Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA and the Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team challenged hard and finished second, third, fourth and 11th in the T3 rankings at the Desafio Ruta 40, Argentina’s fourth round of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) that finished in Salta
The result for the four South Racing-prepared Can-Am Mavericks entered in the category for lightweight prototype cross-country vehicles means that the FIA T3 Championship will now be decided at the final round in Morocco in mid-October
The Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team’s Cristina Gutierrez and Juan Pablo Moreno Huete stayed clear of major problems over the course of the six-day event between La Rioja and Salta in north-western Argentina and reached the finish in second place in the category, 16min 18sec behind the winning American crew of Mitch Guthrie and Kellon Walch
Gutierrez said: “We’re happy with our result, second place. We made a good race here with no problems, no punctures. It was a tough race and we saw lots of other cars having problems.”
Austin Jones and Gustavo Gugelmin arrived in Argentina trying to defend a single-point advantage over their Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA team mates, Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz, in the Drivers’ and Co-drivers’ Championships. After losing time early in the race, Jones benefitted from a time penalty and an intercooler issue for his rival to reach the finish in third and maintain his title push. Unofficially, Jones now trails Guthrie by three points with Quintero six points further adrift
Jones said: “We had never been to Argentina before so I was really excited to check it out. We struggled a little bit in the first few days with some stuff, but then things clicked for us on stages three, four and five. To go from where we were to finishing on the podium is great. A big shout out to the team, to my navigator Gustavo and everybody that made it happen.”
Quintero added: “The rally was super awesome. The people have been great and the route was awesome. I wish I had some better luck on my side but it is what it is. We’re going to come back fighting at the next rally. We’re not completely out of the championship so we’ll go all out in Morocco.”
Chile’s Francisco ‘Chaleco’ Lopez and Juan Pablo Latrach guided the second of the South Racing-built Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team Can-Ams to fourth place. The Chilean now holds fifth in the championship standings. He said: “It was a great rally. It’s such a great feeling to be racing these stages again in Argentina. I had one bad day and, because of that, I couldn’t get the win that I wanted.”
South Racing’s managing director Scott Abraham said: “It was a strong race for the team with second, third and fourth but, unfortunately, an intercooler issue cost Seth a chance of the podium and even victory. It was a great performance nonetheless, especially taking the high altitudes into account. We are looking forward to getting back to sea level and Morocco and what is turning out to be a great title fight between Seth, A.J. and Mitch Guthrie.”
As it happened
Action got underway with a nine-kilometre Prologue stage at La Rioja, where the Red Bull Can-Ams made a cautious start on the challenging terrain. Lopez led the way in 10th overall and sixth in the T3 category, with Quintero, Gutierrez and Jones holding seventh, eighth and 10th in the T3 category
Guthrie hit the front with the quickest time through the opening 334km stage that looped through demanding terrain to the south of La Rioja. Lopez and Quintero were classified second and third in the T3 section and Gutierrez and Jones followed them over the line in fifth and eighth. Several crews, including Jones and Quintero, has been delayed at the refuelling zone, however, and time was later deducted from their stage as a result
Stage two ran for 340km between La Rioja and Belén and featured fast, winding tracks, the crossing of a great chott, fesh-fesh and an area of large sand dunes. The section of soft sand between km250 and km270 was treacherous and caught out several of the leading T1+ cars
Guthrie was third quickest in T3 behind Ekstrom and Nicolas Cavilliasso to maintain an overall lead of 2min 31sec and Quintero, Gutierrez and Lopez came home in fourth, sixth and eighth
Quintero continued to edge clear of Jones, who had been plagued by an electrical issue for around 15 minutes, in the championship standings and later said: “We started up front and caught up to some cars that wouldn’t let us pass. With the dust being so bad I wasn’t able to get around the, until km250 and by that time the damage was done. We made a little bit of a change to the car for today and it worked out amazing, so I’m really looking forward to the rest of the rally.”
The third stage of 266km looped through terrain around the Belén bivouac in the Pie de Médano region to an altitude of over 2,6000 metres and included two small dune sectors, river crossings, fast tracks and some stony terrain. Guthrie returned to winning ways to increase his T3 lead over Quintero to 7min 27sec on a day where Jones, Lopez and Gutierrez came home in second, sixth and seventh to hold sixth, seventh and fourth in the T3 standings
The fourth and penultimate stage of 345km was the second to loop around the Belén bivouac. Race officials had penalised Quintero by 10 minutes, while the American was in the stage, for running his car with a missing wheel. The resultant time loss dropped the Can-Am driver to third in the category
To make matters worse, the American then stopped with intercooler issues 10km into the fourth stage. His misfortune benefitted Lopez, Gutiérrez and Jones and the three Red Bull Can-Am racers completed the stage in third, fourth and fifth positions to hold fourth, second and third in the T3 rankings behind leader Guthrie
The final stage of 258km ran between Belen and the finish in Salta and featured off-road sections over sandy surfaces in the Santa Maria River and then more traditional, fast and flowing WRC-style tracks to an altitude of 2,500 metres. The Red Bull Can-Ams held their overall positions on a stage where Ekström set the quickest time
The Red Bull cars and the South Racing Can-Am Team receives valuable support for the race programme from Method Wheels, Tensor Tires, Motul, Jjuan Brake Systems and Sparco
The final round of the FIA World Rally Raid Championship takes place in Morocco on October 12th-18th
Desafio Ruta 40 – FIA T3 standings
1. Mitch Guthrie (USA)/Kellon Walch (USA) MCE-5 4×4 16hr 22min 31sec
2. Cristina Gutierrez (ESP)/Juan Pablo Moreno Huete (ESP) Red Bull Can-Am Maverick X3 16hr 38min 49sec
3. Austin Jones (USA)/Gustavo Gugelmin (BRA) Red Bull Can-Am Maverick X3 16hr 50min 14sec
4. Francisco Lopez (CHL)/Juan Pablo Latrach (CHL) Red Bull Can-Am Factory Maverick X3 16hr 56min 18sec
5. Hernan Garces (CHL)/Bruno Jacomy (ARG) South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 17hr 27min 06sec*
6. Juan Carlos Cerda (CHL)/Alvaro Leon (CHL) BRP Can-Am 4×4 (T3) 18hr 16min 50sec*
7. Nicolas Cavigliasso (ARG)/Valeria Pertegarini (ARG) Taurus T3Max 4×4 19hr 42min 39sec*
8. Joao Ferreira (PRT)/Manuel Porem (PRT) Yamaha X-Raid YXZ 1000R Proto 33hr 25min 49sec
9. Claude Fournier (FRA)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Can-Am Maverick X3 35hr 13min 33sec
10. Mattias Ekstrom (SWE)/Emil Bergkvist (SWE) South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 36hr 54min 44sec
11. Seth Quintero (USA)/Dennis Zenz (DEU) Red Bull Can-Am Maverick X3 37hr 43min 18sec
12. David Zille (ARG)/Sebastien Cesana (ARG) South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 37hr 49min 24sec
13. Oscar Santos Peralta ((PRY)/Loutival Roldan (BRA) Can-Am Maverick X3 39hr 49min 09sec*
14. Gabriel Rodriguez (ARG)/Santiago de la Vega (ARG) Taurus T3Max 4×4 43hr 30min 58sec*
* denotes not registered for the W2RC
Rally leaders
Prologue-SS5 Mitch Guthrie
Stage winners
Prologue Mitch Guthrie
SS1 Mitch Guthrie
SS2 Mattias Ekstrom
SS3 Mitch Guthrie
SS4 Joao Ferreira
SS5 Mattias Ekstrom
