The world’s best off-roaders brought their A-Game to the bp Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal. Back and forth battles characterised this 1,400km game of cat and mouse through punishing terrain in Portugal and Spain. There’s still everything to play for at next month’s World Rally-Raid Championship finale except in the Bike class, where one rider sits head and shoulders above the rest…
The party started in Lisbon as soon as Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing brought his bike across the finish line. An impeccable season has handed Sanders the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship title with a race to spare. The Australian added victory in Portugal to this year’s triumphs at the Dakar as well as in Abu Dhabi and South Africa. Sanders can now make history next month in Morocco and ride the W2RC’s only ever 100 percent season in the RallyGP class.
« So far it’s been a perfect season and I’m over the moon with how things have been going. It’s very rare to get on a run like this. Achieving this kind of consistency in rally is really tough and it takes a lot of hard work from everybody involved to pull it off. » – Daniel Sanders
Sanders was joined on the final podium in Portugal by KTM team-mate Luciano Benavides. The Argentine biker closed things out on the Iberian peninsula with a stage win to secure third spot overall.
Edgar Canet successfully locked out the podium for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing on the final stage in Portugal. The Spaniard finished fifth overall at Round 4 of the W2RC and won the Rally2 category. This latest result puts him on top of the Rally2 rankings ahead of the season’s final stop.
« It’s been a great week for the team. Daniel has won the championship and on today’s stage our team was 1-2-3. I have the best team-mates in the world and I’m learning a lot from them. » – Edgar Canet
Indian biker Harith Noah was among the Rally2 pack that kept on Canet’s tail right until the final kilometre in Portugal. The Sherco TVS Rally Factory rider was relieved to cross the finish line after racing 1,400km and is now switching his focus on even bigger tests coming up soon.
In the Ultimate class there’s a maiden W2RC victory to celebrate for Brazilian driver Lucas Moraes alongside co-driver Armand Monleón. Moraes put in an exceptional performance behind the wheel of his Toyota Hilux Evo all week, threading his way through the testing terrain of Rally Raid Portugal.
« When you have the chance to fight for the win you just go for it. I still have a chance in the championship and I will never give up. Today I followed my heart and this win is for Brazil. » – Lucas Moraes
After 1,400km of racing the gap between Moraes and his Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Henk Lategan in second overall was less than a minute! Lategan’s week started with him becoming a Red Bull athlete and ended with himself and co-driver Brett Cummings recording a runners-up result.
« We will push and fight for the championship. There’s still a race in Morocco to come. Congratulations to Lucas, he did an amazing race this week. » – Henk Lategan
Following home the Toyota Gazoo Racing 1-2 to round off the podium was the Dacia of Sébastien Loeb. A suspension issue on Stage 2 cost Loeb and co-driver Édouard Boulanger their shot at the overall win, but the pair dug in to battle back for a third place finish.
« We had the speed to fight for an even better position, but compared to the tough situation we found ourselves in on the second day, third place is not too bad. » – Sébastien Loeb
An up and down week for Nasser Al-Attiyah ended on a high with plenty of championship points gathered during the final two days, including a win on Stage 4. The Qatari and new co-driver Fabian Lurquin will travel to Morocco for the final stop of the season knowing that this season’s championship is on the line.
« The first three days were not easy for us, but the team did their best to fix those issues for us. We will see what we have to do at the final race in Morocco because the championship is very close. » – Nasser Al-Attiyah
The third Dacia Sandriders crew of Cristina Gutiérrez/Pablo Moreno also had an eventful week in Portugal and their native Spain. They came to the rescue of both of the other Dacia cars when required as well as showing great speed to secure a finish of seventh overall in the Ultimate class.
Another Spaniard enjoying lots of home support when the rally crossed the Portuguese border was Carlos ‘El Matador’ Sainz. A podium finish looked in reach for Sainz and Lucas Cruz in their Ford Raptor T1+ until problems started to mount up on the rally’s penultimate stage.
« Yesterday we came to a place with lots of hidden rocks. I was not going very fast, but I hit a rock and broke something on the steering. Then I lost all the wheel oil which meant we couldn’t lift the car to change the puncture. Then we had a problem with the clutch… so it was a little bit of everything. » – Carlos Sainz
A fourth place finish on Stage 3 was as good as it got for Seth Quintero of Toyota Gazoo Racing this week. The American driver will be out for better with co-driver Andrew Short when they take on Rallye du Maroc next month.
The loudest cheer of the day in Lisbon was reserved for Gonçalo Guerreiro, winner of the Challenger class. We hadn’t seen Guerreiro in W2RC competition since his runner-up result at his debut Dakar earlier in the year. At his home race Guerreiro was back with a bang! His Nasser Racing Team Taurus machine was kept on course by co-driver Bruno Jacomy and victory never looked in doubt.
« I want to thank the team and also my co-driver Bruno because everybody did an excellent job. Thanks to Nasser for putting so much confidence in me, I hope this result makes him proud. » – Gonçalo Guerreiro
It was a productive trip to Europe for Dania Akeel. The Saudi Arabian driver racked up more useful championship points on her trip through Portugal and Spain. Akeel and new co-driver Carlos Sachs were the third fastest of all W2RC Challenger crews at the rally.
« I had a great time racing on these twisty rally-style tracks in Portugal and Spain. It was a really good driving challenge which asked you to produce lots of skills. » – Dania Akeel
It was not the homecoming that Spain’s Pau Navarro had hoped for. A difficult week in the dust for Navarro and co-driver Jan Rosa had the pair struggling to get any sort of rhythm going in their Taurus.
Also featuring in the Challenger category this week were Sainz’s Ford Performance team-mates Mattias Ekström and co-driver Emil Bergkvist. With Ekström at the wheel of a Can-Am XRS the Swedish pair were able to show great speed by winning Stages 1 and 3.
Next up for the World Rally-Raid Championship convoy is October’s season finale in Morocco. Five long stages over the dunes of the Sahara Desert will decide the championship’s final leaderboards. The race also serves as a final tune-up before we head back to Saudi Arabia for the big one… the 2026 Dakar Rally!
BP Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal final results
ULTIMATE – Top 5 : 1. L. Moraes (BRA) – Toyota 12:13:05 ; 2. H. Lategan (RSA) – Toyota +00:53 ; 3. S. Loeb (FRA) – Dacia +10:05 ; 4. C. Baumgart (BRA) – Toyota + 17:43 ; 5. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) – Dacia +24:13…
CHALLENGER – Top 5 : 1. G. Guerreiro (POR) – Taurus 12:37:38 ; 2. C. Munster (LUX) – Taurus +17:48 ; 3. P. Klaassen (NED) – Taurus +19:47 ; 4. D. Akeel (KSA) – Taurus +27:57 ; 5. N. Cavigliasso (ARG) – Taurus +35:00…
BIKE – Top 5 : 1. D. Sanders (AUS) – KTM 12:39:39 ; 2. T. Schareina (ESP) – Honda +03:40 ; 3. L. Benavides (ARG) – KTM +12:41 ; 4. R. Brabec (USA) – Honda +14:34 ; 5. E. Canet (ESP) – KTM +21:57…
2025 World Rally-Raid Championship Standings
ULTIMATE – Top 5 : 1. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) – Dacia – 140 points ; 2. H. Lategan (ZAF) – Toyota – 131 pts ; 3. L. Moraes (BRA) – Toyota – 130 pts ; 4. S. Quintero (USA) – Toyota – 84 pts ; 5. Y. Al-Rajhi (SAU) – Toyota – 77 pts…
CHALLENGER – Top 5 : 1. N. Cavigliasso (ARG) – Taurus – 168 points ; 2. P. Navarro (ESP) – Taurus – 139 pts ; 3. D. keel (KSA) – Taurus – 126 pts ; 4. G. Guerreiro (PRT) – Taurus – 113 pts ; 5. Y. Seaidan (SAU) – Taurus – 76
BIKE – Top 5 : 1. D. Sanders (AUS) – KTM – 113 points ; 2. L. Benavides (ARG) – KTM – 69 pts ; 3. T. Schareina (ESP) – HONDA – 66 pts ; 4. R. Brabec (USA) – Honda – 66 pts ; 5. A. Van Beveren (FRA) – Honda – 48 pts…
QUOTES
Daniel Sanders: « We’ve wrapped up the championship with one race to spare so that takes a lot of pressure off. So far it’s been a perfect season and I’m over the moon with how things have been going. It’s very rare to get on a run like this. I’m happy with how everything’s working; the team, the bike and my riding. Achieving this kind of consistency in rally is really tough and it takes a lot of hard work from everybody involved to pull it off. »
Luciano Benavides: « It’s my first time racing in Portugal and it’s great to finish on the podium. I’m super happy for Daniel becoming World Champion, he’s done an amazing job all year. He’s won all the races so he definitely deserves the title. Now I’m looking forward to Morocco in a few weeks and carrying on with this good flow and rhythm. »
Edgar Canet: « I’m super happy with my overall result after a really good week for me. I’m feeling much more confident about pushing with the navigation. It’s been a great week for the team. Daniel has won the championship and on today’s stage our team was 1-2-3. I have the best team-mates in the world and I’m learning a lot from them. »
Harith Noah: « This is the first big rally of the year that I’ve finished. This is definitely a step in the right way. I’ve got another race coming up soon and hopefully everything goes well there. Then the focus will be on the 2026 Dakar which is now just around the corner. »
Lucas Moraes: « When you have the chance to fight for the win you just go for it. I still have a chance in the championship and I will never give up. When I have a shot at the championship I will keep fighting until the end. Today I followed my heart and this win is for Brazil. »
Henk Lategan: « The entire rally came down to the very last stage and it was a really quick one today. The high speed made today a risky one and you could quite easily throw it away. Of course we will push and fight for the championship and there’s still a race in Morocco to come. Congratulations to Lucas, he did an amazing race this week. »
Sébastien Loeb: « We were unlikely to change positions on this final stage so we just enjoyed it. I’m not really satisfied with third place because we know where we lost a lot of time. We had the speed to fight for an even better position. But compared to the tough situation we found ourselves in on the second day, third place is not too bad. »
Nasser Al-Attiyah: « This final stage was really nice to drive. Just like yesterday, the car was working very well and we enjoyed ourselves a lot. The first three days were not easy for us, but the team did their best to fix those issues for us. We will see what we have to do at the final race in Morocco because the championship is very close. »
Cristina Gutiérrez: « Overall, this has been a good week for us. It’s been great to be racing with the team again. It’s been a long time since January that I raced the car and I’m really happy to be back driving with Dacia again. The atmosphere here in Spain and Portugal has been amazing. »
Carlos Sainz: « Yesterday we came to a place with lots of hidden rocks. I was not going very fast, but I hit a rock and broke something on the steering. Then I lost all the wheel oil which meant we couldn’t lift the car to change the puncture. Then we had a problem with the clutch… so it was a little bit of everything. I still think this has been a useful week for us, it’s always good to be in the car. I’m happy with our speed, but not happy with the result. »
Gonçalo Guerreiro: « I want to thank the team and also my co-driver Bruno because everybody did an excellent job. I really needed this. It’s a great result for my career. Thanks to Nasser for putting so much confidence in me, I hope this result makes him proud. This is the first win in the W2RC for Nasser Racing Team. Today we gave everything we had in this amazing car of ours. »
Dania Akeel: « I had a great time racing on these twisty rally-style tracks in Portugal and Spain. It was a really good driving challenge which asked you to produce lots of skills. We finished inside the Top 3 of the W2RC Challenger class and closed the gap to the top two drivers ahead of Morocco. »
Pau Navarro: « This was a really complicated rally for us from the start. On the only day that we didn’t have any problems we finished second. Now we have to focus on Morocco and try to have a good result there. »