Argentinean driver Nicolás Cavigliasso (Vertical Motorsport) rounded out a great week by finishing third and stepping onto the podium in the Challenger category of the Dakar Rally, where Spanish driver Pau Navarro (Odyssey Academy) was the winner. Cavigliasso, who won in the quad category in 2019 and took the title in the Challenger category last year, completed one of the toughest motorsport journeys in a total time of 55 hours, 22 minutes, and 13 seconds, finishing 35 minutes and 52 seconds behind Navarro. According to the Argentine News Agency, the podium in the category was completed by Saudi Yasir Seaidan (Nasser Racing Team), who finished 23 minutes and 22 seconds behind the champion. The other Argentinean who had a very outstanding performance was Kevin Benavides (Odyssey Academy), who had his first experience in the category after his titles in 2021 and 2023 on motorcycles. Benavides, who even won the final stage, finished seventh in the general classification, although he could have finished much higher but lost a lot of time due to the problems he suffered in the first stages. There were also two Argentineans in the top 5, as Bruno Jacomy and Augusto Sanz finished fourth and fifth respectively as co-drivers. This was the sixth edition of the competition in the Challenger category, where previously Czech Josef Machacek, Chilean Francisco 'Chaleco' López, American Austin Jones, Spanish Cristina Gutiérrez, and Argentinean Nicolás Cavigliasso had been crowned champions. In the SSV category, Argentinean Jeremías González Ferioli (Can-Am) had a very good performance and finished in fifth place in the general classification. González Ferioli was two hours and 50 minutes behind the winner of the competition, American Brock Heger (Loeb Fraymedia Motorsport), who dominated and took more than an hour out of his runner-up. The podium in the category was completed by American Kyle Chaney (Can-Am) and Frenchman Xavier de Soultrait (Loeb Fraymedia Motorsport).
