The rekindled partnership of Guerlain Chicherit and Mathieu Baumel made the perfect start to their challenge for honours in the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal by winning the first selective section of 100.95km on Wednesday afternoon.
The stage was split into two sections and contained numerous narrow tree-lined tracks, small concrete bridges and tree stumps to catch out the unwary. Competitors were brought together for the final three-kilometres of the stage in Santiago do Cacém, where the final sprint to the finish was filmed live on television networks.
The Overdrive Racing Toyota crew won the opening section of 97km by 27 seconds from team-mates Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk and reached the night halt with a lead of 28 seconds.
Leader Chicherit said: “Good, really narrow and super slippery. It was easy to make mistakes. The car is going good and I feel really confident driving this car.”
Al-Rajhi added: “Very nice, we are very happy. Thanks to the organiser for making this race.”
Lithuania’s Vaidotas Zala and local co-driver Paulo Fiúza started from a lowly 36th position and overtook numerous cars in their Mini JCW Rally Plus to hold joint third place with Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Lucas Moraes and his Spanish co-driver Armand Monleón.
Moraes said: “Great to be here in Portugal. We had a little problem with the brakes but it was great fun. Let’s hope we can do the same tomorrow.”
Winning the Prologue enabled the two-time W2RC winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah to choose his most favourable starting position and the Qatari opted for 10th on the road with Marcos Baumgart and Joao Ferreira setting out into the stage that ran between Grândola, Santiago do Cacém and Sines in first and second places.
Al-Attiyah and French co-driver Edouard Boulanger came home in sixth place in the first of three Prodrive Hunters behind fifth-placed title rival Carlos Sainz on his return to the X-Raid Team with co-driver Alex Haro.
Al-Attiyah said: “Very slippery but we finished without problems. The first 100km was not easy. It was very difficult but tomorrow we make a big push.” “A day of learning,” added W2RC leader Sainz.
South African’s Saood Variawa and French co-driver François Cazalet stormed through the field from a lowly starting position to hold seventh.
The Portuguese duo of João Dias and João Miranda delivered a stunning performance over the difficult terrain to guide their lightweight and nimble Santag Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 to eighth overall and first in the Challenger category.
Joao Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro belied their lack of recent experience with the X-Raid JCW Rally Plus in the Ultimate class to hold ninth and finish ahead of the Challenger category duo of 10th-placed Alexandre Pinto (Can-Am) and Can-Am Factory Team’s Rokas Baciuška.
WRC legend Sébastien Loeb has switched to the Challenger category on this occasion but is not registered for W2RC points in his Taurus T3M. The Frenchman was classified in 12th and just ahead of local Challenger rivals Armindo Araújo and Mário Franco.
Loeb said: “A lot of mud inside the car and we struggle with visibility. We finish the day full of mud, but it’s okay.”
Overdrive Racing’s Juan Cruz Yacopini, Cristian Baumgart (X Rally Team Hunter), Yacopini’s team-mate Denis Krotov, Marcelo Gastaldi, Luis Portela and Helder Rodrigues completed the unofficial top 20 after Francisco Barreto and local championship front-runner João Ramos lost vital time late on.
The first two days of competition also count as the second round of the 2024 Portuguese All-Terrain Championship (CPTT). Tiago Reis is driving a Toyota Hilux this week, started the event as the defending champion and won the opening round at the Baja TT Montes Alentejos. He holds 25th overall.
The South Racing Can-Am Team’s João Monteiro and co-driver Nuno Morais were the early leaders of the SSV category. The W2RC’s SSV category leader Yasir Seaidan and co-driver Michael Metge are a distant second, 2min 45sec behind the Portuguese crew.
The Belgian brothers, Guillaume (Toyota) and Ghislain De Mévius (OT3), both lost vital minutes in their respective Ultimate and Challenger categories and plummeted down the rankings. Guillaume said: “Unfortunately we had some mechanical problems this morning so we will have to go on full attack tomorrow.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Moraes Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz stopped after 46km and Cristina Gutiérrez - the winner of the Challenger category at the Dakar - also hit technical trouble after 64km and will incur massive time penalties for failing to complete the stage in her Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team Taurus T3M.