KTM were not invincible in the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF after all. The Clockwork Orange had seized the prologue with Luciano Benavides and the first three stages with Daniel Sanders, but today it had to concede defeat in the 306 km special between San Rafael and San Juan. There were even some frayed nerves when Sanders lost his way —and more than 9 minutes— early in the stage. However, "Chucky" regained his focus and lived to fight another day, shipping 6′20″ to his closest rival, Tosha Schareina, who finally tasted glory this week.
The Spaniard led home a Monster Energy Honda HRC 1-2-3, also made possible by Ricky Brabec (+1′18″) and Skyler Howes (+3′10″). He trails the virtually unassailable Sanders by 7′16″ going into the final stage. Brabec (+14′10″) rose to third place, but he will have to defend it from Benavides (+15′12″), who is eager to repeat his exploit from the 2026 Dakar, when he overtook the American at the very last minute. A home podium is on the line this time round.
Honda also prevailed in Rally2, courtesy of Martim Ventura, now 4′34″ clear of his Bruno Crivilin in the overall, and who appears destined to soar to the championship lead (see A crushing blow). Murun Purevdorj (Xraids Experience) is still undefeated in Rally3, while Antanas Kanopkinas (CFMoto Thunder) added to his haul in the quad race.
Today's FIA stage featured a dual duel. The spotlight was on the drivers who found themselves on the losing side yesterday and leveraged their late starting positions to fight for the stage win. Meanwhile, a vicious struggle for the overall played out backstage. Both served up high-octane drama. Carlos Sainz (Ford Racing) emerged victorious from his battle with João Ferreira (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA) and Eryk Goczał (Energylandia), storming across the finish line with half a minute to spare over the Pole. The Portuguese driver was reminded that waste makes haste after his failure to observe his neutralisation time resulted in a penalty at the finish. "El Matador" clinched his maiden success with Ford and netted the Blue Oval its first win in the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF (see Performance of the day).
Third on the day, Nasser Al Attiyah (The Dacia Sandriders) quietly surged from third place overall (+5′28″), which he had held since yesterday, to second place, just 7 seconds from the lead. Seth Quintero (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC) is the new sheriff in town (see Stat of the day) after two days stuck in second place overall. The American took over from his teammate Henk Lategan (+1′53″), who still has a real shot at victory tomorrow. Sébastien Loeb bounced from fifth at 8′09″ to fourth at 5′24″. The tension is off the charts in San Juan, and the stage is set for an unusually long finale!
Stéphane Peterhansel (Defender) took the spoils and extended his lead in the Stock race. Puck Klaassen (KTM X-Bow powered by G Rally) won in Challenger and came within 12 seconds of the leader, Alexandre Pinto (Old Friends Rally). Pedro Mac Dowell (South Racing Can-Am) joined the club of SSV stage winners.
All good things must come to an end, and this one ends in San Juan! 552 km (including 320 km of special) stand between the field and the finish line of the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF. The Race Center will swing open its doors at 8 am (UTC-3) to bring you the climactic showdown of the thirteenth edition of the Argentinian rally!
