Portuguese drivers at the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal

Portuguese teams are making a strong showing at the start of the third edition of the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal. João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro, in a Toyota, lead the World Championship car category; Ricardo Porém and Nuno Sousa lead the Challenger class in their Cattiva Sport; Luís Cidade and Valter Cardoso, in a Can-Am, are first in the SSV category, where the podium is entirely made up of Portuguese teams; and Bruno Santos, on a Husqvarna, is not only the top Portuguese rider in the overall standings but also leads the Rally 2 class.

The first stage went well for the Portuguese teams. Many of them stood out throughout the day. The large crowd that turned out certainly gave plenty of support to all those racing under the Portuguese flag, and the result was very positive, with several teams—particularly in the car category—leading their respective standings.

For João Ferreira, this edition of the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal couldn’t have started better. “It was a good start for us, with a very difficult, very slippery course, but we gave it our all to survive.”

For the driver from Leiria, being the fastest in the stage was important, but that’s not what he’s really after. “We’re not here to compete in individual sectors. I know I won the sector, but we have to stay focused and keep our eyes on the bigger goal, and we’ll see what we can achieve,” he exclaimed.

Also from Leiria, Ricardo Porém demonstrated that the Cattiva Sport has the potential to contend for victory in the category and took advantage of the demanding terrain to build a significant lead over the competition right from the start. The runner-up, Juan Gasso, trails the leader by more than three minutes.

Among the SSVs, it’s a Portuguese stronghold. Luís Cidade is in the lead, but the second- and third-place finishers are also Portuguese drivers. Luís Portela Morais (Polaris) is just four seconds behind Cidade, while Miguel Barbosa, driving the same vehicle, holds the final spot on the podium, 2m14s behind the leader.

Among the motorcycles, Bruno Santos stood out the most. The Husqvarna rider still hoped to finish the day on the overall podium, but a penalty for speeding in a controlled zone ultimately relegated him to fifth place, 5m23s behind Daniel Sanders (KTM), the race leader. Even so, he held onto first place in the Rally 2 category, where he leads with a 2m59s advantage over Neels Theric (Kove).