his closest rival at km 236. He was even beating Hero MotoSports' RallyGP representatives, Ross Branch and Ignacio Cornejo. And then, at km 239, a crash dashed his hopes and dreams. Docherty had seemed on track to become the first Hero rider to lead a round in Rally2, but he has ended up making a premature exit.
