Al-Attiyah and Dacia team-mate Sébastien Loeb have switched navigators for the remainder of this season and for Dakar 2026, with Lurquin now sitting alongside the Qatari and the W2RC’s leading navigator Edouard Boulanger moving across to the passenger seat in Loeb’s Sandrider.

Al-Attiyah won the event in Portugal in 2024 in a Prodrive Hunter and arrives in Grândola with a 20-point lead over Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Henk Lategan in the W2RC Drivers’ Championship. Likewise, his former co-driver Boulanger leads the navigators’ section by a similar cushion over Brett Cummings, but will be reliant on Loeb for his points in Portugal.

Of the 35 entrants in the flagship Ultimate category, 17 are registered for W2RC points. Third last year in Portugal, Brazilian driver Lucas Moraes and his Spanish navigator Armand Monleón are a further five points adrift of Al-Attiyah and hold third in the general rankings with Toyota’s young Seth Quintero holding fourth. He teams up with fellow American Andrew Short to complete a potent three-car line up for Toyota Gazoo Racing.

The team are the nailed-on favourites to retain the W2RC’s Manufacturers’ title. Toyota Gazoo Racing leads Dacia by 92 points heading into the final two rounds of the season with Ford M-Sport a further 29 points adrift in third place.

Dacia’s challenge for points is reliant on Al-Attiyah and Loeb, with Spaniard Cristina Gutiérrez also registered for points with Pablo Moreno in the third Sandrider.

Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz are the sole registered representatives of the Ford M-Sport team with the latest Raptor T1+, although the M-Sport Rally-Raid Team is also running a Raptor for Greek rallying all-rounder Jourdan Serderidis.

The X-Raid Mini JCW Team is not registered for the Manufacturers’ series but has entered a pair of Mini JCW 3.0is for Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov and Brazilian newcomers, Adroaldo Weisheimer and Fred Budtikewitz De Silva. There is also a diesel-engined version of the Mini for Lionel and Lucie Baud. The Brazilians, however, are not registered for the W2RC.

Defending Dakar champions, Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk, returned to action from injury at the recent Baja TT Sharish event in Portugal, and are the second seeds for this W2RC encounter in their Overdrive Racing Toyota.

The Belgian car preparations company is also running registered Hilux Evos for Juan Cruz Yacopini/Dani Oliveras and a Toyota Gazoo Racing entry for Saood Variawa/François Cazalet. Hernan Garces and Akira Miura wheel out two further Toyotas under the Overdrive banner but are not registered for points.

Last year, João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro were Al-Attiyah’s closest challengers in Portugal with X-Raid but the Portuguese crew have switched to Toyota Gazoo Racing this season and are entered in a Hilux Evo prepared by SVR Racing. SVR is also running non-registered Toyotas for the Brazilian duo of Marcos and Cristian Baumgart.

German privateer Daniel Schröder is chasing Ultimate points in a WCT Volkswagen Amarok, along with the Energylandia Rally Team trio of Eryk, Marek and Michal Goczal and their respective co-drivers Szymon Gospodarczyk, Maciej Marton and Diego Ortega in Toyota Hiluxes.

Cavigliasso and Pertegarini look to defend Challenger leads

The Argentine pairing of Nicolas Cavigliasso and Valentina Pertegarini will be hoping to defend their useful leads in the Challenger category. Cavigliasso has a 31-point cushion over Pau Navarro in the Drivers’ Championship and his navigator leads his section by a comfortable 49 points from Dania Akeel’s regular co-pilot Stéphane Duplé.

The Portuguese event has attracted 12 Challenger entries with eight registered for the W2RC. Seven of the crews wheel out Taurus T3 Max machines with the Swedish pairing of Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist the only pairing in a Can-Am.

BBR Motorsport’s Akeel teams up with Brazilian Carlos Sachs on this occasion, as the Saudi tries to close the gap on Cavigliasso and Navarro at the top of the rankings.

Poland’s Adam Kuś will also be hoping to be in the mix along with the Portuguese duo of recent Baja TT Sharish category winner Gonçalo Guerreiro of the Nasser Racing Team, BBR Motorsport’s Pedro Gonçalves and Daklapack Rallysport’s Pim Klaassen.

The list of non-registered drivers includes Luxembourg’s Charles Munster and regular Portuguese front-runner Miguel Barbosa.

SSV leaders Pinto and Oliveira look to prevail on home terrain

The home round of the W2RC could prove decisive for the current SSV category leaders, Alexandre Pinto and his navigator Bernardo Oliveira. Pinto leads the drivers’ section by 19 points from Italian rival Enrico Gaspari, while Oliveira can relax a little more with a 69-point cushion over Fausto Mota in the navigators’ standings.  

Disappointingly, only those two crews out of the 15 vehicles entered in the SSV category are registered for the W2RC. Michele Cinotto, Claude Fournier and Sara Price are conspicuous by their absence.

Non-registered drivers include the Santag Racing Polaris quartet of João Dias, Afonso Oliveira, Roberto Borrego and Mário Ferreira, the South Racing Can-Am Team duo of Luis Cidade and Richard Aczel and the local duo of Luis Portela (Polaris) and Rúben Rodrigues (Can-Am).

Organised by the Automóvel Club de Portugal, the event offers 1,225km timed against the clock in a route of 2,000km. The event is based in the city of Grândola in the Setúbal province around 100km south of Lisbon.

The starting order will be determined by a Prologue of 5.15km in the Grândola area on Tuesday, September 23rd. The opening stage of 299.31km will then loop through Portuguese terrain on September 24th.

The route then crosses the Spanish border for a third stage of 422.98km en route to an overnight halt in Badajoz, from where the fourth stage of 288.20km starts on its way to a night halt in Lisbon.

A short final stage of 103.29km brings the competitive action to a close before the ceremonial finish and medal ceremony in the Portuguese capital on September 28th.

2025 BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal  – entry list:

Ultimate

200. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL)                                                     Dacia Sandrider*        

201. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Timo Gottschalk (GER)                                                                Toyota Hilux Evo*                        

202. Henk Lategan (RSA)/Brett Cummings (RSA)                                                                   Toyota Hilux Evo*

203. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Armand Monleón (ESP)                                                                 Toyota Hilux Evo*

204. Seth Quintero (USA)/Andrew Short (USA)                                                                     Toyota Hilux Evo*

205. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP)                                                             Toyota Hilux Evo*

206. Saood Variawa (RSA)/François Cazalet (FRA)                                                                 Toyota Hilux Evo*

208. Daniel Schröder (GER)/Henry Kohne (RSA)                                                                    WCT VW Amarok*

210. Eryk Goczal (POL)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL)                                                            Toyota Hilux Evo*

211. Marek Goczal (POL)/Maciej Marton (POL)                                                                     Toyota Hilux Evo*

212. Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP)                                                                 Dacia Sandrider*

213. Francisco Barreto (POR)/Paulo Fiúza (POR)                                                                   Toyota Hilux Evo

214. Michal Goczal (POL)/Diego Ortega (ESP)                                                                        Toyota Hilux Evo*

216. Marcos Baumgart (BRA)/Kleber Cincea (BRA)                                                                Toyota Hilux Evo        

217. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (KGZ)                                                               Mini JCW Rally 3.0i*

218. Cristian Baumgart (BRA)/Luis Felipe Eckel (BRA)                                                           Toyota Hilux Evo

219. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA)                                                            Dacia Sandrider*

220. Jourdan Serderidis (GRE)/Frederic Miclotte (BEL)                                                         Ford Raptor T1+

223. Adroaldo Weisheimer (BRA)/Fred Budtikevitz Da Silva (BRA)                                       Mini JCW Rally 3.0i    

224. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA)                                                                               Mini JCW Rally 3.0D

225. Carlos Sainz (ESP)/Lucas Cruz (ESP)                                                                                Ford Raptor T1+*

229. Hernan Garces (CHL)/Juan Pablo Latrach (CHL)                                                             Toyota Hilux Evo

230. Akira Miura (JPN)/Jean-Michel Polato (FRA)                                                                  Toyota Hilux Evo

231. Isidre Esteve Pujol (ESP)/José-Maria Villalobos (ESP)                                                    Toyota Hilux

232. Mark Mustermann (AUS)/Michael Jazc (AUS)                                                               Toyota Hilux

234. Vincent Thijs (BEL)/Arjan Van Tiel (NED)                                                                        Toyota Hilux

235. Daniel Alonso (ESP)/Candido Carrera (ESP)                                                                   Ford Ranger

236. Rik Van Den Brink (NED)/Gydo Heimans (NED)                                                              Century CR7

237. José Rogeira (POR)/Nelson Ramos (POR)                                                                       Ford Ranger

238. Justin Birchall (GBR)/Andy Powell (GBR)                                                                        Red-Lined Revo VK56

239. Markus Walcher (GER)/Stephan Stensky (GER)                                                             Red-Lined Navarra VK56

240. Joāo Ferreira (POR)/Filipe Palmeiro (POR)                                                                     Toyota Hilux Evo*

241. Bert Mourik (NED)/Robert Voor de Poorte (NED)                                                          Red-Lined Navarra VK56

242. Richard Timmerman (NED)/Kala Senders (NED)                                                            Toyota Hilux

243. Johan Senders (NED)/Yvet Senders (NED)                                                                      Fiat Fullback Proto

Challenger

301. Nicolas Cavigliasso (ARG)/Valentia Pertegarini (ARG)                                                   Taurus T3 Max*

303. Pau Navarro (ESP)/Jan Rosa Vinas (ESP)                                                                        Taurus T3 Max*

304. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Carlos Sachs (BRA)                                                                           Taurus T3 Max*

305. Adam Kuś (POL)/Dmytro Tsyro (UKR)                                                                             Taurus T3 Max*

306. Gonçalo Guerreiro (POR)/Bruno Jacomy (ARG)                                                             Taurus Evo Max*

307. Pedro Gonçalves (POR)/Rui Franco (POR)                                                                      Taurus T3 Max*

308. Mattias Ekström (SWE)/Emil Bergkvist (SWE)                                                                Can-Am XRS*

310. Miguel Barbosa (POR)/João Rato (POR)                                                                         Taurus T3 Max

311. Helder Oliveira (POR)/Carlos Mendes (POR)                                                                  Can-Am Maverick X3

314. Charles Munster (LUX)/José Sebastian Cesana (ARG)                                                    Taurus T3 Max

315. Nuno Rogério (POR)/Pedro Santos (POR)                                                                      Can-Am Maverick X3 Herrador

316. Pim Klaassen (NED)/Mark Laan (NED)                                                                            Taurus T3 Max*

SSV

401. Alexandre Pinto (POR)/Bernardo Oliveira (POR)                                                            Polaris RZR Pro R*

402. Enrico Gaspari (ITA)/Fausto Mota (POR)                                                                        Can-Am Maverick XRS RR*          

404. João Dias (POR)/Rui Pita (POR)                                                                                       Polaris RZR Pro R                          

405. Afonso Oliveira (POR)/Fábio Belo (POR)                                                                        Polaris RXR Pro R

406. Luis Cidade (POR)/Valter Cardoso (POR)                                                                        Can-Am Maverick R

407. Paulo Rodrigues (POR)/João Miranda (POR)                                                                  Can-Am Maverick R

408. Luis Portela (POR)/David Megre (POR)                                                                          Polaris RZR Pro R

410. Rúben Rodrigues (POR)/Rui Paulo (POR)                                                                       Can-Am Maverick R

411. Roberto Borrego (POR)/Daniel Jordão (POR)                                                                 Polaris RZR Pro R

412. Vic Flip (AUS)/Gerhard Schmiedberger (AUS)                                                                Can-Am Maverick R

413. José Oscar Nogueira (POR)/Arcélio Couta (POR)                                                           Can-Am Maverick XRS RR

414. Richard Aczel (GBR)/Wouter Rosegaar (NED)                                                                Can-Am Maverick R

415. Ricardo Sousa (POR)/Jorge Henriques (POR)                                                                 Can-Am Maverick XRS RR

416. Mário Ferreira (POR)/Miguel Silva (POR)                                                                       Polaris RZR Pro R

417. Filipe Lopes (POR)/Gonçalo Reis (POR)                                                                          Can-Am Maverick R

*denotes registered for W2RC

Timetable of events

Monday, September 22

Administration checks                                             07.00-20.00hrs – BV Grândola

Scrutineering                                                               07.30-20.00hrs – BV Grândola

Tuesday, September 23

Administration checks                                             07.30-23.00hrs – BV Grândola

Scrutineering                                                               07.30-12.00hrs – BV Grândola

Pre-event press conference                                  15.00hrs – BV Grândola

Prologue – 5.15km                                                    17.30hrs – Grândola

Ceremonial start                                                        20.00hrs – Grândola

Wednesday, September 24

Stage 1 – 299.31km                                                  09.00hrs – BV Grândola

Thursday, September 25

Stage 2 – 422.98km                                                  08.30hrs – BV Grândola

Friday, September 26

Stage 3 (finish in Spain) – 308.89km                  08.30hrs – BV Badajoz

Saturday, September 27

Stage 4 (start in Spain) – 288.20km                    09.00hrs – BV Badajoz

Sunday, September 28

Stage 5 – 103.29km                                                  10.30hrs – BV Lisboa

W2RC medal ceremony                                           16.00hrs – BV Lisboa

Press conference                                                       16.30hrs – BV Lisboa

Prize giving                                                                   19.00hrs – TBA Lisboa