2024 Desafio Ruta 40: Manuel Andujar clinches championship in Quad swan song

With the Dakar Rally axeing the Quad category for 2025, Manuel Andújar hoped to end his career in the class on a strong note when the World Rally-Raid Championship visited his native Argentina for the Desafío Ruta 40. Not only did he and his countrymen dominate from start to finish, Andújar clinched the Quad title a round early in his final start as he does not intend to run the finale in Morocco.

Andújar, the reigning Dakar and DR 40 winner for Quads, was near perfect as he won four stages-including one on his twenty-eighth birthday-and beat all but Facundo Viel by nearly two hours. Argentines swept the top four with Andújar ahead of Viel, Giuliano Giordana, and Juan Carlos Carignani.

Viel drew first blood with an impressive Prologue as he finished seventh among all FIM riders, faster than everyone in Rally3 and just behind a single Rally2 competitor with his brother Mariano second in class. It was entirely Andújar after that, however, en route to the overall win, his second international rally title after claiming the 2021 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship (predecessor to the W2RC), and the inaugural Ibero-American Cross Country Rally Championship as the best performing Quad rider from Latin America.

Although he has expressed interest in switching to driving a side-by-side vehicle (a common avenue for former Quad riders), Andújar will settle down for a while before figuring out his future plans in the sport.

“Now I’m going to go fishing,” he remarked to Somos Dakar. “I’m going to fish in peace and then we’ll see what the future holds for us. But the truth is that for now I’m going to be away from rally raid for a while. It’s a shame because it’s what I’m passionate about, but until we find new horizons and a new goal, I’m going to stay out of this.”

Facundo settled for second, only finishing off a stage podium once when he was fourth instage #2. Giordana was over an hour behind him after jumping from fifth to third on the final day, leapfrogging Carignani and Kamil Wiśniewski.

Wiśniewski, the winner in Portugal where the Amaury Sport Organisation confirmed Quads would not appear at Dakar in 2025, finished fifth overall and second among points-eligible riders. Although this moved him from fifth to second, he was already too far back to catch Andújar prior to Argentina as he trails by 31 points (FIM race winners earn 25 points). Hani Al-Noumesi, the only rider entered with a mathematical shot as he was seventeen points back, was eliminated by a mechanical issue on the first stage.

After retiring from Portugal with an electrical issue, Suany Martinez finished seventh ahead of her father Leonardo Martinez Saucedo.

Cooper Van Vliet had a tumultuous rally that began when he slid off course in the Prologue and crashed, resulting in damage that forced him to complete the stage in first gear, rebounded with a second to Andújar in Stage #3, had to be towed back to the bivouac the next day after his Yamaha gave out at the finish, then retired on the last day when the quad “just locked up” at 130 km/h twenty kilometres in. The Australian had been running fourth overall prior to Stage #5.

Quad overall results

Finish	Number	Rider	Team	Time	Margin
1	174	Manuel Andújar	7240 Team	20:56:19	Leader
2	188	Facundo Viel*	MEC Team	21:44:27	+ 48:08
3	180	Giuliano Giordana*	Giuliano Giordana	22:48:01	+ 1:51:42
4	193	Juan Carlos Carignani*	Juan Carlos Carignani	22:49:15	+ 1:52:56
5	177	Kamil Wiśniewski	ORLEN Team	22:50:58	+ 1:54:39
6	189	Mariano Viel*	MEC Team	23:30:35	+ 2:34:16
7	182	Suany Martinez	Suany Martinez	24:52:25	+ 3:56:06
8	181	Leonardo Martinez Saucedo	Leonardo Martinez Saucedo	25:40:18	+ 4:43:59
9	185	Mariano Bennazar*	Mariano Bennazar	26:14:58	+ 5:18:39
10	194	Alejandro Fantoni*	Alejandro Fantoni	27:33:46	+ 6:37:27
11	175	Wilson Fabian Cerón Ochoa	Wilson Fabian Cerón Ochoa	32:22:38	+ 11:26:19
12	191	Santiago Rostan*	Pampa Rental Rally Team	36:28:41	+ 15:32:22
13	179	Hani Al-Noumesi	Hani Al-Noumesi	39:23:54	+ 18:27:35
14	187	Ayelén Bogado*	MEC Team	45:17:45	+ 24:21:26
DNF	190	Cooper Van Vliet*	MEC Team	DNF	N/A

* – Not competing in World Rally-Raid Championship

Quad stage winners

Stage	Rider	Time
Prologue	Facundo Viel*	17:15.9
Stage #1	Facundo Viel*	4:25:41
Stage #2	Manuel Andújar	4:53:57
Stage #3	Manuel Andújar	4:04:24
Stage #4	Manuel Andújar	4:11:54
Stage #5	Manuel Andújar	2:54:12

W2RC Quad standings

For readability, competitors registered for the championship who have not earned points are excluded.

Rank	Rider	Points	Margin
1	Manuel Andújar	76	Leader
2	Kamil Wiśniewski	45	– 31
3	Hani Al-Noumesi	44	– 32
4	Antonas Kanopkinas	37	– 39
5	Alexandre Giroud	30	– 46
6	Abdulaziz Ahli	25	– 51
7	Juraj Varga	24	– 52
8	Laisvydas Kancius	20	– 56
T-9	Suany Martinez	16	– 60
T-9	Gaëtan Martinez	16	– 60
11	Samuel Desbuisson	15	– 61
12	Leonardo Martinez Saucedo	13	– 63
T-13	Wilson Fabian Cerón Ochoa	11	– 65
T-13	Marcin Wilkołek	11	– 65