National Route 40 runs the length of Argentina along the foothills of the Andes, from Cabo Virgenes in Santa Cruz province in the south to La Quiaca in Jujuy on the Bolivian border in the north — a span of more than 5,000 kilometres. Its remote, varied terrain, ranging from Patagonian steppe to Andean altiplano, makes it a natural canvas for rally raid competition. The Argentine Automobile Club, which also helps organise the South American leg of the Dakar Rally, became the driving force behind establishing a national raid event on home soil.
The inaugural Desafío Ruta 40 was held in 2010, timed to coincide with the Argentina Bicentennial. The first edition covered the full length of Route 40 from Cabo Virgenes (Santa Cruz) to La Quiaca (Jujuy) — a total of 5,194 kilometres contested over nine stages. The ambition of the format proved popular enough to repeat the following year, with the 2011 edition again following the complete route.
From 2012 onwards, organizers began adapting the route to suit changing logistical and sporting requirements. The 2012 edition trimmed the event to five stages, starting in San Juan and finishing in San Salvador de Jujuy. The 2013 edition saw the race admitted to the Dakar Series — the international circuit of feeder events operating under the Dakar Rally umbrella — and attracted more than 125 participants, with the route again linking San Salvador de Jujuy and San Juan but run in a north-to-south direction.
The 2014 race returned to a south-north format, departing from Bariloche and concluding in San Juan, though the first two stages were cancelled at the last minute due to heavy rainfall. Later editions continued to shift around Argentina's northwest: Catamarca and La Rioja hosted the 2015 race, while Mendoza, San Juan, and La Rioja shared duties in 2016.
In 2017 the event was split into two independent races. The Desafío Ruta 40 Sur connected Neuquén with the Las Grutas de Río Negro resort along the southern section of the route, while the Desafío Ruta 40 Norte ran between San Juan and Tucumán through the Andean northwest. The 2018 edition consolidated activity in the northwest once more, routing from Tucumán back to San Juan.
Following the 2018 edition, the Desafío Ruta 40 was not held for four consecutive years. The event returned in 2023, this time as a round of the newly established World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), the FIA's reformed international rally raid series launched in 2022. Within the 2023 W2RC calendar, the Desafío Ruta 40 occupied the fourth round of the season. The race was retained on the World Rally-Raid Championship calendar for 2024, confirming its status as a regular fixture on the global off-road racing circuit.
The competition is structured around a variable number of stages routed along or near National Route 40, with precise itineraries adjusted each year to suit terrain, logistics, and safety conditions. Categories include cars, motorcycles, quads (ATVs), and trucks, mirroring the multi-class format of the Dakar Rally itself. The Argentine Cross Country Rally Championship (CARCC) previously used the event as its principal calendar date, giving domestic competitors a high-profile stage on which to measure themselves against international entrants.
The Desafío Ruta 40 represents Argentina's most significant contribution to international rally raid competition, giving South American drivers and riders a home round at which to gain Dakar Series and later W2RC points. Its revival in 2023 after a four-year absence underlined the growing ambition of the World Rally-Raid Championship to establish a genuinely global footprint beyond Europe and the Middle East.