On a rallying roll, Seth Quintero adds first ARA victory to W2RC breakthrough win

Just two weeks after becoming the youngest winner in FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) history, Seth Quintero took his first stage rally victory on round four of the U.S.-based ARA National Championship (above). 

In only his third stage rally start, the 23-year-old Californian drove his Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team-run GR Corolla Rally RC2 to a 9.4s victory over Lia Block’s Hyundai i20 N Rally2 on the Southern Ohio Forest Rally (SOFR), June 11-13.

Ricardo Cordero’s Citroen C3 completed the podium, with Alastair Scully’s i20 making it an all-RC2 class top four on the fast, flowing gravel roads and occasional short asphalt sections of Ohio’s Shawnee and Zaleski State Forests.

Quintero’s win made it consecutive ARA victories for the all-new GR Corolla. He and co-driver Topi Luhtinnen had finished second to World Rally Championship legend and TGR-WRT team boss Jari-Matti Latvala on April’s Olympus Rally. But with Flying Finn Latvala saving any further guest drives until later in the ARA season, a quick-learning Quintero delivered a fast and controlled performance to stand atop a stage-rally podium for the first time. 

SOFR kicked off on Thursday evening with two runs through the all-asphalt Yoctangee Park Super Special, but the rally started in earnest on Friday as it headed out of host town Chillicothe and into the forests. Quintero took eight consecutive stage wins to lock out the day and build a 46.9s lead over Block.

Starting Saturday’s final leg, the momentum began to shift when Block won the opening two stages to close the gap by more than 11s, then made up even more time on Quintero when a mechanical issue forced him to run the next two tests in just one gear. Heading into the second pass through the loop of five stages, Block’s Hyundai was just 12.2s off the lead.

With a tie for fastest time on the afternoon’s opening test followed by three more stage wins for Block, the gap was down to just 10.3 seconds heading into the rally-ending, bonus-points-paying ARA Power Stage, 5.17-mile Church of the Raccoons 2.

Carrying her Saturday momentum to the rally finish, Block edged Quintero by 0.9s to earn her first Power Stage win, but the Toyota driver took the overall victory by 9.4s to become the fourth different winner in four 2026 events held so far.  

“We ended up getting away with a win, which is super awesome,” said Quintero. “The team has been working their butts off for a long time already, so it’s really nice to be able to bring them a win. The first day went really well, and we put a lot of time down, then we had a little bit of an issue at the beginning of the second day that got my heart going. But that’s good for you; it means you’re alive and walking with a win.”

Travis Pastrana had led the points coming into SOFR, but with the L4WD class Subaru driver skipping the trip to Ohio for other commitments, Block now leads the ARA National Championship with 53 points. Quintero is second on 47, with Scully in third with 42. Pastrana drops to fourth with 38.  

Quintero had headed to the SOFR’s recce and pace-note prep just days after completing his record-resetting win on W2RC’s South American foray to Desafio Ruta 40 in Argentina with co-driver and fellow American Andrew Short.

In a series that typically rewards experience over youthful exhubarance, no driver under 30 had ever taken an overall win in the headlining Ultima class. But at 23 years, 8 months and 17 days, Quintero headed his teammate Henk Lategan (himself the previous youngest winner) in a 1-2 for Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC’s Hilux GRs.

Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC’s Seth Quintero became the youngest winner in World Rally-Raid history with victory on Argentina’s Desafio Ruta 40.

Dacia Sandrider duo Sebastien Loeb and Nasser Al-Attiyah hold the top two in W2RC points after finishing fourth and third, respectively, in Argentina, but Quintero’s breakthrough win in round three – which comes off the back of a second-place finish in Portugal – puts him third in points.

With W2RC not back in action until Rallye du Maroc, Sept. 28-Oct. 3, it’s a chance for Quintero to concentrate on his stage-rally ambitions. Beginning an uninterrupted run of three ARA National Championship events, the Colorado Rally is back on the roster, July 18-19, with the San Marcos driver looking to land consecutive wins for the GR Corolla.