HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING ACE GEARS UP FOR FIVE-STAGE HOME RACE IN ARGENTINA
Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Luciano Benavides is excited to return to rally-raid action with his home race, the Desafio Ruta 40. After four months of training and testing since last competing, the Argentinian is feeling fit and eager to improve on his runner-up finish at last year’s event.
Securing a top-seven result at the Dakar Rally in January, Benavides will be looking to maintain that strong run of form and capitalise on his home advantage at the Desafio Ruta 40. The FR 450 Rally rider enjoyed huge success at the Argentinian event last year, where he finished as runner-up in his hometown of Salta, an impressive feat which he will be looking to surpass this season.
The 2024 edition of the Desafio Ruta 40 will challenge riders with a prologue on Sunday, June 2, followed by five stages of racing in the desert through to the finish on Friday, June 7. Starting and finishing in the city of Cordoba, competitors will cover 3,213 kilometres over six days, of which 2,085 will be timed special raced against the clock. The challenging event promises to test riders with technically demanding navigation and a mixture of terrain, ranging from vast expanses of dunes to flat-out rocky tracks.
Luciano Benavides: “After Dakar, I got straight into training to prepare for the rest of the season. We also did a lot of testing in the US to improve the bike and that went really well. I feel good on the bike and training has been going great, my fitness is at a good level and I’m ready for the race. I’m really motivated for Desafio Ruta 40 because it means so much to me, it’s my home race and it’s always so special for us, as well as the fans. Starting and finishing in Cordoba will be really cool as it’s a nice place and the fans are great there. I will fight for the best result possible and enjoy the race as always.”
Andreas Hölzl – Rally Team Manager: “We are looking forward to the race in Argentina, especially for Luciano with it being in front of his home crowd. Luciano has worked hard over the past few months, training a lot. The team have been working hard too, developing forward and fine-tuning the bike. We are really motivated for this race as it’s the first one since Dakar and we believe Luciano can secure a positive result.”
