Francisco Barreto and Paulo Fiúza have won the 40th edition of the Baja Portalegre 500. The Portuguese duo capitalised on an early retirement for favourite João Ferreira and eventually finished 3m09.9s ahead of Gonçalo Guerreiro and Pablo Moreno (Polaris) in their Toyota Hilux Evo. Pedro Carvalho and Romeu Martins (Polaris) completed an all-Portuguese podium. Mitchel van den Brink and Bart van Heun were the best Dutch crew in eighth place.
Ferreira in the ditch early on
After his dominant opening day, a fourth Portalegre victory seemed a formality for Ferreira. Yet his race was over just a few kilometres into the second stage. He went off the road, ended up in a deep ditch and damaged the gearbox. Ferreira took full responsibility. “It was 200% my fault,” said the Portuguese driver, who apologised to his team and sponsors.
Barreto holds off Guerreiro
With Ferreira out, the race was suddenly wide open. Barreto seized his chance and won the 172.08-kilometre second stage by 1m22.8s from Guerreiro. On the closing 186.18-kilometre stage he set the third-fastest time and extended his lead even further. After the Italian Baja, it is already the second major win of the season for Barreto and Fiúza.
Guerreiro was the best of the rest and won the SSV class. Luís Cidade, who looked best placed after Ferreira’s exit, lost almost ten minutes on the second stage. He bounced back with the second-fastest time on the final stage, but had to settle for fourth. Daniel Silva and Gonçalo Magalhães (MMP) won the Challenger class and finished fifth overall.
Porém wins final stage, record will have to wait
Ricardo Porém lost almost thirteen minutes on the second stage in the Daklapack Rallysport Taurus. That ended his bid for a record-equalling fifth victory. The Portuguese driver did finish strongly with the fastest time on the final stage, 1m25.5s quicker than Cidade. He ended up ninth overall.
Strong final stage for Van den Brink
Mitchel van den Brink and Bart van Heun also struggled on the second stage, where they lost more than nine minutes to Barreto. The duo struck back on the final stage with the fourth-fastest time, which earned them eighth place overall. In the World Cup, Van den Brink finished just behind rival Dania Akeel, who crossed the line sixth, 35.6 seconds ahead. As the only Challenger crew competing for the World Baja Cup in Portugal, the Dutch pair did take the class win there.
Van Loon strikes a blow in SSV battle
Erik van Loon and Wouter Rosegaar had a faultless second day in their Can-Am and finished twentieth. That is good news for the World Cup, as Van Loon finished well ahead of his direct rivals. Hedda Hosås restarted under the Super Rally rule, but the time she had lost left her almost two hours behind the winner. Tomasz Białkowski no longer appeared in the results of the second stage. Van Loon can head to the final rounds in the Middle East with confidence.
Ronald van Loon reaches the finish in Portalegre
Ronald van Loon and Erik Lemmen brought their Toyota Hilux Evo home in 24th place. On the final stage they set a fine twentieth-fastest time.
Kubiczek benefits in European battle
In the European Baja Cup, Marek Kubiczek saw his direct rival Dinis Rogeira drop out of contention. Rogeira was already missing from the results of the second stage. Kubiczek finished fifteenth and strengthens his lead in the Challenger class. In the SSV class, the roles between the Rio Seco Racing team-mates were reversed. Rúben Rodrigues finished fourteenth, more than ten minutes ahead of Paulo Rodrigues.
Looking ahead
The World Baja Cup now heads to the Middle East for the final rounds in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The European Baja Cup will be decided in Hungary next month.
