Team HRC Rally are all set to tackle the sixth edition of Argentina’s Desafio Ruta 40 which heads out from Catamarca on Tuesday May 19 before winding up – after five days of racing – in Villa Union on Saturday May 23.
The Ruta 40 forms part of the Dakar Series and will be the first of three competitions to be held on South America soil; second up will be Paraguay’s Desafio Guarani in July, with the Desafio Inca in Peru rounding off the series later in September.
Team HRC will be lining up Joan Barreda, Paulo Goncalves and rookie Ricky Brabec for the Ruta 40 challenge. The event will give Team HRC further opportunity to test the CRF 450 Rally and simulate the terrain and conditions that the riders are likely to encounter in Argentina at the forthcoming Dakar 2016.
Argentina’s national rally champion Javier Pizzolito couldn’t miss out on the race on home soil and will be entrusted with a CRF 450 Rally HRC under the auspices of Mariano Casaroli’s MEC team.
The race schedule is as follows:
| May 17, 2015 | Scrutineering | Catamarca |
| May 18, 2015 | Starting ramp | Catamarca |
| May 19, 2015 | Stage 1 | Catamarca |
| May 20, 2015 | Stage 2 | Tinogasta |
| May 21, 2015 | Stage 3 | Tinogasta |
| May 22, 2015 | Stage 4 | Chilecito |
| May 23, 2015 | Stage 5 | Villa Union |
The update of the Team activity and the rider’s results at each stage will be published, for this competition in the Team HRC social networks: Facebook and Twitter
Private: Martino Bianchi
The Ruta 40 is particularly important for rider training, as well as a test for making certain technical choices for our CRF 450 Rally ahead of the forthcoming Dakar 2016. The team will, for the second time this year, be able to put Californian rookie Ricky Brabec to the test after his outstanding fifth place in his first rally in Abu Dhabi. The navigation and Road Book interpretation will be tougher out here in Argentina so we will be able to take a closer look at his rally skills. It will be a great pleasure also to support Javier Pizzolito who will be backed by the Argentinean MEC team, who we would like to thank for all the logistic assistance that they have supplied for such a long trip.
Taichi Honda
Team HRC will be participating in the Ruta 40 rally in Argentina following the rallies completed earlier this year in Abu Dhabi and Qatar. This will be another opportunity to continue to make some technical adjustments and innovations to the bike. The Argentinean Ruta 40 is also an important meeting to improve rider’s navigational skills and to test the bike in conditions similar to those that will be found in the next Dakar.
Location Information
The Desafio Ruta 40 gets installed in the global sporting context as a premium brand. More than a simple velocity race, like every Cross Country Rally, the Desafio Ruta 40 is an adventure that requires competitors other capacities that goes beyond speed to reach the goal faster. Desafio Ruta 40… read more.
San Juan, Argentina - View in Google Maps
