RACE SUMMARY
Hero MotoSports Team Rally Returns to Top 5 During Queen Stage of Desafío Ruta 40
Hero MotoSports Team Rally tackled the queen stage of the 2026 as competitors crossed the Andes mountains back towards San Juan through freezing temperatures, technical mountain roads, and high-altitude terrain exceeding 3000 meters above sea level.
Following three demanding stages, Ross Branch delivered a much stronger and more confident performance throughout Stage 4 to return to the overall top five for the day. The Motswana rider immediately looks more comfortable aboard the Hero machine across the high-altitude terrain and continues building momentum as the rally approaches its conclusion.
Nacho Cornejo once again completed a clean and determined stage across the demanding Andes route. Despite another solid execution without major issues, the Chilean rider continues searching for the feeling required to push closer towards the front runners and remains focused on finishing the rally strong on the final stage.
ROSS
BRANCH
“Today was definitely a step in the right direction for me. I finally had a much better feeling on the bike and started to feel more like myself again. Finishing inside the top five is positive and important for the team, but honestly we still want more than that. The confidence is coming back and now the focus is to finish the rally strongly and keep building from here.”
Nacho
CORNEJO
“It was another difficult day for me because even though the stage itself was clean and I didn’t have any real problems, I’m still struggling to find the feeling I need to really attack and fight closer to the front. That’s frustrating because I know both myself and the team are capable of much more than where we are right now. Still, everyone in the team keeps working incredibly hard and I’ll continue giving everything I have to finish Stage 5 strong.”
Provisional Rankings -
STAGE 4
| POS | NAME | TEAM | TIMING |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tosha Schareina | Monster Energy Honda HRC | 03h 37m 48s |
| 2 | Ricky Brabec | Monster Energy Honda HRC | + 01m 18s |
| 3 | Skyler Howes | Monster Energy Honda HRC | + 03m 10s |
| 5 | Ross Branch | Hero MotoSports Team Rally | + 06m 17s |
| 15 | Nacho Cornejo | Hero MotoSports Team Rally | + 16m 33s |
Overall Provisional Rankings - After
STAGE 4
| POS | NAME | TEAM | TIMING |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Sanders | Redbull KTM Racing Team | 13h 20m 49s |
| 2 | Tosha Schareina | Monster Energy Honda HRC | + 07m 16s |
| 3 | Ricky Brabec | Monster Energy Honda HRC | + 14m 10s |
| 8 | Ross Branch | Hero MotoSports Team Rally | + 38m 25s |
| 14 | Nacho Cornejo | Hero MotoSports Team Rally | + 01h 05m 54s |
For more information, please visit:
www.heromotosports.com
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Twitter : @Hero_MotoSports
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