Jeremías González Ferioli looked unstoppable at the Desafío Ruta 40, winning the first three stages for SSV and finishing ahead of his classmates by nearly two hours. While Mindaugas Sidabras was happy to settle for second, he got the first-place trophy in the end.

Ferioli previously won the DR 40’s Open class in 2023 and 2024 (the latter marking what was technically Can-Am Maverick R’s first W2RC win, though it wasn’t FIA-homologated at the time; he also scored the Maverick R’s maiden post-homologation win in Abu Dhabi last year), and looked well on pace to add a third victory and first under FIA sanction. He was so dominant that he even scored a top 20 outright by placing 18th in Stage 3.

After the race, however, his Maverick R was found to have an overweight front lower wishbone. Under FIA rules, the wishbone must weigh 11,760 grams (11,200 g + 5%) while his measured in at 12,128 grams. Team manager Ricardo Pastorino surmised this was caused by the paint used on the UTV, while stressing that the team has several same spare wishbones and does not control the weight of each.

In turn, Dr. Arnas Paliukėnas and his team of stewards said it was the “Competitor’s responsibility to know the technical requirements and comply with them during Desafío Ruta 40 YPF 2026.” The stewards cited Articles 14 and 701 of the FIA International Sporting Code’s Appendix J, as well as Articles 286A and 6.5 of the SSV homologation regulations.

“The International Court of Appeal has already deemed in the past that in ‘exceptional circumstances, the objective responsibility of a competitor for a case of non-compliance of its car can lead to a less severe sanction than disqualification’,” continues the report. “The Stewards cannot see any exceptional circumstances in this matter.

“In such a case, only the disqualification of the Competitor Car No 402 may be granted.”

Ferioli is the third driver to be disqualified from a World Rally-Raid Championship event in 2026 after Óscar Ral at Dakar and Steven Rotsaert in Portugal. He also joins Martin Macík Jr. at the 2023 Rallye du Maroc as those who were leading their class when they received a DSQ; in Macík’s case, he got the penalty before the final stage whereas Ferioli had already won.

With Ferioli out of the picture, his stage wins were inherited by Manuel Andújar. Ironically, Andújar had accused Ferioli of receiving preferential treatment at the Dakar Rally, such as an engine change that enabled Ferioli to rack up stage wins during the second half.

Andújar was second in the class overall behind Ferioli after three stages, only to suffer a mechanical issue on the penultimate day.

Sidabras, who was 1:44:01 behind Ferioli and over an hour back of Andújar entering Stage 4, thus became the new leader. With a comfortable gap over Juan Piferrer and José “Zé” Óscar Nogueira, Sidabras therefore notched his maiden W2RC victory.

Pedro MacDowell and Nogueira won the final two stages, though the former bowed out in Stage 5. Nogueira lost some time in Stage 4 after hiting a patch of camel grass at 120 km/h, bending the steering wheel and leaving his car wobbling to the finish.

After Polaris won the first two rounds at Dakar and Portugal, all six SSVs in Argentina were Can-Am Maverick Rs.

Results

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	21	404	Mindaugas Sidabras	Ernestas Česokas	Izoton Sport	20:14:44	Leader
2	22	410	Juan Piferrer	Xavier Blanco	Buggy Masters Team	20:33:14	+ 18:30
3	23	412	Zé Óscar Nogueira*	Arcélio Couto	Old Friends Rally Team	21:00:01	+ 45:17
DNF	DNF	407	Manuel Andújar*	Andrés Frini	7240 Team	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	408	Pedro MacDowell	Daniel Spolidorio	South Racing	DNF	N/A
DSQ	DSQ	402	Jeremías González Ferioli	Gonzalo Rinaldi	Can-Am Factory Team	18:21:05	N/A

Stage winners

Stage	Overall	Driver	Total Time
Stage 1	26	Manuel Andújar*	4:04:30
Stage 2	31	Manuel Andújar*	2:05:36
Stage 3	23	Manuel Andújar*	5:11:43
Stage 4	28	Pedro MacDowell	4:24:54
Stage 5	26	Zé Óscar Nogueira*	2:59:32

Featured image credit: Ingrida Šulcaitė