The BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal puts the great stars of the World Rally-Raid Championship side-by-side with the drivers and teams of the Portuguese Cross-Country Championship (CPTT), considered one of the most competitive in Europe. Tiago Reis and Valter Cardoso (Toyota Hilux T1+) lead the national 'armada'.
This will be the second event of FPAK’s championship, and the points for the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal will be awarded at the end of Stage 2, on Thursday (April 4). After that, the CPTT competitors can continue racing, in direct competition with the best in the world and taking advantage of the public and media exposure of the Automóvel Club de Portugal event.
At the start of the championship, at the ESC Online Baja TT Montes Alentejanos, defending champions Tiago Reis and Valter Cardoso got the season off to a winning start with the Toyota Hilux T1+. The two Hilux T1+ dominated the first places overall, with João Ramos and Jorge Carvalho finishing in second place, suggesting another duel in the ACP race.
The increasingly competitive T3 category of the Portuguese Championship received important 'reinforcements' for 2024, but champions João Dias / João Miranda (Can-Am) continue to be benchmarks in the category, taking the overall podium at the opening of the season and beating their teammates Armindo Araújo and João Pedro Ré (Can-Am). Alexandro Pinto and Bernardo Oliveira (Can-Am) rounded off the top five in the first race, while João Monteiro and Nuno Morais placed a T4 in the top six overall.
In T1, one of the most competitive categories and which this year has a national title independent of T1+, Spaniard José Luís Garcia (T1) was the first winner of the season, with the MINI JCW Rally, but there are several Portuguese drivers with aspirations to win the ACP round. Carlos Silva (T2), Joel Marrazes (T8) and Miguel Teodoro (T9) are also leading their respective categories going into the second CPTT event.