Kevin Benavides certainly would’ve preferred for his four-wheeled rally debut to go smoother than it actually did, but he still had a valuable learning experience.

This past weekend’s Rally Raid San Juan marked the first race for the two-time Dakar motorcycle champion as a driver, piloting a Can-Am Maverick X3 for HV Racing with Cholito Acedo as navigator. Benavides had retired from bike racing in June before beginning his transition to side-by-sides over the summer.

Understandably, Benavides’ main goal was to accumulate seat time rather than win. However, that focus was reinforced sooner than he would have liked as mechanical issues plagued his car throughout the opening stage and relegated him to the bottom of the order as one of the five DNFs in UTV. Stage 2 went a little smoother as he finished 15th overall for UTVs.

Severe snow forced the third stage to be canceled, but the fourth proceeded in the conditions. Despite the weather and arriving at the start late due to some more vehicle problems, he improved to sixth overall on the final day and 14:27 off stage winner Jeremías González Ferioli.

Ferioli, who helped Benavides learn the ropes of car driving, would ultimately win the overall. Benavides was the last finisher in UTV. Lisandro Sisterna also tutored Benavides and won the T3.2 subcategory as navigator for Karina Dobal.

Even if the finish wasn’t as high as he’d like, he still finished strong and left with a “great taste in our mouth to close the weekend”.

His brother Luciano won the Moto class.

Rally Raid San Juan is the fifth and sixth round of the 2025 Campeonato Argentino de Rally Raid (CaNav).

Auto

Finish	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	151	José Antonio Martínez	Juan Carlos Pereira	Coyote Team	Toyota Hilux	T2.1	10:27:43	Leader
2	160	Arturo Pacheco	Ariel Martínez	Pacheco Racing	Toyota SW4	T2.1	12:05:52	+ 1:38:09
3	113	Ramiro Corvalán	Cristian Moyano	RC Group Team	Renault Duster Oroch	T1.1	20:04:40	+ 9:36:57
DNF	103	Alberto Tornatore	Analía Álvarez	Tornatore Rally Team	Volkswagen Buggy	T1.1	DNF	N/A

Moto

Finish	Number	Rider	Team	Vehicle	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	77	Luciano Benavides	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM 450 Rally	M1	3:58:29	Leader
2	5	Benjamin Pascual	Pascual Racing Team	Honda CRF450X	M1	4:31:32	+ 33:03
3	3	Jeremías Pascual	Pascual Racing Team	Honda CRF450X	M1	4:57:31	+ 59:02
4	6	Santiago Rostan	Rostan Team	KTM 450 Rally	M1	5:20:46	+ 1:22:17
5	2	Julián Sánchez	MED Racing Team	Fantic XEF 450 Rally	M1	5:32:20	+ 1:33:51
6	23	Baltazar Frezze Pissoni	RVM Racing	RVM 450 Rally	M2	5:59:44	+ 2:01:15
7	7	Marcelo Sánchez	RVM Racing	RVM 450 Rally	M1	6:23:06	+ 2:24:37
8	36	Nicolas Vaschetto	LP Team	Yamaha WR450F	M2	6:47:32	+ 2:49:03
9	37	Sebastián Elices	Moducar	Beta RR 480	M2	8:23:42	+ 4:25:13
10	32	Matías Ossa	RVM Racing	RVM 450 Rally	M2	9:46:31	+ 5:48:02
11	1	Joaquín Debeljuh	RVM Racing	RVM 450 Rally	M1	9:49:24	+ 5:50:55
12	33	Roald Thomsen	RVM Racing	RVM 450 Rally	M2	10:37:58	+ 6:39:29
13	45	Fabián von Thuengen	MED Racing Team	Husqvarna FR 450 Rally	M2	10:45:17	+ 6:46:48
14	29	Nicolas Ardilla	MED Racing Team	Fantic XEF 450 Rally	M2	13:18:30	+ 9:20:01
15	38	Sebastián Reartes Neri	Team 46	KTM 350 EXC	M2	14:10:24	+ 10:11:55
16	35	Santiago Principe	Moducar	Beta RR 450	M2	15:06:29	+ 11:08:00
DNF	8	Eduardo Alan	MED Racing Team	KTM 450 Rally	M1	DNF	N/A
DNF	30	Alejandro Maubert	MED Racing Team	Yamaha WR450F	M2	DNF	N/A
DNF	43	Álvaro Cóppola	MED Racing Team	KTM 450 Rally	M1	DNF	N/A
DSQ	4	Leo Cola	Dynamo	Yamaha WR450F	M1	DSQ	N/A

Quad

Finish	Number	Rider	Team	Vehicle	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	55	Isidro Fernandez	FP Racing Team	Yamaha Raptor 700	Q1	6:09:29	Leader
2	52	José Faule	Santiago del Estero Rally Raid	Yamaha Raptor 700	Q1	7:19:17	+ 1:09:48
3	56	Santino Camacho	Camacho Team	Yamaha Raptor 700	Q1	9:12:29	+ 3:03:00
4	71	Nico Robledo	GM Motorsport	Can-Am Outlander 800	Q2	11:13:10	+ 5:03:41
DNF	51	Wilson Ochoa	GM Motorsport	Yamaha Raptor 700	Q1	DNF	N/A

UTV

Finish	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	201	Jeremías González Ferioli	Gonzalo Rinaldi	Ferioli Racing Team	Can-Am Maverick R	T4.1	4:22:04	Leader
2	209	Juan Carlos Cerda Araya	Álvaro León	TerraCop Rally	Can-Am Maverick R	T3.1	4:35:24	+ 13:20
3	231	Pablo Macua	Daniel López	HV Racing Team	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.1	4:39:08	+ 17:04
4	291	Karina Dobal	Lisandro Sisterna	Sisterna Rally Raid Team	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.2	5:28:12	+ 1:06:08
5	292	Jonatan Palomba	Daniel Annetta	El Misil	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.2	5:31:00	+ 1:08:56
6	289	Maximiliano Ochoa	SD	HV Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.2	7:08:21	+ 2:46:17
7	255	Gastón Salazar	Esteban Lopez Jove	Ferioli Racing Team	Can-Am Maverick R	T4.1	7:57:56	+ 3:35:52
8	257	Federico Alt	Nelson Sierra	HV Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.1	8:49:39	+ 4:27:35
9	208	Gustavo Gallego	Pachu Arrieta	Ferioli Racing Team	Can-Am Maverick R	T4.1	8:56:59	+ 4:34:55
10	235	Reginato Andres	Miguel Reginato	GM Motorsport	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.1	9:15:40	+ 4:53:36
11	295	Lucas Innocente	Matías Innocente	Innocente Team	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.2	9:43:17	+ 5:21:13
12	243	Cristian Bertona		Bertona Rally Team	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.1	9:59:51	+ 5:37:47
13	207	Juan Cruz Yacopini	Martin Winterstetter	Yacoponi Team	Can-Am Maverick R	T4.1	10:19:04	+ 5:57:00
14	234	Kevin Benavides	Cholito Acedo	HV Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.1	12:53:49	+ 8:31:45
DNF	210	Leandro López	Ricardo Torlaschi	Carabina	Can-Am Maverick R	T4.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	233	Fernando Castelblanco	Andrés Sánchez	GM Motorsport	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	247	Ricardo Silicani	Laureano Acosta	Moducar	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	254	Javier Vélez	Gonza Martinez	GM Motorsport	Can-Am Maverick R	T4.2	DNF	N/A
DNF	293	José Ortega	Carlos Miranda	La Sevillanita Rally Team	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.2	DNF	N/A