Miguel Barbosa and Luís Portela de Morais are two of the Portuguese drivers who will try to fight for the top places in the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal in the Challenger category. Their knowledge of the terrain may help the BP Ultimate Adventure Team drivers, but they both remember that the ACP event will feature all the big stars of the World Championship in this category.
The experience and competitiveness of Miguel Barbosa and Luís Portela de Morais make them natural 'candidates' for a surprise in the Challenger category, where the prototypes from the former T3 category compete.
For the multiple Portuguese champion, who recently made his debut with the Taurus T3 Max, similar to the one that won the category at the Dakar, the opportunity to 'measure' forces with the best in the world in a new category is exciting: "It's incredible to be able to have a World Championship race in Portugal, it's great for the drivers, the teams and the sponsors, because we're going to have a very good promotion. Now we're in a new category, Challenger, and I feel we have all the conditions to try and fight for the top positions. Portugal has always had good drivers fighting for the top spots in these international races in Portugal, especially the baja type races. We'll try to attack," said Miguel Barbosa.
Luís Portela de Morais, on the other hand, already knows the OT3 Challenger category well, but this time he will be part of the official GRally team, founded by Ghislain de Mévius. "It's a great pleasure to host a race like this in Portugal. It's a race in the area where I learned to ride a motorcycle, where I learned to drive, and there's even a part of the race that literally takes place in my house! It's a race that suits Portuguese riders, the big difference in a Rally-Raid is that you have to navigate. I can see, for example, that the Alcácer do Sal and Grândola City Councils are going to make that area of the race very dynamic, which is always very important for this region. And then we have the ACP seal of quality, so it's going to be a great race for all fans, with the best drivers in the world," said Portela de Morais.
The World Rally-Raid Championship is led in the Challenger category by Lithuanian Rokas Baciuska, from the official Can-Am team.