The first day of racing at the Baja TT Sharish Gin produced two completely different faces in Reguengos de Monsaraz. In the 5.34-kilometre prologue, Luís Cidade was the fastest of the entire field in an SSV, even quicker than João Ferreira. In the first selective section of 66.47 kilometres, later on Friday afternoon, it was Gonçalo Guerreiro who set the fastest time of the day from the second-to-last starting position.
For the Netherlands it was a successful opening day. Henk Klaassen, with navigator Sasha Siripanyavuthi, won the first selective section in the Challenger class, Paul Spierings finished fourth in the same class, and Pim Klaassen came second in the Ultimate category in the prologue.
Prologue: Cidade with the fastest time, Guerreiro loses ten minutes
The prologue over 5.34 kilometres turned out differently than expected. Luís Cidade and Valter Cardoso set the fastest time in their South Racing Can-Am Can-Am Maverick R, 0.6 seconds quicker than Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro in the Toyota Hilux EVO. In the Ultimate class this did make Ferreira the fastest, with a 7.2-second lead over Pim Klaassen.
Among the Challenger cars, Portuguese crews took the first four places, with Tiago Reis and Nuno Morais at the front in an MMP T3 Rally Raid. Three MMP prototypes finished in the top five. The level was tightly packed: between first and tenth in this class there was only 7.2 seconds, exactly the gap Ferreira held over his first pursuer in the Ultimate.
Over such a short distance, the result says little about the true balance of power. That applied above all to Gonçalo Guerreiro and Pablo Moreno. A fence became tangled in the wheels of their Polaris RZR Pro R, after which they were given the maximum time of 15 minutes and finished 41st, well over ten minutes behind Cidade.
Guerreiro rides from the back to the fastest time
Because of that setback, Guerreiro had to start the first selective section as 41st of 42 competitors. That proved to be no obstacle. The Portuguese-Spanish pairing set a time of 59:33.1 and were the only crew under the hour. Guerreiro won not only the SSV class but also the section in the overall standings. The ten minutes from the prologue do, however, remain on his total time.
The SSVs made their presence felt broadly in this section. Behind Guerreiro, João Dias and Nuno Sousa set the second time and Pedro Carvalho and Romeu Martins the fifth. In the SSV class itself, the first four places belong to crews in a Polaris RZR Pro R, with Miguel Barbosa and Carlos Mendes fourth. Rúben Rodrigues and Rui Paulo were the best non-Polaris in their Can-Am Maverick R.
In the Ultimate category Ferreira remained in charge, albeit narrowly. He stayed four seconds ahead of João Ramos and Jorge Carvalho, also in a Toyota Hilux EVO. Alejandro Martins and João Rato were third in the X-raid Mini, over a quarter of a minute back. Mariusz Wiatr and Łukasz Łaskawiec followed in fourth.
Henk Klaassen surprises himself
In the Challenger class, the section went to Henk Klaassen. The 19-year-old Dutchman and his Thai navigator Sasha Siripanyavuthi were 13.7 seconds faster in their Taurus T3 Max than Mário Franco and João Miranda. Almost all the strong men from the prologue actually lost time: Tiago Reis managed no better than the twentieth time in the overall standings in this section, while Klaassen recorded the seventh.
Klaassen himself had little sense of that at the time. He called it “not his section” and said that he and his navigator felt things were not running smoothly, until they saw the result and were amazed at the time. He described the section as tough, but the pairing reached the finish without any real problems. A good day, then, with an eye on Saturday.
Paul Spierings and Kala Senders also closed out the day strongly. After the fifth time in the prologue, which made the Dutchman the best foreign Challenger driver, the pairing finished fourth in the class in the selective section with the Taurus Evo Max, 59.3 seconds behind Klaassen. Marek Kubiczek and Dominik Ragiel completed the top five in a second Taurus Evo Max.
Pim Klaassen fastest Dutchman among the Ultimates
Pim Klaassen drove his DKR Evo GTR to the second time in the Ultimate class and fifth place overall in the prologue, with Portugal’s Joel Lutas alongside him. According to the event information, he leads the standings of the FIA European Baja Cup. In the selective section things went less smoothly: 26th overall and fifth in Ultimate, 2:19.8 behind Ferreira.
Johannes and Yvet Senders closed out their day as 34th in the prologue and 42nd in the selective section with their Toyota Hilux in the T1.1 class. They are not entered for the European Baja Cup.
Alongside the FIA field, the national field of the Portuguese championship also races in Reguengos, and this year several Dutch names appear in it. Notable is the return of the 4×4 Centrum Ermelo team after a long absence. Ronald Schoolderman, owner of the Ermelo-based company, drives a Mitsubishi ASX in the T1 class with Portugal’s Sá Pires as navigator and recorded the 35th time in the selective section. It went great, Schoolderman said, though it did take a bit of getting used to again.
Elsewhere in the national field, Herman Jasper and Mark Laan (Red-Lined VK50) set the 33rd time, Richard Timmerman and Hendrik van Geest (Toyota Hilux) the 44th, Jenne Jasper and Pedro Santos (Bowler Nemesis) the 48th and Ton van der Hoeven and Lars Bernaards (Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ-80) the 56th.
Ventura fastest in the bikes’ prologue
The bikes and quads completed their own prologue near Mourão in the afternoon. Martim Ventura was the fastest of all 131 classified competitors on his Husqvarna FE 501. He stayed 28.9 seconds ahead of Tomás Dias (Honda CRF 450RX), with António Maio third on a Yamaha WR.
Micael Simão, last year’s winner, recorded the fourth time among the bikes, ahead of Gustavo Gaudêncio. Championship leader Bruno Santos managed no better than the sixth time in his category on his Husqvarna. Among the quads, Tiago Gomes was the fastest on a KTM, 1.1 seconds ahead of Rodrigo Alves and 1.7 seconds ahead of João Vale.
Saturday brings the cars the toughest day of the weekend, with two passes over a section of about 150 kilometres. Bikes, quads and SSVs then ride their first long selective section of 144 kilometres. On Sunday the cars face a repeat of Friday’s section, after which the prize-giving is scheduled in Reguengos de Monsaraz.
