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much. From the physical point of view it has been a great test for me.
The rivals are very strong and that forced us to give our best to win."
Australian rider Toby Price only missed out on the overall by six
seconds. Price led the early running of the race, winning the first
two stages, but relinquished the lead to Goncalves on day three
when he had the difficult task of opening the track on a stage
fraught with tricky off-road navigation. Price gave up nearly nine
minutes in the special test, slipping to third in the standings as
Goncalves and Quintanilla slid into the first two spots.
By winning the final stage, Price was able to climb back into
second place, but couldn't quite reach Goncalves.
"Today was great," said Price. "I tried my best but unfortunately
it wasn't quite enough and I lost out on the overall by the smallest
of margins. We've earned some good points for the champion-
ship, so we'll see what happens at the final round."
As for Quintanilla, the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider is now
looking to defend his FIM Cross Country Rallies World Champion-
ship at the final round in October at the Morocco Rally.
"I did my best battling for the overall podium and it was a
GONCALVES SURVIVES
ROUGH RUTA 40 RALLY
M
onster Energy Honda's Paulo Goncalves endured the Desafio
Ruta 40—likely to go down as one of the toughest rallies ever—to
take the overall win on Saturday, September 1. The rally veteran put
his skills to good work over five merciless days in the Argentine des-
erts to take the big win ahead of KTM's Toby Price and Husqvarna's
Pablo Quintanilla. American rider Ricky Brabec finished fifth overall.
"I am very happy with the victory here in Argentina," said Gon-
calves. "The race in general was tough, but that second day was too
great relief to learn that I made
it," Quintanilla said. "We raced
through some sandy terrain and it
was hard to make up time to the
leading group of riders. There were
times I wasn't feeling comfortable
to push, so I decided to keep it
steady, avoid mistakes and bring
my Husqvarna to the finish of this
exhausting rally. Getting on the box
here in Argentina is a great result
that gives me the points I need to
get a clear lead in the champion-
ship."
Quintanilla still holds the advan-
tage at 69 points over Toby Price
(61) while Goncalves is only four
points back with 57. CN
Desafio Ruta 40 Overall:
1. Paulo Goncalves (Hon) 17:06:02
2. Toby Price (KTM) 17:06:08
3. Pablo Quintanilla (Hus) 17:14:47
4. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 17:18:49
5. Ricky Brabec (Hon) 17:53:56
The Dasafio Ruta 40 will
likely go down as one
of the toughest rallies
ever, and Honda's Paulo
Goncalves was proud to
emerge victorious.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
HONDA/RALLYZONE
EDOARDO
BAUER
