Monster Energy Honda HRC’s Rally2 division couldn’t complete the Desafío Ruta 40 podium sweep, but the three-man effort was nigh unstoppable as Martim Ventura nicked his first World Rally-Raid Championship overall win.

Ventura led the Rally2 overall for all but one stage. Even though he didn’t score any stage wins until the third leg, he was already the leader after Stage 1 thanks to his strong performance in the Prologue. He strung together back-to-back-to-back victories to ice the win.

Bruno Crivilin, who usually races for Honda’s Brazilian arm but was signed to Monster Energy HRC for the DR 40, more than impressed in his W2RC debut. He won Stage 1 with Ventura just 22 seconds behind and Preston Campbell joining his teammates in locking out the top three. Much of Argentina’s terrain either resembled WRC tracks or those back home, which was perfect for Crivilin.

Even though Ventura was just too fast in the end, Crivilin had much to celebrate.

“I’m really pleased with my first podium finish in the World Championship and I’m also very pleased with my performance at this rally. I’m happy for Martim too,” he said. “Everything’s gone really well over the last few days, the bike was perfect, the team worked really hard, so I’m happy with the result. I really enjoyed it, so thanks to everyone. We’ll train harder and hope for better results in the next ones.”

Ventura cleared Crivilin by 12:35. The victory seemed like a natural course of progression after beginning the 2026 season by finishing third at Dakar, then second in Portugal. He obviously can’t finish zeroth in Morocco, but he’d certainly like to avoid an integer overflow that loops back into a DNF or last-place finish.

“It was a good race in Argentina, my first time here in this country and everything went well with me, with the bike and with the team,” Ventura remarked. “We have been improving the bike and I feel we reached a really good level. This race was the result of that. We put everything together, we’ve been looking to do that for quite for a few races, but we had some issues every race. This race we were able to put it all together and I’m super happy we won.”

Campbell won Stage 2 to ensure the Honda trio claimed every leg, but otherwise had his share of challenges that left him fighting with points leader Toni Mulec for the last step on the podium. His tablet started malfunctioning in the dunes in Stage 3, then he had what he called a “pretty good crash” 109 kilometers into Stage 4 while riding in the dust. The latter caused him to finish fifth for the stage while Mulec was fourth to sneak by for third.

Mulec led Campbell by 1:52 going into the last day, then solidified his spot in the top three by finishing Stage 5 second to Campbell’s fifth. At the finish, Campbell simply commented he was “stoked to get my first stage win this week but had some other tough days.”

While Mulec prevented Honda from finishing 1–2–3, Ventura’s victory leapfrogged him past the Dakar winner for the Rally2 points lead. Ventura leads with a very nice 69 points to Mulec’s 65.

“Everything remains open in the championship,” team manger Ruben Faria stated. “We are now leading with Martim and the team is fully focused on continuing to work hard and fight for more race wins.”

It might be disappointing to lose the top spot in the standings, but Mulec was still relieved to complete what he felt was a tumultuous rally. The race began on a slow note when he struggled with navigation, then admitted he was off his game the rest of Stage 1 after stopping to help his former teammate Michael Docherty following his crash. The second day saw him crash into the bushes, then he had several problems early on two days later. Even during his runner-up effort in Stage 5, he had a “few setbacks” and a “couple of crashes”.

To even get a third after all he’d been through was an achievement worth celebrating.

“That’s rally racing. You keep pushing, keep adapting and never stop fighting until the finish line,” Mulec commented. “I’m proud to finish this rally third overall in Rally2 and 11th overall among some of the best rally riders in the world. Considering everything that happened throughout the week, I’ll take that result with both hands.”

Docherty made the switch from BAS World to Hero starting in Argentina, earning himself the long-awaited factory ride. Unfortunately, after a strong third in class for the Prologue, he broke his wrist when he crashed from the lead a day later.

He remained in Argentina to support his new teammates Ross Branch and José Ignacio Cornejo, who competed in RallyGP.

“This rally definitely didn’t end the way I wanted it to,” said Docherty. “After such a positive start with the team, it was frustrating to have my race come to an end so early, especially because I felt we had the pace to achieve something special. At the same time, that’s part of rally racing and now the focus is on recovering properly and getting back to full fitness as quickly as possible.

“Even though I wasn’t able to continue competing, I wanted to stay here and support the team for the remainder of the event. I’ve learned a lot during my first rally with Hero MotoSports Team Rally and the support I’ve received from everyone involved is key to future success. I’m determined to get back on the bike soon and show what we are capable of together.”

2024 Rally3 champion John Medina won the inaugural Malle Moto class.

Riders further back in the order were just glad to make it home, especially those working toward their Dakar debut in 2027 since finishing the DR 40 earned them 12 points in the Road to Dakar. Among them was Ryan Nariño, who won the Dakar Dreams challenge at the Sonora Rally and was keen on following in his dad Antonio’s footsteps by racing Dakar himself.

What was technically Nariño’s second W2RC race (he did the 2023 Sonora Rally in the non-FIM National Enduro class) was an up-and-down affair that began with tire punctures and even his bib mousse blowing up early on.

Stage 3 ended up being a huge misadventure that began with his airbags being set off twice, once in fesh fesh and the other in the dunes. A fuel miscalculation eventually caused him to run out mid-stage; he got a fresh can from a rancher that turned out to be water, causing his bike to shut off after three kilometers. Another local towed him for two km before stopping, then a passing UTV gave him ten liters to reach the finish.

Nariño also had to deal with stomach pain that he attributed to his bivouac dinners of ravioli, meat, and lentils. He typically doesn’t overeat unless he’s at a rally since it means he doesn’t feel hungry for the start the next morning.

“I feel great physically,” Nariño proclaimed. “I could ride another week no problem. I’m not sore at all—just cruising, keeping it easy.”

Results

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	8	84	Martim Ventura #	Monster Energy Honda HRC	16:53:44	Leader
2	10	69	Bruno Crivilin	Monster Energy Honda HRC	17:06:19	+ 12:35
3	11	16	Toni Mulec #	BAS World KTM Racing Team	17:09:19	+ 15:35
4	12	85	Preston Campbell #	Monster Energy Honda HRC	17:13:41	+ 19:57
5	14	24	Alfredo Pellicer	Xraids Experience	17:22:16	+ 28:32
6	15	8	Benjamín Herrera Ried	Xraids Experience	18:10:05	+ 1:16:21
7	17	58	Jeremías Pascual	Kove Argentina	18:21:29	+ 1:27:45
8	18	56	Martí Escofet	Joyride Race Service	18:35:17	+ 1:41:33
9	19	80	Martin Duplessis	Fantic by MED Racing Team	18:56:37	+ 2:02:53
10	20	41	Baltazar Frezze Pissoni	Xraids Experience	20:13:17	+ 3:19:33
11	21	148	Tomás de Gavardo	BAS World KTM Racing Team	20:18:14	+ 3:24:30
12	22	70	René Boer	HT Rally Raid	20:18:28	+ 3:24:44
13	23	49	Juan Santiago Rostan	Xraids Experience	20:30:15	+ 3:36:31
14	24	130	Iñigo Zardoya #	Joyride Race Service	20:53:45	+ 4:00:01
15	25	28	Mathieu Liebaert	Joyride Race Service	20:54:04	+ 4:00:20
16	26	44	Puchi Ontiveros	HT Rally Raid	21:00:01	+ 4:06:17
17	27	26	Batmunkh Bayarsaikhan	BAS World KTM Racing Team	21:26:06	+ 4:32:22
18	28	30	Jarno D’Orsogna	RS Moto	21:31:21	+ 4:37:37
19	29	116	Pedro Pinheiro #	Old Friends Rally Team	22:22:23	+ 5:28:39
20	32	29	Alessandro Rigoni	Pedregà Team	23:37:06	+ 6:43:22
21	33	60	Joaquín Debeljuh	RVM Racing Team	23:38:11	+ 6:44:27
22	34	43	Sebastián Urquía	Xraids Experience	23:39:06	+ 6:45:22
23	35	57	Marek Halamunda	HT Rally Raid	23:42:49	+ 6:49:05
24	36	91	Israel Borrell	Xraids Experience	23:54:56	+ 7:01:12
25	37	51	John Medina †	Xraids Experience	24:30:01	+ 7:36:17
26	38	39	Adolfo Alonso Solares	Pedregà Team	25:02:13	+ 8:08:29
27	39	74	Nuno Silva #	Old Friends Rally Team	25:22:19	+ 8:28:35
28	41	52	Jack Lundin	HT Rally Raid	25:29:00	+ 8:35:16
29	44	38	Fabio Bernardini †	Plastik Dreamer	30:07:13	+ 13:13:29
30	45	36	Joan Viñals	Joyride Race Service	30:12:39	+ 13:18:55
31	46	35	Vitor Loureiro Moraes dos Reis	MED Racing Team	30:40:25	+ 13:46:41
32	47	72	Ryan Nariño	Fantic by MED Racing Team	31:29:32	+ 14:35:48
33	49	33	Mark Hatfield †	Happy Rally & Co.	32:23:10	+ 15:29:26
34	50	40	Armando Alonso Morales	Pedregà Team	33:13:00	+ 16:19:16
35	51	37	Gary Ennis †	Gary Ennis	33:13:50	+ 16:20:06
36	53	75	Dominique Cizeau Girault	Xraids Experience	35:47:07	+ 18:53:23
37	54	65	August Castellà Pujol	Pedregà Team	38:49:22	+ 21:55:38
38	56	86	Gabriel Mana	55Racing	58:07:38	+ 41:3:54
39	57	90	Matías José Felippa	Eladio Felippa	65:25:41	+ 48:31:57
DNF	DNF	19	Michael Docherty	Hero MotoSports	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	25	Richard Fliter	BAS World KTM Racing Team	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	31	Jack Fielder †	Jack Fielder	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	32	Neil Corbishley †	Happy Rally & Co.	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	48	Nico de Waal	HT Rally Raid	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	50	Fabian von Thüngen	Xraids Experience	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	59	Benjamín Pascual	Kove Argentina	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	62	Wesley Macedo	Full Gas	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	82	Jatin Jain †	Desert Storm	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	87	Julián Sánchez Dabin	Fantic by MED Racing Team	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	88	Christopher Alexis Beas	MED Racing Team	DNF	N/A

Stage winners

Stage	Overall	Rider	Total Time
Prologue	4	Martim Ventura	5:06.7
Stage 1	9	Bruno Crivilin	3:52:59
Stage 2	8	Preston Campbell	1:47:05
Stage 3	9	Martim Ventura	4:33:26
Stage 4	7	Martim Ventura	3:44:24
Stage 5	8	Martim Ventura	2:47:33

Featured image credit: Honda Racing Corporation