W2RC Desafío Ruta 40 YPF INFINIA Stage 1
June 04, 2024
DESAFIO RUTA 40 YPF INFINIA : Brabec Wins Stage, SCHAREINA LEADs IN CÓRDOBA
Ricky Brabec on his way to the Stage 1 win in Argentina.
Image Edoardo Bauer courtesy A.S.0./E.Bauer/DPPI
Slippery ground and a succession of bewildering corners —that was the W2RC convoy's introduction to the region in stage 1, a loop around Córdoba. Among the Rally GP motorbikes, Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda) came 1 second short of his teammate Ricky Brabec. The Spaniard clung to a slender overall lead over the American and his Honda stablemate Adrien Van Beveren. Bradley Cox (BAS World KTM Racing) wrested the Rally 2 lead back from Romain Dumontier (Team Honda). John Medina (Xraids Experience) leads in Rally 3.
FIM: BRABEC BY A WHISKER!
The time it takes to read this sentence is longer than the gap between Ricky Brabec and Tosha Schareina at the finish of the stage. Just one second split the two at the end of the 381 km special, with the Californian gaining the upper hand. The Spaniard, who clinched the prologue, was caught off guard in the mad dash to the line by his teammate, who surged from sixth place at km 241 to erase a 42-second deficit and vault into the lead. That same second is their difference overall, but this time with Schareina on top. Adrien Van Beveren made it a Honda clean sweep on the podium, 44 seconds back in the special and 1′29″ down in the overall. The Hero riders Sebastian Bühler and Ross Branch rounded out the top 5 at 2′06″ and 2′29″. In fact, the German had led the special until km 148 before running out of steam. The Rally 2 victor also produced a comeback on Argentina's slippery tracks. Bradley Cox, 1′52″ down on Romain Dumontier at km 98, ended up taking the win by 1′25″. The Peruvian hopeful Ramiro Barco hauled his Hero to third, 29′04″ adrift. Mechanical gremlins cost the podium contender Konrad Dąbrowski (Duust Rally) a great deal of time. Cox seized the overall lead by 1′23″ over "Dudu". The Frenchman must absolutely defend his championship lead, as the 3-point gap to the South African makes their DR40 duel crucial in the scrap for the title.
Rally 3 welcomed a new winner. The day after Fernando Hernández (MED Racing) bagged his maiden W2RC win, it was his rival John Medina (Xraids Experience) who opened his account. The Argentinian had initially prevailed by 12 seconds, but he copped a 6-minute penalty for breaching neutralisation rules, versus 2 minutes for Medina. In the end, the Chilean ended up 3′48″ ahead and now leads the standings by 2′55″ over Hernández.
