Portugal’s Rally-Raid debuts in the specialty World Championship – Modalities

Portugal will host the third race of the World Rally-Raid Championship, the first to be held on national territory, between April 2nd and 7th, announced this Wednesday the Automóvel Club de Portugal, responsible for organizing the event.

The Portuguese race, the only one in the World Rally-Raid Championship held in Europe, will bring to Portugal some of the most renowned and experienced drivers in world motorsport and motorcycling, who competed in the Dakar, this year, in Saudi Arabia.

After the Dakar Rally and the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), created in 2022 by the International Automobile Federation and the International Motorcycling Federation, will continue with the Rally-Raid Portugal, which will take place at over five stages, covering a total of 1,758 kilometers of route.

“We couldn’t stay out of this world championship, it’s the only race that takes place in Europe. We already had the Baja de Portalegre for the World Cup and this Rally-Raid was truly a dream. It’s a very difficult race to organize, because it will be in five different areas, including Spain, and all of them are difficult for the Automóvel Club de Portugal. [ACP] It will be a challenge, we will have the best drivers in the world here, but we are certainly up to the task of giving back to everyone and having an extremely competitive race”, commented Carlos Barbosa, president of the ACP.

Held between Alentejo, Ribatejo and Estremadura, Rally-Raid Portugal will include five stages, very technical and contested on different types of terrain, and will have Grândola as its headquarters, where the second stage will be held in its entirety.

Among the main drivers in the car and SSV field, the highlight is the presence of two-time world Rally-Raid champion and five-time Dakar winner, Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah, Brazilian Lucas Moraes and North American Seth Quintero, both representing the official Toyota team, and the Overdrive Racing drivers, Guerlain Chicherit, Guillaume de Mévius and Yazeed Al-Rajhi, also driving the Toyota Hilux T1+.

Cristina Gutiérrez, winner of the Dakar in the Challenger category (ex-T3), and the Portuguese João Ferreira, official Can-Am driver in the SSV category (ex-T4), are some of the strongest candidates for the top places, as well as the Americans Sara Price (SSV) and Austin Jones and Lithuanian Rocas Baciuska, these in the Challenger T3 category.

“We had some victories and a lot of podiums in the Dakar, but one day of racing ruined everything for us. Fifth place, nevertheless, was very positive. We will see this race in Portugal as a more favorable terrain to try to extend the advantage and who knows how to win the victory”, said the young João Ferreira, 24 years old, arguing that “these events are missed and are a source of pride and a huge opportunity for Portugal to enjoy a World Championship event”.

On motorcycles, North American Ricky Brabec (Honda), two-time Dakar champion, Ross Branch (Hero), leader of the World Rally-Raid, Pablo Quintanilla (Honda), José Ignacio Cornejo (Honda), Adrien Van Bevereb (Honda) , Skyler Howes (Honda), Lorenzo Santonilo (Sherco) and Harith Noah (Sherco) are the main poster figures.

In addition to the Dakar Rally, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and the Rally-Raid Portugal, the W2RC will also have two more events, the Ruta 40 Challenge, in June in Argentina, and the Morocco Rally, in October.