Cycle News Staff | June 24, 2024
The Monster Energy Honda Rally Team was in full force at the Desafio Ruta 40 Rally in Argentina, June 2-5, and came away with a podium lockout after five days of competition. American Ricky Brabec stood on the top step, flanked by teammate Tosha Schareina, who was the runner-up, and Adrien Van Beveren. In the end, just 15 seconds separated winner Brabec from Schareina. Van Beveren was another five minutes back.
[Scroll the end of story to see a “Behind the Scenes” video update added on June 24, 2024., Ed.]
Ricky Brabec edged out Honda teammate Tosha Schareina by 15 seconds overall to win the Desafio Ruta 40 Rally in Argentina. Adrien Van Beveren made it an all-Honda podium.
American Skyler Howes made it all Hondas in the top four. Howes was approximately 13 minutes behind his winning American teammate.
The first non-Honda was Ross Branch of the Hero Motorsports Team. Branch rounded out the top five, while Honda Pablo Quintanilla was sixth overall.
“It’s been a big final week, it’s been stressful, but it’s good to be back,” Brabec said after the final stage. “The team rode well, the mechanics did a good job, and so I think we’re in great shape heading to Morocco. It was a great day, although it was stressful, as I didn’t want to lose all the time I’d made up, and Tosha put some time on me today, as he’s good at this road-style rallying, and I’m not the best at it. But I tried my best not to lose too much time, and in the end, everything came out pretty well. This has been a good confidence booster moving forward, so I’ll be happy to get home and do some more testing with the bike and make it another level better.”
Honda is the first manufacturer to sweep a podium in World Rally-Raid Championship history as the Monster Energy Honda Team won every rally stage.
In the World Rally-Raid Championship standings, Ricky Brabec has propelled himself up to second, just nine points behind the leader Branch, with Van Beveren a further seven points back. Meanwhile, in the manufacturer standings, Honda is back on top as the championship battle resumes with the Rallye du Maroc in October.CN
OVERALL (Top 5)
- Ricky Brabec (Hon) 18:08:37
- Tosha Schareina (Hon) + 00:15
- Adrien Van Beveren (Hon) + 05:33
- Skyler Howes (Hon) + 12:58
- Ross Branch (Her) + 14:57
VIDEO | Behind the Scenes Desafio Ruta 40
