After two complicated days due to bad weather, the sun appeared and Desafío Litoral was able to complete the fourth stage with normality. This was the longest and more demanding stage of the race. There were 427 kilometers in total crossing the heart of the province of Corrientes, linking the cities of Goya and Colonia Tata Cua, before the drivers arrived to Corrientes city, place where the bivouac was located.

The winners of the day were Cyril Despres in Bikes, Orlando Terranova in Cars, Sergio Lafuente in Quads 4×2, Ezio Blangino in Quads 4×4 and Juan Depetris in UTV.

We highlight the contribution made by the Government of the Province of Corrientes through their Ministries of Health, Safety, Government and the Provincial Police, who deployed their forces to allow an organized development in all provincial highways and roads along where the race took place.

The story of the day
Today’s stage, in addition to extensive and demanding, was highlighted by the speed of the leaders of the way, Cyril Despres on his KTM 450 finished the day with an average speed of 123 kilometers per hour, while Orlando Terranova on his BMW ran the 427 kilometers with an average of 130 kilometers per hour.

This fourth stage was also full of news at the top of the Car’s and Bike’s overall qualifications because of the problems of Francisco López and Nani Roma.

The retirement of Francisco “Chaleco” López was the news of the day in the category of two wheels. The Chilean had problems in his bike on the second part of the stage, just when he was winning.

Cyril Despres was able to consolidate his leader position after winning the fourth stage. Now, The Frenchman had an advantage of 5m 44s over his teammate, Jacub Przygoński. Meanwhile, the Argentinean Mauricio Gómez had a great performance and now is the new third

In Cars, Orlando Terranova recovered the top of the overall qualification after winning the fourth stage with a great job with his BMW. Nani Roma lost the first position after suffering problems with the gearbox of his Mini All4 Racing.

With the fourth stage already done, now is Terranova the new leader in the Cars category, 31m 39s in advantage of Roma, while in third position remains Boris Garafulic, more than one hour behind the leader.

At the Quads 4×2 category, Sergio Lafuente, the rider that today opened the stage after won on second day, won again a stage, third consecutive, and extends differences over his immediate followers, Gastón González and Sebastián Foche. This riders are now 10m 26s and 33m 19s respectively behind the Uruguayan leader.

In other hand, today Quads 4×4 category was won by the rider from Córdoba province, Ezio Blangino, and with this results is the new second of the race, just behind  Daniel Mazzucco, who remains as a leader. In this category, Pablo Rodríguez is the new third in the overall.

Finally, on the UTV, Juan Pablo Depetris won today the fourth stage, but this result doesn’t change anything on the overall, as Omar Yoma remains on the leading position, following by Juan Depetris and third today winner, Juan Pablo Depetris.

Stage 5 in details:

One day away from the end of the competition, the fifth stage will be – for sure – the fastest of all, but not the simplest. Some of the sections are very demanding in terms of driving so it will be necessary not to be over-confident.

It will be one long section that will have different surfaces. There are firm and fast ones, also sandy and twisty, and there are changes of path which results in an intense use of the road book necessary.

At the beginning is twisty, with many options but only one is correct so the speed of the section will provide the shrewdness to drive from very early. After the fast section, there are jumps on a narrow path surrounded by estuaries which will mean precision so as to not to make mistakes that will mean losing too much time.

When the first sandy section comes, the road book becomes essential so as to no go into the wrong path and make it to the second fast section, find the right crossroads and go back to another sandy section.

The long and final part combines fast sections in narrow roads with twisty and loose ones which will be the key as the competition moves forward. This day, surely, no one will experience the same thing all along this stage, each competitor will cover for it in a different way and there is where they will find differences in the overall classification of the day.

Departure Time: 9:00
Race distance: 292,88 kilómetros
Link distance: 160,92 kilómetros
Arrival time: 11:54