"I haven't won here yet", pointed out Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) before the start, but now he can say, "been there, done that"! The 2025 RallyGP world champion obliterated the opposition in stage 1 of the 2026 Desafío Ruta 40 YPF, featuring a 340 km special around San Juan. He crossed the line with 6′02″ and 7′29″ to spare over Honda's Tosha Schareina and Ricky Brabec, clearly emerging as the man to beat this week, two months after claiming the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal.
It was not all bad for Monster Energy Honda HRC, though. The team locked out the stage podium in Rally2, with Bruno Crivilin, who became the first Brazilian to win on two wheels in his W2RC debut (see Stat of the day), leading Martim Ventura (+22″) and Preston Campbell (+40″) home. Michael Docherty (Hero MotoSports) was on track to win the stage before a crash dashed his hopes (see A crushing blow). Murun Purevdorj (Xraids Experience) made it back-to-back victories in Rally3, while the Argentinian Lucas Domínguez (LD Racing) got his first taste of glory in the quad race.
Competing in his sixth championship round in the Ultimate class, Eryk Goczał (Energylandia), masterfully placed his privateer Toyota ahead of the Ford factory drivers Mitch Guthrie (+50″) and Carlos Sainz (+56″). Seth Quintero (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC) got off to a brilliant start, blazing past Dacia's Nasser Al Attiyah (eighth at 5′57″) and Sébastien Loeb (ninth at 9′37″ following two punctures) straight to the front of the race. However, the arduous task of opening the road pushed him off the podium and into fourth place, 1′37″ down. Goczał the wunderkind will also be assuming opening duties tomorrow after soaring to the top of the FIA overall for the first time in his career, at the tender age of 21 (see Performance of the day).
Stéphane Peterhansel picked up his fifth Stock win since joining Defender. The Challenger special saw Alexandre Pinto (Old Friends Racing) snap up his fifth consecutive stage win in the championship, following his string of victories in Portugal. Local star Jeremías González Ferioli (Can-Am Factory) took over the reins in SSV.
San Juan–San Rafael, the route of stage 12 of the 2010 Dakar, will also be the route of stage 2 of the 2026 Desafío Ruta 40 YPF tomorrow! We will be opening the Race Center at 8:30 am (UTC-3) to bring you live coverage of this 634 km stage with 128 km against the clock.
