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In Stage 2 of the Desafío Ruta 40, Argentina, Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Vidal (#502) placed first in the Stock class. The crew completed the 128km timed section in 01:58:49.
Stéphane Peterhansel and Mika Metge placed second, 42 seconds slower than Baciuška and Vidal, with a time of 01:59:31.
In third, Sara Price and Saydiie Gray finished just over two minutes behind the winning Defender Dakar D7X-R, completing the San Juan-to-San Rafael route in 02:01:05. The crew lost time slightly due to some difficult navigation.
Stage 2 took crews into the region of Mendoza, following winding, narrow trails, plus varying terrain across dunes and vegetation.
Ian James, Team Principal of Defender Rally, said: “Another successful day for Defender Rally and congratulations to Rokas and Oriol. It was a shorter stage than what we’ve seen before, but it’s taken us across some great terrain and some real tests for the cars, especially through the soft sand. That was a real challenge for the cars, across the steering, the differentials, lots of elements and it pushed car temperatures. We’re very pleased to see all three cars coping admirably with that and the drivers did a sterling job, as there were some tricky obstacles to avoid. There’s some slight bodywork damage from trees, so a little work for the crews overnight but nothing significant. We’re excited to get back out there tomorrow for a longer stage across varied terrain.”
Rokas Baciuška, Defender Rally driver, said: “We won the stage today which was a great feeling. It was quite short special stage, but very intense. In the beginning, we had tiny corners, as well as at the end, which were technical. It was a good but long day. Tomorrow is also quite long so let’s see how it will be, but everything is perfect. Good to win stage two.”
Stéphane Peterhansel, Defender Rally driver, said: “Today, it was a super long liaison, but a short stage. The stage was not easy. It was super twisty between the vegetation and the trees, so not easy with the size of our car as it’s little bit wide. But it was okay. At the last 40 kilometres, we heard a noise on the car, so we reduced the speed to be sure that we finish. We managed to go until the end, and we did not lose too much time. Overall, it was a good day, but long and not easy.”
Sara Price, Defender Rally driver, said: “Stage 2 was a good day for us. Obviously, we wanted to push today so we took off and lost a little bit of time in the beginning due to navigation. Later we got to a section that was very normal to me, and it was more like a place I used to race in Baja. So, it was super rough, and I think that’s where we excelled, and we gained some time back, but we still lost two minutes today, which was a shame. I really want a win at one of these rallies one day, but yeah, it was a good day overall.”
Stage 3 takes place on Wednesday 27th May, with the route running from San Rafael-to-San Rafael. It is anticipated to be one of the most diverse stages of this rally covering sand dunes. The first high-altitude portion, it features a timed section of 408km.
