The 2026 bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal has wrapped up after a week of thrills and spills. The World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) convoy gave it everything on five stages snaking through Portugal and Spain. High precision wet weather racing was rewarded while mistakes were harshly punished on a course measuring close to 1,500 kilometres. Direct from the finish line in Loulé, here are the storylines that got our pulses racing in Portugal…
Nobody could match the speeds set by Sébastien Loeb as the nine-time WRC winner parked on the podium’s top step. Loeb and co-driver Édouard Boulanger had their Dacia Sandrider right on the pace all week, diving into turns on twisty WRC-style tracks. Loeb took the overall lead on Stage 2 as the rally departed Portugal for Spain and maintained his spot all the way to the finish line in the Algarve.
« I have a lot of good memories from racing in Portugal. It’s a nice feeling to win here again. I enjoyed these WRC-style stages a lot, especially the places where we could really push. This result puts us in the lead of the championship so it’s been a perfect week. » – Sébastien Loeb
Loeb’s haul of championship points in Portugal puts him ahead of Dacia team-mate Nasser Al-Attiyah in the W2RC Ultimate class driver rankings by seven points. Al-Attiyah ran into mechanical issues on Stage 3 which put him out of the running for a podium finish. Meanwhile, Lucas Moraes driving the third Dacia Sandrider won stages three and five on his way to finishing fourth overall.
« Our team-mate Seb won the rally and we won two stages so congratulations to the whole Dacia team for these results. » – Lucas Moraes
Loeb was pursued all the way to the Loulé finish line by the Toyota Gazoo Racing crew of Seth Quintero and co-driver Andrew Short. 23-year-old Quintero’s runner-up result in Portugal is his best-ever W2RC finish since stepping up to the Ultimate class. The American took a huge step towards recording his maiden Ultimate class victory this week. Quintero has his hands full in 2026 as he splits his time between competing in the W2RC and also the ARA National Championship in the United States.
« I didn’t even know if I was going to make this race with everything that’s going on so it’s nice to get a podium finish. One unlucky day took us away from the win. » – Seth Quintero
Laia Sanz enjoyed the trip to Portugal and her native Spain as she clocked up plenty more useful mileage in the EBRO s800-XRR T1+. A collision with a lamppost on Stage 1 was a far from perfect start to the rally, but Sanz maintained focus on the remaining four stages to record another Top 20 result.
« It’s my first time at this really tricky, but really nice rally. We had to deal with small problems on every stage after leaving the track on Stage 1, but overall we’re happy. » – Laia Sanz
A faultless performance from 14-time Dakar Rally winner Stéphane Peterhansel delivered victory in the Stock class. The Frenchman and co-driver Michael Metge brought their Defender Dakar D7X‑R through all five stages to stand on the podium’s top step in Loulé. The win narrows the gap between Peterhansel and team-mate Rokas Baciuška in the overall W2RC Stock class rankings.
« It was very different from the Dakar, away from the desert and much more technical. On every stage we needed full focus because there was always a potential hazard that could catch you out. » – Stéphane Peterhansel
Baciuška arrived in Portugal full of confidence following his Dakar win two months ago. The Lithuanian was slowed by tyre damage, but recovered to finish second behind Peterhansel.
« On two stages we picked up punctures and this cost us time. But we’re happy to finish and to take second place behind our team-mate Stéphane. » – Rokas Baciuška
Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders was back to his very best this week as he made it consecutive bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal wins. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider suffered serious injury at the Dakar in January, but nothing was going to stop him from racing Round 2 of this championship. The Australian biker’s latest win is a major boost as he looks to defend his W2RC RallyGP title this season. Sanders trails team-mate Luciano Benavides by six points on the updated W2RC leaderboard.
« It was a tight turnaround from Dakar with my broken bone and leg injury, but we did as much as we could to bounce back. It’s good to continue the winning streak here in Portugal and now I’m focused on getting back to 100 percent for the next championship round in Argentina. » – Daniel Sanders
Sanders’s KTM team-mate Edgar Canet came close to recording his first-ever RallyGP overall podium as the 21-year-old finished fourth in Portugal. 2026 Dakar winner Benavides admitted that he struggled to find his rhythm during the opening stages of this rally. The Argentinian rider recovered his flow to place sixth overall and score enough championship points to keep himself on top of the W2RC rankings.
« Of course winning the Dakar was an incredible moment for me, but physically tough and also mentally. The next rally will be my home race in Argentina so I’m excited for that. » – Luciano Benavides
It was an incident-packed W2RC debut on four wheels for Matthias Walkner who took on the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal behind the wheel of a Can-Am Maverick in the SSV class. The former Dakar winning biker stood up to every challenge thrown at him before finally coming unstuck by gearbox failure on Stage 5. The Austrian has shown his resilience by coming back to compete after suffering serious injury and we’re sure we’ll see him again soon in W2RC competition.
« Overall, it was a very tough rally for us, with mixed experiences and emotions… but that’s racing. This whole experience reminds me a bit of my first Dakar on the bike. » – Matthias Walkner
There were further high-profile retirements throughout the rally as the terrain in both Portugal and Spain proved perilous for the convoy. Both the Ford Raptor T1+ cars of Carlos Sainz and Mattias Ekström were out before Stage 2. Things also ended early for Henk Lategan in the Ultimate class due to a crash, while Dania Akeel was forced to pull out of the Challenger class contest.
This gang of daring racers will be hoping for much better results at Round 3 of the W2RC which takes us to Desafío Ruta 40 in Argentina. Running May 24-29, the South American rally will retrace parts of the former Dakar route found in the foothills of the Andes Mountains. It promises to be another intense off-road challenge at high-speed for the best rally-raid competitors on the planet.
bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal final results
ULTIMATE – Top 5
1. S. LOEB (FRA) – Dacia 10:58:52
2. S. QUINTERO (USA) – Toyota +02:46
3. J. FERREIRA (POR) – Toyota +03:37
4. L. MORAES (BRA) – Dacia +04:36
5. G. BOTTERILL (RSA) – Toyota +05:27
STOCK – Top 3
1. S. PETERHANSEL (FRA) – Defender 11:57:33
2. R. BACIUSKA (LTU) – Defender +02:29
3. S. PRICE (USA) – Defender +01:12:25
BIKE RallyGP – Top 5
1. D. SANDERS (AUS) – KTM 11:03:53
2. T. SCHAREINA (ESP) – Honda +01:56
3. A. VAN BEVEREN (FRA) – Honda +08:25
4. E. CANET (ESP) – KTM +20:44
5. R. BRANCH (BOT) – Hero +25:38
World Rally-Raid Championship rankings
ULTIMATE – Top 5
1. S. LOEB (FRA) – The Dacia Sandriders – 87 points
2. N. AL-ATTIYAH (QAT) – The Dacia Sandriders – 80
3. S. QUINTERO (USA) – Toyota Gazoo Racing – 61
4. M. EKSTRÖM (SWE) – Ford Racing – 53
5. L. MORAES (BRA) – The Dacia Sandriders – 53
STOCK – Top 3
1. R. BACIUSKA (LTU) – Defender Rally – 153 points
2. S. PRICE (USA) – Defender Rally – 127
3. S. PETERHANSEL (FRA) – Defender Rally – 118
BIKE RallyGP – Top 5
1. L. BENAVIDES (ARG) – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 48 points
2. T. SCHAREINA (ESP) – Honda HRC – 44
3. D. SANDERS (AUS) – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 42
4. R. BRABEC (USA) – Honda HRC – 38
5. A. VAN BEVEREN (FRA) – Honda HRC – 31
QUOTES
Sébastien Loeb: « I have a lot of good memories from racing in Portugal. It’s a nice feeling to win here again. I enjoyed these WRC-style stages a lot, especially the places where we could really push. This is the type of terrain I really enjoy driving on and it was a good battle with the younger drivers all week. This result puts us in the lead of the championship so it’s been a perfect week. »
Seth Quintero: « I knew it was going to be tricky to catch too much time to Loeb on this final WRC-style stage. I was hoping for a miracle. It was cool when Seb came over to shake my hand and told me I was doing an amazing job. Overall, we’ve done what we could at this rally and the team’s done great. I didn’t even know if I was going to make this race with everything that’s going on so it’s nice to get a podium finish. One unlucky day took us away from the win. »
Lucas Moraes: « It’s always great to come back here to Portugal and race in front of such incredible fans. Our team-mate Seb won the rally and we won two stages so congratulations to the whole Dacia team for these results. Everything is still open in the championship and we’ll fight to defend our title until the very end. »
Nasser Al-Attiyah: « It’s good to reach the end of the rally because it was very tricky. We had one bad day where our car stopped. We didn’t get the points we wanted at this race, but still we have three rounds left in the championship. Seb did a great job this week and deserved to win this race. »
Laia Sanz: « It’s my first time at this really tricky, but really nice rally. We had to deal with small problems on every stage after leaving the track on Stage 1, but overall we’re happy. Our goal was to treat this rally as training on these type of tracks. Hopefully we can come back next year and get a much better result. »
Stéphane Peterhansel: « For us, this was a super nice rally to drive. It was very different from the Dakar, away from the desert and much more technical. On every stage we needed to maintain full focus because there was always a potential hazard that could catch you out. I’m proud of our Defender Rally team and we’ll celebrate this victory together. »
Rokas Baciuška: « On two stages we picked up punctures and this cost us time on both occasions. But we’re happy to finish and to take second place behind our team-mate Stéphane. Now we look forward to racing again in Argentina. »
Daniel Sanders: « It was a tight turnaround from Dakar with my broken bone and leg injury, but we did as much as we could to bounce back. It was great to be here racing, conditions were really wet and slippery. It’s good to continue the winning streak in Portugal and now I’m focused on getting back to 100 percent for the next championship round in Argentina. »
Edgar Canet: « It’s been a good week for us. The balance and speed of the bike has been good, plus we learned a lot of stuff as well. I’m happy to make it to end in a strong final position. I’m super motivated to arrive to the next round in Argentina in the best possible condition and give my best once again. »
Luciano Benavides: « Of course winning the Dakar was an incredible moment for me, but physically tough and also mentally. At the start of this rally in Portugal I struggled to find the confidence to really push. In the end I did enough to stay on top in the championship and this was an important target for me. The next rally will be my home race in Argentina so I’m excited for that. »
Matthias Walkner: « Overall, it was a very tough rally for us, with mixed experiences and emotions. Every day we reached the bivouac around 7pm and the mechanics often worked until 3am. I was really hoping for a positive ending today. For a long time, it actually looked like it would happen. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be in the end. It’s frustrating when you never really get into a proper rhythm and have to deal with technical issues most of the time. But that’s racing. This whole experience reminds me a bit of my first Dakar on the bike. »