João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro built a solid lead on the toughest day of the Baja TT Sharish Gin. The Portuguese Toyota crew won both stages over the long loop near Reguengos de Monsaraz on Saturday and hold the lead after the first stage with 7:40.9, despite a ten-second time penalty for a technical infringement.
For the Netherlands it was an excellent Saturday. Paul Spierings and Kala Senders climbed from fourth to second place in the Challenger category over the course of the day and sit seventh in the overall standings. Henk Klaassen lost the lead in that class and is third, while Pim Klaassen lost third place in the Ultimate class to Mariusz Wiatr on the second pass due to gearbox problems.
Ten-second penalty for the leader
Ferreira was fastest in both stages. In the morning stage he clocked 2:23:19.5, keeping João Ramos at bay by 3:16.0, and in the afternoon the gap grew to 4:20.9 with a time of 2:21:04.9. On the first of the two stages, a ten-second time penalty was added on top of that. According to the stewards’ decision, the FIA’s data logging system recorded that the maximum power output of car 207 exceeded the FIA reference curve once, a breach of article 13.3.1 of the CCRSR.
Given the lead of almost eight minutes, that does little to change the situation, but it remains a notable mark against a works entry that has won this baja four times in a row. The decision came at 16:00 on Saturday and was handed to team manager Jordi Duran sixteen minutes later. Ferreira has given nothing away so far: he was the fastest in the Ultimate class in all three stages of the first leg.
Afterwards he called it a positive day on which the team had hit both sections well. He described the morning stage as particularly slippery and hard to open. Sitting back contentedly is not on the cards, according to him: “Tomorrow is a day when we are also going to attack and try to extend the lead we have.”
The day went less smoothly for Maria Gameiro and Rosa Romero. The X-raid Mini crew picked up a flat tyre and lost extra time because the tools would not cooperate, after which wire got tangled in a wheel again just after the finish. Gameiro thanked rival Nuno Matos and an official who helped cut the wire free. Despite the high temperatures in the car, she came away with a positive feeling: “A really tough day for us, but we had fun and that is the most important thing.”
Guerreiro wins three stages in a row
Gonçalo Guerreiro and Pablo Moreno continued their charge in the Polaris RZR Pro R. The pair won both passes in the SSV category on Saturday and finished the first leg as winners of that category, with a lead of 3:13.7. In the overall standings they sit third.
In SS2B the margin was minimal. Over 174.94 kilometres, Guerreiro and Moreno kept Luís Cidade and Valter Cardoso behind them by 2.8 seconds. Cidade finished second in his category on both passes and thereby climbed to second place in the SSV standings. South Racing Can-Am reported that the pair “climbed positions after a quiet start” and closed the day second in their category.
Miguel Barbosa and Carlos Mendes complete the SSV top three and sit fifth in the overall standings. That put three SSV crews in the top five of the first leg, something that underlines the strength of this category on this kind of fast, rocky terrain.
Reis strikes, Spierings climbs to second place
In the Challenger category the day came down to a handful of seconds. Tiago Reis and Nuno Morais won SS2B with a 10.5-second lead over Paul Spierings and Kala Senders, which brought gains for both crews. Reis took over the lead in the category, while Spierings climbed from fourth to second place, 35.5 seconds back, over the course of Saturday.
Henk Klaassen and Sasha Siripanyavuthi conceded time on the second pass, lost the lead in this category and now sit third, 2:31.1 back. Mário Franco and Edgar Reis follow at a greater distance. In the overall standings Henk Klaassen is tenth, half a minute ahead of Pim Klaassen.
Pim Klaassen and Joel Lutas lost well over a minute in SS2B to Mariusz Wiatr and Łukasz Łaskawiec, who took over third place in the Ultimate class. According to DaklaPack Rallysport, the cause lay in gearbox problems. Going into the final day, the gap between the two crews is around a minute.
Johannes and Yvet Senders lie 32nd in the overall standings with their Toyota Hilux, making them the third T1.1 crew.
Unusual format costs Rogeira his classification
Dinis Rogeira did not take part on Saturday. The Portuguese driver crashed a day earlier when he entered a fast corner carrying too much speed, damaging a wheel and the suspension in the process. That cost him more than just one day.
In Reguengos a format is being used that is being applied for the first time this season in the FIA European Baja Cup: the first special stage and both of Saturday’s passes together form a single leg. Because a crew may not restart within the same leg, Rogeira was not on Saturday’s start list. On Sunday he may get back in for the second leg and remains eligible for bonus points per leg, but he will not be classified in the final result, because he completes only two of the four special stages.
Dutch contingent in the national field
In the Portuguese championship, which runs in parallel, the Dutch crews also held their own. Herman Jasper and Mark Laan are the best of that group in the Red-Lined VK50, in 22nd place overall. Ronald Schoolderman, owner of 4×4 Centrum Ermelo, follows in the Mitsubishi ASX with Portuguese navigator Sá Pires in 26th place.
Richard Timmerman and Hendrik van Geest lie 35th with their Toyota Hilux, and Ton van der Hoeven and Lars Bernaards are 41st in the Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ-80. Jenne Jasper and Pedro Santos came through SS2A in 49th and sit 48th in SS2B, with a maximum time next to their name. Paul Schmidt and Jeannette Kvick were also handed a maximum time on that pass. Alejandro Martins is absent from the SS2B result.
Bruno Santos fastest among the bikes
Bikes, quads and SSVs of the FIM Europe and FMP event tackled their first long special stage on Saturday, starting from Portel. Championship leader Bruno Santos was the fastest among the bikes. He kept Tomás Dias 39 seconds behind, with Gustavo Gaudêncio following at exactly one minute.
Among the quads, defending champion Tomás Paulo confirmed his favourite’s role with a lead of 3:23 over José Marques. Poland’s Marcin Wiłkołek finished third.
In the large SSV field the stage win went to Vasco Martins, who kept Roberto Borrego 1:07 behind. Tiago Guerreiro finished third, two seconds off Borrego, followed by Miguel Cunha, Pedro Santinho Mendes and Pedro Antunes. The top ten were tightly bunched within just under four minutes.
Sunday brings the decision
One more special stage is on the programme for Sunday. For the cars it is about sixty kilometres against the clock. Bikes, quads and SSVs start early in the morning for their final stage, after which the prize-giving follows in Reguengos de Monsaraz.
