With his days on two wheels behind him, Kevin Benavides is already trying his hand at four.

The two-time Dakar Rally bike winner has been busy in Fiambalá’s deserts since last weekend, test driving Can-Am Mavericks for Ferioli Racing Team and Sisterna Rally Raid Team. He drove a Maverick R from the former before linking up with Lisandro Sisterna’s operation to drive a Maverick X3.

In June, Benavides announced his retirement from motorcycle racing due to his recent record of injuries. After winning Dakar for the second time in 2023, he missed much of that W2RC season to a broken femur and wrist. A severe testing crash in May 2024 caused a diffuse axonal injury that sidelined him until the 2025 Dakar.

In what was ultimately his final race as a bike rider, he was running 16th in class at Dakar before withdrawing at halfway because the physical strain was too much to continue.

While no longer racing a bike, he still left the door open to continuing his career as a car driver. It is not uncommon for rally riders to make the switch from a motorcycle to a four-wheeler, with fellow Dakar winners Toby Price and Sam Sunderland also having done the same in recent years.

Jeremías González Ferioli, one of the top SSV drivers in South America and class winner at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, and his team offered their services for testing.

Sisterna also did the same, riding shotgun as Benavides’ navigator at his test. He is a two-time Argentine Rally Raid champion who made his Dakar debut in January as the partner to Pau Navarro, finishing third in Challenger. Benavides’ younger brother and former teammate Luciano Benavides was also present to ride his KTM 450 alongside their Maverick.

Featured image credit: Lino Sisterna Jr.