After starring with Honda Racing Brasil in South American rallies, Bruno Crivilin got the call-up to the flagship Monster Energy Honda HRC for the Desafío Ruta 40. Despite being new to the World Rally-Raid Championship, he already looks like a natural.

Not only was he the fastest Rally2 rider in Stage 1 on Monday, Crivilin led a podium sweep for the team. Prologue winner Martim Ventura was 22 seconds back, followed by Preston Campbell 40 seconds behind the winner.

Crivilin had a tough time on Sunday getting by slower traffic, leaving him starting 19th for Monday. As he worked through the order, Michael Docherty led the stage for Rally2 for much of the day.

Docherty, now part of Hero MotoSports, seemd poised to take the class stage win until he crashed at KM 238 and broke his wrist. With Docherty out of the picture, Crivilin inherited the lead and held off his teammates. Ventura wasn’t as happy with his performance as he felt he “didn’t quite get into my rhythm” but certainly wasn’t going to complain about a runner-up and holding the Rally2 overall lead.

“The stage was good, some parts fast, some parts more technical in the rivers,” said Crivilin. “The first 100 km was difficult as I took too much dust from the other guys. I’m happy, the bike is working good, the team also. I’m happy as I’m living my dream.”

RallyGP, on the other hand, was a little more convincing. Despite being the tenth rider on course, Daniel Sanders comfortably led from start to finish to beat Tosha Schareina by six minutes for his 30th stage win. Prologue victor Luciano Benavides was fifth and 10:20 back of his teammate after falling back and struggling in the dust.

Eryk Goczał battled with the Fords of Carlos Sainz and Mitch Guthrie on the FIA side. At one point, he and Sainz tied for the fastest time through KM 278. Goczał was eventually able to pull away and hold off Guthrie by 50 seconds and Sainz by 56.

In Stock, all three Defenders initially finished within 35 seconds of each other before Sara Price got three minutes tacked on for not heeding a faster car’s overtaking request. Stéphane Peterhansel beat Rokas Baciuška by ten seconds.

The first day was unforgiving for many, whether it be tire issues or being trapped in dust of cars ahead. Seth Quintero had the “misfortune” of being the first driver on track but avoided them to finish fourth. His Toyota Gazoo Racing teammates couldn’t say the same: Henk Lategan had an early puncture, while Akira Miura was ensared by a flat and lost windshield.

Puck Klaassen lost her power steering and had to run about 240 kilometers fighting her way to a fourth in Challenger. Lucas Moraes had two punctures and made a wrong turn.

Stage winners

FIA

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
Ultimate	1	205	Eryk Goczał	Energylandia Rally Team	3:33:59
Challenger	12	301	Alexandre Pinto	Old Friends Rally Team	3:47:14
SSV	20	402	Jeremías González Ferioli	Can-Am Factory Team	3:56:46
Stock	25	500	Stéphane Peterhansel	Defender Rally	4:06:42

FIM

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
RallyGP	1	1	Daniel Sanders	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	3:35:12
Rally2	9	69	Bruno Crivilin	Monster Energy Honda HRC	3:52:59
Rally3	36	79	Murun Purevdorj	Xraids Experience	5:10:19
Quad	38	177	Lucas Dominguez	LD Racing Team	5:19:50

Open

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1	10	700	Fernando Hernandez	FH Racing	7:30:00
T3	13	711	Emilio Rosselot	Rosselot Rally Team	7:30:00
T4	1	757	Gustavo Gallego	Ferioli Racing Team	4:10:21

Overall leaders

FIM

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
RallyGP	1	1	Daniel Sanders	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	3:40:28
Rally2	9	84	Martim Ventura	Monster Energy Honda HRC	3:58:27
Rally3	36	79	Murun Purevdorj	Xraids Experience	5:17:41
Quad	38	177	Lucas Dominguez	LD Racing Team	5:26:36

Featured image credit: Honda Racing Corporation