Just when we thought Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) had no more surprises to spring on his rivals, the Australian pulled another rabbit out of his hat in stage 2 of the 2026 Desafío Ruta 40 YPF, between San Juan and San Rafael.

Daniel Sanders: It went really well, it was a short stage, 126 km... won the stage by five minutes. A lot of thorns in the arm, so yeah, little bit of blood, but that's all part of it. Love it. It was really good. We had a lot of fun along the way, especially with that sand at the end — it was really fun, and we were pushing. I’m in a good position right now; I feel really strong and healthy. Everything is working out great, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow in the desert.

Despite opening the road, the Wizard of Oz managed to put 5 minutes into his teammate Luciano Benavides in just 128 km. "Chucky" tightened his grip on the race and extended his lead over Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda HRC) to 11 minutes.

Even so, he will need a bag full of tricks to open the road tomorrow, the longest special of this edition at 409 km. An opportunity for his rivals to haul themselves back into contention… or for him to pull another ace out of his sleeve.

Monster Energy Honda HRC remain undefeated in Rally2 and welcomed a new stage winner to their ranks: Preston Campbell, who broke his duck 24 hours after the Brazilian Bruno Crivilin!

Preston Campbell: Today was super good for me. When I started off, I felt a little uncomfortable, like I was kind of fighting myself and just had to relax a little bit and adjust my riding style as quickly as possible. Halfway through the stage it changed to just sand, sand roads, sand whoops and I felt super comfortable and was able to push. I’m super stoked on the stage today, looking forward to the rest of the week.

The American also snatched the overall lead from his teammate Martim Ventura, now 2′17″ down. Crivilin makes it an all-Honda podium at 2′35″. Murun Purevdorj (Xraids Experience) remained untouchable in Rally3. Antanas Kanopkinas (CFMoto Thunder) bounced back in the quad race, but Lucas Domínguez retained the overall lead.

Martim Ventura: I got into a good rhythm but made a mistake of my own with the navigation and I lost quite a bit of time. On such a short stage every bit counted. It’s been a tough start of the rally, I’m looking to put everything together tomorrow. The bike feels good and I feel good too. I just want to do good things, so let’s see tomorrow.

HRC in Argentina

Monster Energy Honda HRC endured a challenging but promising second stage at the Desafío Ruta 40, with Tosha Schareina leading the team in third as the riders battled demanding terrain and navigation challenges.

Stage two followed a route previously used during the 2010 Dakar Rally, taking riders from San Juan south towards San Rafael in Mendoza province, close to the Chilean border. Although the stage was shortened by 200 km, it still proved to be a demanding day in the saddle.

The 128 km timed special featured a constantly changing mix of terrain beneath the towering Andes mountains, with riders tackling deep sand, vegetation-lined tracks, dusty conditions and high-speed salt flats that placed an added emphasis on navigation. Once the special ended, competitors still faced a punishing 393 km liaison to the next bivouac in San Rafael.

Starting second on the road, Tosha Schareina was the leading Honda rider in third place. Despite conceding 5’17” to stage winner Daniel Sanders, the Spaniard remained positive that today’s strategy could pay dividends tomorrow, when he will benefit from starting further back on the long special stage. Schareina now sits 11 minutes adrift in the overall standings.

Ricky Brabec endured a difficult opening section after encountering issues with his odometer, dropping to tenth at the first waypoint and losing almost two-and-a-half minutes to Sanders early on. The American steadily recovered throughout the stage, climbing back to fourth by the finish, 5’25” behind the winner. He remains third overall, though now trails the rally lead by 12’35”.

Skyler Howes found a strong rhythm across the salt flats early in the day, but, like yesterday, his progress was hampered by another tablet malfunction. The issue caused him to lose valuable time after getting lost and he ultimately finished tenth, 9’31” off the pace.

Adrien Van Beveren enjoyed a more encouraging performance aboard his Honda CRF450 RALLY. Despite making a minor navigation error midway through the stage, the Frenchman secured fifth place, 6’46” behind Sanders, and moved up to seventh overall.

With three stages remaining, the Monster Energy Honda HRC riders will look to go on the attack tomorrow as the rally heads deeper into the dunes of Mendoza province. Riders face another demanding day, with 408 km of timed action still to come as the fight for victory intensifies.

Ricky Brabec: The day was good, stage two got cut a little bit short, like 200 km short. So, short and sweet today with a big transfer at the end. I made one mistake early on but it is what it is. I’m just here riding and getting some training in, so all is good, the team is doing great and we’re doing the best job we can.

Skyler Howes: Stage two was short but a super physically demanding one. It was 128 km with a lot of sand whoops, really really tight trees and like pokey trees too and I got some thorns stuck in my arm. It’s kind of like acupuncture, so if I move just right then I can’t use my fingers, so that was exciting. Today, I unfortunately had another tablet malfunction and I got lost this time, so that was a real big bummer and it is what it is. But I still feel like I rode good and just pushed hard until the end and did what I could. It was almost 700 km today but only 120 km of racing, still a long day, but tomorrow’s going to be a big one, so we’ll keep pushing.

Adrien Van Beveren: It was intense even though it was a short special stage. We went through a lot of bushes, tough vegetation and then sandy tracks, really nice, bumpy and I tried to be fast but I made a small mistake at 68 km, went the wrong way and then went off piste for awhile before I could get back on track. I really gave my best, I improved from yesterday, so we will try to get better everyday.

Tosha Schareina: Today was short, they cut the stage more or less in the middle. We did 128 km and it was good, strategy for today was not to push a lot because we don’t want to start in front tomorrow. I think all the riders thought the same so we are all in the same timings except Daniel, he wanted to push. We came third today and we will see for tomorrow because it will be a longer stage.