2024 Desafio Ruta 40: Leandro Lopez clinches Road to Dakar

Pack your bags, Leandro López, because you are heading to Saudi Arabia.

After a third-place finish in the Desafío Ruta 40‘s Open Cars category, López clinched free registration for the 2025 Dakar Rally as part of the Road to Dakar.

Driving a Can-Am Maverick for Héctor Vische‘s HV Racing Team with Daniel Alberto López as navigator, López set a total time of 22:27:03. He was over two hours back of Open Cars winner Jeremías Gonzalez Ferioli and forty-seven minutes behind Nicolas Gagliardi, but good for runner-up in the T4 (SSV) category behind Ferioli.

Fellow RtD entrant Alfredo Olmedo finished fifth in Open and over twenty hours behind López after suffering a rash of mechanical issues. Despite a rollover in Stage #1, López set better times than Olmedo across all but said leg. He also finished directly behind Ferioli among all Open cars in the Prologue and Stage #5.

López primarily competes in the La Encrucijada Rally-Raid Championship (Campeonato Mendocino de Rally Raid de la Encrucijada), winning the 2023 title.

The Road to Dakar is available at all World Rally-Raid Championship rounds, providing free Dakar registration for the highest-placing driver in a side-by-side vehicle or bike rider with no prior Dakar experience. Juan José Semino (SSV) and Juan Santiago Rostan (bike) claimed the 2023 DR 40’s Road to Dakar.

The 2025 Dakar Rally runs on 3–17 January.