Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC’s Seth Quintero and Andrew Short finished second in the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal as Overdrive Racing’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk completed the event in sixth place.
The five-day second round of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) started out of the town of Grândola, passed into Spain for two days and finished on the Algarve in southern Portugal for the first time. The runner-up spot for Quintero and Short enabled them to move into contention for the W2RC Drivers’ and Navigators’ Championships after two of five rounds.
Quintero said: « It was good. It was nice to have a good finish in Portugal. I love this place. We had some bad luck the last two years but second place is good and we scored some pretty good points for second place. To be fighting with (Sébastien) Loeb this hard on WRC roads is an accomplishment in itself. »
Al-Rajhi drove the first of the Overdrive Toyota Hilux GRs and ran inside the top six throughout the event, as he continued to bounce back from a disappointing result at the Dakar Rally in January. Both Quintero and Al-Rajhi also scored valuable points towards the Manufacturers’ Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC.
Al-Rajhi said: « We are happy to finish this race. It was a tricky one. We enjoyed it and both Timo and I did a good job. »
Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC’s Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings damaged their rear axle on the opening stage and then crashed out of the event on day three.
Japan’s Akira Miura and his Spanish navigator Armand Monleón represented Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC for the first time. They were classified in 26th overall.
Miura said: « This was a new challenge for me with Toyota Gazoo Racing. The goal was to cover the full distance and build up my experience. We were also evaluating some new Toyo Open Country tyres. One of their key characteristics was very strong longitudinal traction to help pushing the car forward. »
The Chilean duo of Hernán Garcés and Juan Pablo Latrach crewed the second of the Overdrive Racing Toyotas. They finished 33rd overall.
Heavy rain was forecast for the opening leg that was split into two stages – a 177.35km run across remote rural terrain from Alentejo to Agua Derramada and a short 3.07km section back in Grândola. The second part of the stage was a reverse run through the Prologue that had been used by the motorcycles.
Quintero topped the times for the Toyota Gazoo Racing operation and settled into second position, just 17 seconds behind João Ferreira. Al-Rajhi was fifth, Garces came home in 32nd, Miura was 45th but Lategan suffered rear axle damage that he repaired in the stage and slipped back to 52nd position, 36min 11sec behind the leaders.
Quintero said: « Straight off the ‘plane to a second place on the first stage in Portugal. Very tricky with it being so muddy and massive water crossings. We found our flow and tried to be as smart as we could. It’s going to be a super tough week. The rain is getting worse. »
Lategan added: « A tough day in the office. We clipped a tree early in the stage and broke a rear toe link. Small mistakes can have big consequences. »
Stage two crossed the border into the Extremadura region of western Spain and included a stage of 377.05km en route to a night halt in Badajoz.
Quintero was third quickest and held a similar position in the general classification. Al-Rajhi completed the stage in eighth to hold sixth place. Lategan bounced back strongly with the fifth quickest time to hold 36th, one place ahead of Miura. Garcés was 30th.
Leg three’s competitive action ran for 296.07km. Al-Rajhi and Quintero were third and fourth, despite two flat tyres for the American. Quintero actually climbed to second with Al-Rajhi in sixth, Garcés moving up to 24th and Miura holding 30th.
Lategan veered off the road after a tight turn over a crest after 62km, crashed heavily and the team decided to withdraw the Toyota before the start of the fourth stage.
The penultimate leg started out of Extremadura and crossed back into Portugal via the Alentejo region en route south to the Algarve and the overnight halt in Loulé. The stage ran for 315.84km as part of a day’s total route of 638.37km. Quintero and Al-Rajhi were fourth and seventh to hold second and sixth at the final night halt.
The final day’s action was split into two stages of 98.54km and a short run of 2.02km at the Algarve stadium to wrap up proceedings. Quintero and Al-Rajhi finished fifth and ninth on the longer stage and safely negotiated the spectator finale to finish second and sixth.
The FIA World Rally-Raid Championship resumes with Argentina’s Desafío Ruta 40 on May 24th-29th.
2026 BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal – result (unofficial:
1. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA) Dacia Sandrider, 10hr 58min 52sec
2. Seth Quintero (USA)/Andrew Short (USA) Toyota Hilux GR, 11hr 01min 38sec
3. Joāo Ferreira (POR)/Filipe Palmeiro (POR) Toyota Hilux GR, 11hr 02min 29sec
4. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Dennis Zenz (GER) Dacia Sandrider, 11hr 03min 28sec
5. Guy Botterill (RSA)/Oriol Mena (ESP) Toyota Hilux GR , 11hr 04min 19sec
6. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Timo Gottschalk (GER) Toyota Hilux GR, 11hr 10min 47sec
7. Eryk Goczal (POL)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Toyota Hilux Evo, 11hr 21min 06sec
8. Francisco Barreto (POR)/Paulo Fiuza (POR) Toyota Hilux Evo, 11hr 30min 21sec*
9. Alexandre Pinto (POR)/Bernardo Oliveira (POR) Taurus T3 Max, 11hr 32min 44sec
10. Marek Goczal (POL)/Maciej Marton (POL) Toyota Hilux Evo, 11hr 36min 48sec
26. Akira Miura (JPN)/Armand Monleón (ESP) Toyota Hilux GR, 12hr 47min 10sec
33. Hernán Garcés (CHI)/Juan Pablo Latrach (CHI) Toyota Hilux GR, 13hr 47min 10sec
*denotes not registered for W2RC