Motorcycles - Press Conference bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal
#46 Ross Branch (Hero Motorsport)
“I have never raced in Portugal but it is a pleasure to be in this beautiful country and in an event of this level. My congratulations to the organisation. Everything is fantastic and I'm sure it's going to be a great race. I'm coming on the back of good results in the Dakar and Abu Dhabi. I'm looking for my first victory this year, but my priority is to be consistent. The competition is quite even.”
#68 Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda)
“It's my first race after the crash in the Dakar and I'm very happy that the return will be in Portugal and Spain, especially because there are many members of the team who are from here. This type of Rally-Raid is more similar to Enduro, quite different from the open desert, so I am very motivated to achieve a good result.”
#14 Sebastian Bühler (Hero Motorsport)
“It’s great to have a race like this in Portugal. We have the perfect country for this. It's not like the open desert where navigation is more important. This race will be difficult in other aspects, especially with the rain we have had in the last few days.”
Ruben Faria (Team Manager - Monster Energy Honda)
“Firstly, I want to highlight the work of the ACP in creating an event like this to bring the world's top riders to Portugal. In our team, we have riders with the capacity to fight for victory, Adrien (Van Beveren), Pablo (Quintanilla) and Tosha (Schairena), even Skyler (Howes) is becoming increasingly competitive on this type of route. We are going to have a very diverse race, with different terrain on each stage and this benefits the rider who can be stronger.”
#26 Konrad Dabrowski (Duust Rally Team)
“I've already raced three times in the Bajas in Portugal. I'm a little more familiar with the terrain, especially because in two of those races it was raining. On the other hand, I have never raced here on a rally bike and my main objective is to continue to improve. I have been training a lot on the sand and the race in Abu Dhabi went well for me. That gave me a lot of confidence for the future.”
#30 António Maio (Yamaha)
“Congratulations to ACP for being at the forefront of this sport and giving us this great opportunity to have the world's off-road elite in Portugal. We actually have fantastic conditions, which provide us with unique riding moments. Doing more than 1,000 kilometres on these tracks will be a great experience for all riders, especially for us Portuguese.”
#174 Manuel Andújar (Yamaha)
“It’s the first time we race in Europe in Rally-Raids. We want to continue leading the World Championship and also complete the three minimum races to be able to compete in the Dakar in 2025. We won the last Dakar in the quads, but this is a type of terrain we are not used to and, with the rain, it will be a very, very interesting race.”