Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles
2024 Desafio Ruta 40: Ferioli wins Open Cars in Maverick R, Dabin claims Open Bikes
The Can-Am Maverick R will not be approved for FIA competition until 2025 at the soonest, but it has technically already won a race on the World Rally-Raid Championship.
For the second year in a row, Jeremías González Ferioli won the Desafío Ruta 40‘s Open Cars class for vehicles that do not meet FIA or FIM regulation and/or competitors without full licences from either sanctioning body. This time, he did so in the new Maverick R, which was unveiled last August and has enjoyed great success in American desert racing; although its rally experience is relatively limited due to a lack of homologation, the side-by-side vehicle has already proven to be quick in regional cross-country rallies like the Morocco Desert Challenge and MudEST RallyRaid in Estonia.
Ferioli dominated the Open Cars, setting the fastest time in all five stages as well as the Prologue. The closest margin of victory was 1:25 in Stage #1 with Pablo Macua trailing, but ballooned to over half an hour by the fourth leg. Runner-up Nicolas Gagliardi, the lone non-Can-Am as a Polaris RZR driver, finished nearly an hour and a half back; by comparison, Ferioli won in 2023 by one hour and six minutes.
Leandro López was third overall and second in the T4 class (SSV) to win the Road to Dakar, qualifying him for the 2025 Dakar Rally.
In contrast to the four-wheelers, the Open Bikes battle was slightly closer as Julián Sánchez Dabin and Baltazar Frezze Pissoni were separated by less than eight minutes, albeit the former still had the obvious advantage. Matías Felippa won the first stage but lost his momentum over the next three days before retiring on the final day.
With Felippa out, Dabin won three legs in a row with Pissoni in tow. After the penultimate stage, Dabin was leading by nearly an hour and had the win all but wrapped up. To this end, he opted to ride conservatively and ended up finishing forty-nine minutes behind Pissoni, whittling the margin down (as did a two-minute speeding penalty).
Open overall results
Bikes
| Finish | Number | Rider | Team | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 603 | Julián Sánchez Dabin | Max Clean Rally Team | 25:21:08 | Leader |
| 2 | 600 | Baltazar Frezze Pissoni | MED Racing Team | 25:29:32 | + 8:24 |
| 3 | 601 | Matías Aranoa | MED Racing Team | 47:11:19 | + 21:50:11 |
| 4 | 604 | Marcelo Carozza | MHC Team Enduro Rally | 109:30:00 | + 84:08:52 |
| DNF | 602 | Matías José Felippa | Felippa Team | DNF | N/A |
Cars
| Finish | Number | Driver | Co-Driver | Team | Class | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 650 | Jeremías González Ferioli | Gonzalo Rinaldi | Ferioli Racing Team | T4 | 20:26:41 | Leader |
| 2 | 659 | Nicolas Gagliardi | Eugenio Arrieta | Ferioli Racing Team | T3.1 | 21:49:55 | + 1:23:14 |
| 3 | 657 | Leandro López | Daniel Alberto López | HV Racing | T4 | 22:37:03 | + 2:10:22 |
| 4 | 652 | Javier Vélez* | Gonzalo Martinez | GM Motorsport | T3.1 | 28:32:16 | + 8:05:35 |
| 5 | 658 | Alfredo Olmedo | Daniel López | Olmedo Racing Team | T4 | 42:33:51 | + 22:07:10 |
| 6 | 651 | Pablo Macua | Antonela Fazzi | HV Racing Team | T4 | 44:34:33 | + 24:07:52 |
| DNF | 620 | Ramon Nuñez* | Juan Antonio Cosiansi | Nuñez Rally Team | T1.2 | DNF | N/A |
Open stage winners
Bikes
| Stage | Rider | Time |
| Prologue | Baltazar Frezze Pissoni | 20:06.7 |
| Stage #1 | Matias José Felippa | 5:12:38 |
| Stage #2 | Julián Sánchez Dabin | 5:36:09 |
| Stage #3 | Julián Sánchez Dabin | 4:53:25 |
| Stage #4 | Julián Sánchez Dabin | 5:07:21 |
| Stage #5 | Baltazar Frezze Pissoni | 3:11:30 |
Cars
| Stage | Driver | Time |
| Prologue | Jeremías González Ferioli | 17:10.8 |
| Stage #1 | Jeremías González Ferioli | 4:26:16 |
| Stage #2 | Jeremías González Ferioli | 4:58:24 |
| Stage #3 | Jeremías González Ferioli | 3:46:39 |
| Stage #4 | Jeremías González Ferioli | 4:05:08 |
| Stage #5 | Jeremías González Ferioli | 2:43:04 |
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