– South Racing also in action with Ricardo Porém at Baja do Pinhal in Portugal
Germany’s Jürgen Schröder and Spain’s Fernando Alvarez will represent South Racing in this weekend’s Italian Baja, round six of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies. The event is based in the northern town of Pordenone and takes place on June 16-18.
The Germany-based car preparations company will also be in action on June 16-17 on the other side of Western Europe when Ricardo Porém and Hugo Magalhães tackle Baja do Pinhal, round three of the Portuguese National Championship of Cross-Country Rallies (CNTT), in a Ford Ranger.
Schröder and his son Maximilian have enjoyed am impressive start to their FIA World Cup campaign and followed up an impressive performance at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge with eighth overall in the Qatar Cross-Country Rally. The pair are relishing the chance to compete across the demanding tracks on the Alpine flood plains that make the Italian round of the series so unique.
Alvarez and Argentinean navigator Luciano Gennoni finished 12th overall on their first appearance of the season in the FIA World Cup in Qatar. But Alvarez teams up with Pablo Monasterolo on this occasion. The pair finished eighth overall together in last year’s Baja Spain.
Porém, meanwhile, is the leader of the Portuguese off-road series after finishing second overall at Baja de Loulé and then securing outright victory in his Ford Ranger at Baja Capital Dos Vinhos de Portugal under three weeks ago.
The Portuguese event is based at the town of Castelo Branco and features two passes through a 9.57km Prologue stage on Friday evening (June 16) and two longer selective sections of 190.84km and 136.91km between Sertã and Oleros on Saturday.
It’s another busy weekend for South Racing with our resources split between supporting the two cars in northern Italy and the Ford Ranger in Portugal, said South Racing’s managing director Scott Abraham.
Organised by the Fuoristrada Club 4×4 Pordenone, scrutineering and administration for the Italian Baja gets proceedings underway on Thursday afternoon (June 15) at the pavilion in Fiera Pordenone and this continues into Friday morning.
The event then gets underway on Friday evening with the podium in Pordenone at 17.00hrs and the first special stage of 19.8km at Valvasone from 17.55hrs.
Teams then tackle a selective section of 109km from San Lorenzo to Valvasone on Saturday morning, starting at 08.00hrs, and the ‘Cantina’ special is repeated from noon. The timed section is then repeated again from 16.00hrs and then teams return to the overnight halt in Pordenone after a regroup in Zoppola.
The final action takes place on two passes through a special stage of 76km between Valvasone and Rauscedo on Sunday, starting at 08.30hrs and noon, before the podium in Piazalle Venti Settembre in the centre of Pordenone from 14.45hrs.
Neil Perkins,