Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and his co-driver Edouard Boulanger sealed a hard-earned victory at the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal in Grândola on Sunday afternoon.
The Prodrive Hunter crew had to defend an overnight lead of 2min 41sec over Portugal’s João Ferreira and the second quickest time on the day’s stage enabled the Qatari to move 12 points clear of Carlos Sainz in the unofficial FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) Drivers’ Championship standings and lift Nasser Racing by Prodrive into contention for the W2RC Manufacturers’ crown.
Al-Attiyah, who had a winning margin of 2min 49sec, said: « Portugal is almost my second home. I have a lot of friends here and I’m really happy to win this fantastic race. Thank you to all the fans and thanks to the organisation. It was a very technical race and we had to be smart. After the win in Abu Dhabi, winning here is very important because it enabled us to take the lead in the World Championship. »
The final stage was split into two sections with the first looping around Grândola for 101km before a final regroup took competitors into a short 3.7km sprint in front of live television cameras and thousands of spectators.
Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro enjoyed a superb event over home terrain in the first of the latest X-Raid Mini JCW Rally Plus machines and held off Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleón to claim the runner-up spot, despite losing the bonnet on the Mini.
Ferreira said: « It’s difficult to explain the emotions I experienced throughout the week. We received incredible support from this unique audience in the world in a very varied and beautiful race. The tension was high because there was a lot of attention around us, but everything went very well and I confess that I didn’t imagine finishing in second place on my debut with this car in W2RC. »
Moraes overhauled Ferreira’s team-mates Carlos Sainz and Alex Haro and pushed the Spaniards down to fourth position, the result also lifting Moraes into contention for the top three in the title race.
« What a great fight, » said Moraes. « Firstly, congratulations to the entire organisation for managing to put together this race. It is very important to have the World Cup in Europe. An overall podium and victory in this stage are important points for the championship. »
Sainz added: « It was a difficult but positive rally. It’s always a pleasure to come to Portugal and I was pleased to take part and gain important experience. I would have liked the race to start tomorrow to try some things, but I’m happy. »
Despite Moraes’s third place and the fastest time on the final stage, it was a disappointing event for Toyota with early season front-runners Guerlain Chicherit and Guillaume de Mévius struggling to make headway and Yazeed Al-Rajhi having to battle his way back to fifth after a crash on stage three.
Al-Rajhi said: « It was not easy for us after the accident two days ago and we lost a lot of time. Thanks to Carlos Barbosa and all his team for the organisation. We enjoy it here and we feel like it was home. I think Timo (Gottschalk) and I did a good job. We had some bad luck on one of the days but we had a lot of fun. Thank you to the crowd, which was exceptional. »
Can-Am Factory Racing’s Rokas Baciuška and his Spanish co-driver Oriol Vidal secured a vital victory in the Challenger category and extended their lead over team-mates Austin Jones and Oriol Mena in the W2RC’s Challenger standings.
The Brazilian duo of Cristian Baumgart and Gustavo Gugelmin finished seventh overall and picked up vital points for the Manufacturers’ Championship in the second of the Prodrive Hunters. Portuguese driver Francisco Barreto guided his Toyota Hilux to eighth.
Armindo Araújo (Can-Am) was not registered for the W2RC but the experienced local driver and former winner of the Rally of Portugal finished second in the Challenger category and ninth overall.
Nicolas Cavigliasso (Taurus T3M) was in inspired form on the final day. The Argentine was fourth quickest overall after the longer opening section of the stage and went on to set the eighth fastest time after picking up a one-minute time penalty. That was still sufficient to push Ricardo Porém (Can-Am) out of the top 10 and earn the Argentine third in Challenger and second of the registered drivers.
Alexandre Pinto and Austin Jones came home in 12th and 13th overall with Jones finishing fourth of the registered Challenge drivers.
Sébastien Loeb and co-driver Fabian Lurquin gained useful experience of the terrain and the event in general in their Red Bull-backed Taurus T3M. Loeb begins his W2RC campaign with the Dacia brand later in the season in preparation for a full programme of events in 2025. Meanwhile, the G Rally Team’s Luis Portela beat Loeb to the final stage win.
Loeb, who finished 22nd overall, said: « The special stages here are very good, some are even spectacular. We had a lot of mud and had to adapt to a different car from another category. We achieved the objective of getting to know the race so that we can return here next year with the Dacia. »
The South Racing Can-Am Team duo of João Monteiro and co-driver Nuno Morais won the SSV category and finished 16th overall in their Maverick XRS Turbo RR but were not registered for the W2RC.
Spaniard Ricardo Ramilo finished second and first of the W2RC contenders. Santag Racing’s Rui Serpa came home third but runaway W2RC leader Yasir Seaidan retired his Can-Am on Saturday. Rebecca Busi was fifth and second of the registered drivers.
Carlos Barbosa, President of the organising Automóvel Club de Portugal (ACP), said: « I’m very happy. It was a difficult race to organise with rain and tricky conditions but the ACP team did a fantastic job. The public and Portugal deserves a World Championship race with all the big stars of the Dakar. It is only necessary for Portugal Tourism to understand this so that we can have the event here again next year. »
SCHAREINA HOLDS OFF BÜHLER TO TOP THE MOTORCYCLES
Monster Energy Honda Team rider Tosha Schareina managed to hold his nerve over the closing kilometres to seal a crucial start-to-finish victory in the motorcycle category at the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal on Sunday.
Schareina needed to defend a lead of 4min 33sec over a short loop of 101km around Grândola and then across a short 3.7km televised sprint finale in front of large numbers of spectators. He started fifth on the road and the third quickest time saw the Spaniard claim a winning margin of 4min 38sec over the second-placed Hero Motorsports Rally Team rider Sebastien Bühler.
The result also sets up a fascinating tussle between Monster Energy Honda and the Hero Motorsports Rally Team for the W2RC Manufacturers’ Championship at the remaining two rounds in Argentina and Morocco.
Schareina said: « It’s very special to win here after a great race. I’m very happy with what I achieved over these five stages and I’m also happy for the team, as a large part of the team is from Portugal. »
Bühler added: « Second place in a World Cup race is very good. After a crash in the Dakar, I think the result is the best way to gain confidence. It was a tough week. I had a four-minute penalty on the first day and, without that, we could have been even closer to fighting for victory. Tosha was very strong, as always, congratulations to him. I think the organisation did a very good job, managing to run the race even after all the rain we had. »
Bruno Santos won the first four stages in Rally2 with the Prologue win falling to Edgar Canet and the Husqvarna rider held his never on the last stage to secure a stunning Rally2 victory and the final step on the overall podium.
Santos added: « A very treacherous day. We raced a lot in the middle of the trees with sandy ground and roots were emerging from the ground. I managed the risk and settled into a calm pace. It was a spectacular race, which exceeded all my expectations. Every day was a different challenge! »
After his stage win on Saturday, Portugal’s António Maio opened the road on the final day and came home with the ninth quickest time to consolidate his fourth place in the overall standings.
Maio said: « I tried not to make any mistakes, just in case. It was a spectacular race, very varied. We covered all types of terrain. Yesterday’s stage in Spain was fabulous, very much in my style and we achieved an historic victory. I’m happy with this fourth place overall and a podium in RallyGP! »
The fastest time on the final morning enabled Adrien van Beveren to pass his Honda team-mate Skyler Howes and finish the event in fifth to complete a superb fight back from the fistful of time penalties he incurred on the opening day. That put the Frenchman third of the registered W2RC riders behind Schareina and Bühler and moved him ahead of the absent Ricky Brabec and into second place in the championship behind Ross Branch. Howes also took a tumble on the stage which didn’t help his cause.
Hero Motorsports Rally Team’s Branch picked up vital championship points in seventh and fifth of the registered riders to keep his title challenge running strongly. A crash hospitalised Sherco’s Lorenzo Santolino after 39km of the final stage and lifted Spaniard Edgar Canet into eighth and confirmed his second place in Rally2, 20min 41sec adrift of Santos.
Bas World KTM Racing Team’s Bradley Cox was third in Rally2 and a close ninth overall after overtaking Chile’s Pablo Quintanilla on the final morning.
Rally2 riders filled the next few places on the leader board with Frenchman Romain Dumontier (Husqvarna) winning the last stage in Rally2 and finishing 11th ahead of the KTM-riding Frenchman Mathieu Doveze.
Gonçalo Amaral claimed a comfortable Rally3 victory on his Honda, the 17th-placed Portuguese rider finishing 9min 51sec clear of his brother Salvador.
Poland’s Kamil Wisniewski stormed to victory in the quad category with a winning margin of 5min 49sec over Lithuania’s Antanas Kanopkinas.
Frenchman Gaetan Martinez was third but Argentina’s long-time leader Manuel Andujar lost his chance of taking victory after mechanical issues and a crash in Spain on Saturday. He was comfortably quickest on the last stage and finished fourth.
Neil Perkins,