A demanding six-day route through central Portugal and the Extremadura region of Spain provided a stern challenge for the quality 61-car field and several of the early front-runners and pre-event favourites suffered delays and mechanical problems.

The results for Moraes and Lategan and fifth position (fourth W2RC) for Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin has set the stage for a gripping finale to the Drivers’ Championship and the Ultimate class in Morocco next month.

Outright winner Moraes said: “It was very tough, but I am happy for the team to deliver a 1-2. The team deserves it. The car performed really well. I would like to thank Henk and Brett to understand and for following team orders. We are racing drivers and we all have a chance.”

Lategan added: “It has been a really interesting week and we had some great battles and ups and downs. The stages were amazing and the areas we were in were really beautiful. We had a lot of spectators all around the stages. It’s not exactly the result we wanted. We had some issues on day two with a problem with one drive shaft and then we broke another one and had some punctures. But, to come away with second, and points for the W2RC is not bad.”

Al-Attiyah incurred niggling time penalties and minor delays with brake problems during the course of the event in his Dacia Sandrider. But there were much bigger time delays for Seth Quintero and Yazeed Al-Rajhi and, as a result, Al-Attiyah, Lategan and Moraes will battle it out for the Drivers’ title next month. Al-Attiyah has 140 points with Lategan on 131 and Moraes on 130.

Al-Attiyah said: “We are happy to finish. The first three days we had a lot of problems with the brakes but we are still leading the World Championship before Morocco.”

Sébastien Loeb finished third overall in the second of the Dacia Sandriders and that result also boosted his navigator Edouard Boulanger’s quest to finish as the champion W2RC navigator. The Frenchman now has a 14-point cushion over Cummings with Monleón a further point behind.

Fourth-placed Cristian Baumgart and Luis Felipe Eckel were not registered for the W2RC but the Brazilian had the recognition of finishing as the top privateer for the second year. Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno came home in eighth in the third Sandrider behind the seventh-placed Portuguese Toyota crew of Francisco Barreto and Paulo Fiúza.

Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk returned to action two weeks ago after a five-month injury lay-off and were inside the top eight when they rolled and incurred hefty time penalties for failing to finish a stage. The Saudi reached the finish in 46th overall. Overdrive Racing team-mates Juan Cruz Yacopini and Dani Oliveras left the road on two stages and were classified in 35th.

Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz were entered in the solitary Ford M-Sport Raptor T1+ and were challenging for the podium when they suffered a puncture, a jack problem and clutch issues on stage four. The Spaniard finished 37th overall.

The X-Raid Mini JCW Team registered a Mini JCW 3.0i for Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov and a diesel variant for Lionel and Lucie Baud. Krotov suffered hefty time losses and retired but Baud delivered a solid performance to finish 15th.

João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro led after winning stage two in their SVR Racing Toyota but crashed and suffered a small car fire on stage three. But the Portuguese sustained differential damage the following day and reached the finish in Lisbon in 39th after winning the last stage.

The Energylandia Rally Team entered three Toyota Hiluxes for Eryk, Marek and Michal Goczal and their respective co-drivers Szymon Gospodarczyk, Maciej Marton and Diego Ortega. Eryk suffered massive first stage time penalties and went on to finish 44th, with his father Marek coming home in ninth and his uncle Michal finishing 32nd.

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Saood Variawa and Seth Quintero suffered heavy time losses early in the event and Quintero was a non-finisher.

Al-Attiyah tied with Challenger winner Gonçalo Guerriero on the 5.1km Prologue and opted to start the opening stage from fourth on the road.

But it was Toyota that prevailed on the opening stage of 297.15km that looped through rural terrain around Grândola. Lategan moved into a 1min 51sec lead over Moraes with Ferreira in third and Variawa and Al-Rajhi filling the remaining places in the top five for the Japanese manufacturer.

Loeb was the best of the rest in sixth with Yacopini, Al-Attiyah, Gutiérrez and Sainz rounding off an all-Ultimate top 10, the latter sustaining a flat tyre. Al-Attiyah originally finished second but was handed a two-minute penalty and then an additional 1min 20sec for not respecting target start times on the transfer zone. Early-stage front-runner Quintero was down in 53rd after losing over 1hr 40min following a time loss replacing a broken brake disc after 84km.

Stage two ran for 429.85km with the first two sections in Portugal, near Ponte de Sor and Mação, and the later kilometres taking place in Spain en route to the night halt in Badajoz.

Ferreira topped the times by 1min 03sec from Sainz and moved into a lead of 3min 34sec over Variawa with Moraes, Sainz and Lategan rounding off the top five. The win was Ferreira’s first in the Ultimate class in the W2RC to follow three in Challenger and 13 in SSV.

Moraes lost time with a flat tyre and Al-Attiyah’s challenge unravelled after he left the road and got stuck in the dust 200km into the special that cost him eight minutes. Loeb dropped more than 14 minutes changing a suspension arm with the assistance of team-mate Gutiérrez.

Stage three looped ran through remote western Spanish terrain for 308.26km before crews returned to Badajoz. Loeb got the better of Lategan, Moraes, Quintero and a returning Al-Rajhi to claim the stage win but a fire outbreak after 161km forced event officials to pause the car stage while the blaze was brought under control.

Overnight leader Ferriera crashed and suffered a small fire on his Toyota a kilometre later. With the results amended following the disruption, Moraes took a 57-second lead over Lategan into the penultimate stage but Variawa stopped after 273km.

Stage four ran for 274.49km through the Extremadura area of Spain and the Alentejo region of Portugal before competitors reached the night halt in Lisbon.

Ferreira was on a pace with Al-Attiyah early in the stage before stopping with differential damage after 51km. Sainz also ground to a halt after 140km with power steering fluid loss, a puncture and clutch issues but the stage win went to Al-Attiyah from Loeb, Lategan and Moraes. Lategan duly trimmed Moraes’s lead to just 34 seconds heading into the final day.

The final 103.59km special rounded off the action before the finish in Lisbon. Ferreira beat Al-Attiyah by 1min 13sec to the stage win, but Moraes was able to fend off Lategan to secure overall victory.

Guerriero and Jacomy dominate the Challenger category

Local driver Gonçalo Guerreiro and his Argentinian navigator Bruno Jacomy of the Nasser Racing Team dominated the Challenger category in their Taurus Evo Max to win the class by 17min 48sec. They also finished in a superb sixth overall and won three stages.

The in-form Guerriero, who had also won the SSV category in a Polaris two weeks ago at the Baja TT Sharish, started the weekend lying sixth in the W2RC Challenger classification and retains a fighting chance of finishing on the final championship podium as a result of this win on home terrain.

With runner-up Charles Munster (BBR Motorsport Taurus)) not registered for W2RC points, Dutchman Pim Klaassen and Mark Laan scooped points for second place in their DaklaPack Rallysport Taurus and finished third.

Dania Akeel was third on the last stage behind Guerriero and Munster and that was sufficient to confirm fourth place and points for third in W2RC. The Saudi finished ahead of the series-leading Argentinian pairing of Nicolas Cavigliasso/Valentina Pertegarini, Pedro Gonçalves/Rui Franco and Pau Navarro/Jan Rosa Viñas.

The result enabled Navarro and Akeel to close the gap on Cavigliasso before the final round in Morocco, but Pertegarini has now mathematically secured the Navigators’ title. Poland’s Adam Kuś finished eighth but early pace-setter Mattias Ekström slipped out of contention as the event progressed and retired.

Ekström won the opening stage in his Can-Am and moved into a 30-second lead over Munster with Guerreiro, Klaassen, Navarro, Kus and Akeel rounding off the top six.

Guerreiro was fastest on the longer second stage and finished ahead of Navarro, Cavigliasso and Akeel to increase his lead over Navarro to 8min 55sec. Ekström then succumbed to a broken output shaft on his gearbox and retired and Munster also had problems after 79km.

Ekström bounced back to top the Challenger times on stage three from Guerreiro, Kus, Akeel and Cavigliasso and Guerreiro extended his advantage over Akeel to 20min 50sec. Munster topped the times in SS4 but Ekström and Guerreiro were the leading registered drivers to finish, with the latter taking a 15min 56sec lead into the final day. 

Pinto and Oliveira close in on SSV titles; Portuguese victory for Dias and Pita

A second-place finish in the SSV section was sufficient to earn Alexandre Pinto and navigator Bernardo Oliveira maximum W2RC points as Pinto closes in on the Drivers’ title.

Their closest title rivals, Enrico Gaspari and Fausto Mota, suffered heavy time losses early in the event and finished down in 11th of the SSV contenders. But, with no other crew registered for W2RC points, they earned points for second place. The result means that 20-year-old Oliveira has mathematically secured the Navigators’ title.

Pinto said: “I am very happy with this result. We were a bit conservative but we still finished second, scored maximum points and I am very close to securing the title.”

Outright victory in the SSV class went to the Portuguese pairing of João Dias and Rui Pita in their Santag Racing Polaris. They completed the final stage behind Luis Cidade/Valter Cardoso but did enough to beat Pinto and Oliveira by 18min 26sec in the final standings. Rúben Rodrigues (Can-Am) finished third.

Dias said: “The job today was just to take the car to the finish. We already had a good advantage. I’m happy with this result. It’s my first victory in the W2RC.”

Stage one success in the SSV class went to Luis Portela but the local driver was not registered for the W2RC. Pinto was second and topped the W2RC standings from ninth-placed Gaspari. Dias headed three Portuguese drivers through the second stage with third-placed Pinto extending his W2RC lead after Gaspari retired.

Dias topped the times again on stage three and increased his lead over Pinto to 14min 25sec with Rodrigues in third. Luis Cidade headed an all-Portuguese top seven in the fourth and penultimate stage with Pinto coming home in third.

The W2RC concludes with the Rally of Morocco on October 10th-17th.

2025 BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal  – final result:

1. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Armand Monleón (ESP) Toyota Hilux Evo                                         12hr 13min 05sec*

2. Henk Lategan (RSA)/Brett Cummings (RSA) Toyota Hilux Evo                                           12hr 13min 58sec*

3. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA) Dacia Sandrider                                     12hr 23min 10sec*

4. Cristian Baumgart (BRA)/Luis Felipe Eckel (BRA) Toyota Hilux Evo                                   12hr 30min 48sec

5. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL) Dacia Sandrider                               12hr 37min 18sec*    

6. Gonçalo Guerreiro (POR)/Bruno Jacomy (ARG) Taurus Evo Max                                       12hr 37min 38sec*

7. Francisco Barreto (POR)/Paulo Fiúza (POR) Toyota Hilux Evo                                           12hr 39min 26sec

8. Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP) Dacia Sandrider                                          12hr 39min 35sec*

9. Marek Goczal (POL)/Maciej Marton (POL) Toyota Hilux Evo                                             12hr 43min 42sec*

10. Charles Munster (LUX)/José Sebastian Cesana (ARG) Taurus T3 Max                             12hr 55min 26sec

11. João Dias (POR)/Rui Pita (POR) Polaris RZR Pro R                                                            12hr 56min 28sec                        

12. Pim Klaassen (NED)/Mark Laan (NED) Taurus T3 Max                                                     12hr 57min 25sec*

13. Jourdan Serderidis (GRE)/Frederic Miclotte (BEL) Ford Raptor T1+                                12hr 57min 28sec

14. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Carlos Sachs (BRA) Taurus T3 Max                                                    13hr 05min 35sec*

15. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA) Mini JCW Rally 3.0D                                                13hr 07min 09sec

16. Nicolas Cavigliasso (ARG)/Valentia Pertegarini (ARG) Taurus T3 Max                             13hr 12min 38sec*

17. Alexandre Pinto (POR)/Bernardo Oliveira (POR) Polaris RZR Pro R                                 13hr 14min 54sec*

18. Rúben Rodrigues (POR)/Rui Paulo (POR) Can-Am Maverick R                                         13hr 24min 50sec

19. Paulo Rodrigues (POR)/João Miranda (POR) Can-Am Maverick R                                   13hr 34min 40sec

20. Hernan Garces (CHL)/Juan Pablo Latrach (CHL) Toyota Hilux Evo                                   13hr 38min 11sec

21. Pedro Gonçalves (POR)/Rui Franco (POR) Taurus T3 Max                                               13hr 40min 39sec*

22. Daniel Alonso (ESP)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Ford Ranger                                                 13hr 41min 23sec

23. Filipe Lopes (POR)/Gonçalo Reis (POR) Can-Am Maverick R                                           13hr 48min 25sec

24. Pau Navarro (ESP)/Jan Rosa Viñas (ESP) Taurus T3 Max                                                  13hr 56min 53sec*

25. José Rogeira (POR)/Nelson Ramos (POR) Ford Ranger                                                    14hr 00min 56sec

26. Mário Ferreira (POR)/Miguel Silva (POR) Polaris RZR Pro R                                             14hr 04min 10sec

27. Saood Variawa (RSA)/François Cazalet (FRA) Toyota Hilux Evo                                       14hr 25min 29sec*

28. Rik Van Den Brink (NED)/Gydo Heimans (NED) Century CR7                                           14hr 26min 44sec

29. Markus Walcher (GER)/Stephan Stensky (GER) Red-Lined Navarra VK56                       14hr 28min 32sec

30. Johan Senders (NED)/Yvet Senders (NED) Fiat Fullback Proto                                         14hr 36min 37sec

31. Vincent Thijs (BEL)/Arjan Van Tiel (NED) Toyota Hilux                                                     14hr 38min 30sec

32. Michal Goczal (POL)/Diego Ortega (ESP) Toyota Hilux Evo                                              14hr 38min 51sec*

33. Richard Timmerman (NED)/Kala Senders (NED) Toyota Hilux                                         14hr 46min 56sec

34. Daniel Schröder (GER)/Henry Kohne (RSA) WCT VW Amarok                                         14hr 55min 31sec*

35. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP) Toyota Hilux Evo                                   15hr 10min 26sec*

36. Isidre Esteve Pujol (ESP)/José-Maria Villalobos (ESP) Toyota Hilux                                 16hr 25min 23sec

37. Carlos Sainz (ESP)/Lucas Cruz (ESP) Ford Raptor T1+                                                       28hr 52min 36sec*

38. Adroaldo Weisheimer (BRA)/Fred Budtikevitz Da Silva (BRA) Mini JCW Rally 3.0i          29hr 47min 22sec

39. Joāo Ferreira (POR)/Filipe Palmeiro (POR) Toyota Hilux Evo                                           30hr 16min 48sec*

40. Marcos Baumgart (BRA)/Kleber Cincea (BRA) Toyota Hilux Evo                                      30hr 48min 05sec

41. Ricardo Sousa (POR)/Jorge Henriques (POR) Can-Am Maverick XRS RR                         31hr 48min 47sec

42. Nuno Rogério (POR)/Pedro Santos (POR) Can-Am Maverick X3 Herrador                      31hr 49min 16sec

43. Helder Oliveira (POR)/Carlos Mendes (POR) Can-Am Maverick X3                                 32hr 28min 25sec

44. Eryk Goczal (POL)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Toyota Hilux Evo                                  32hr 32min 30sec*

45. Afonso Oliveira (POR)/Fábio Belo (POR) Polaris RXR Pro R                                              32hr 47min 45sec

46. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Timo Gottschalk (GER) Toyota Hilux Evo                                      37hr 00min 44sec*                      

47. Luis Cidade (POR)/Valter Cardoso (POR) Can-Am Maverick R                                         37hr 29min 57sec

48. Richard Aczel (GBR)/Wouter Rosegaar (NED) Can-Am Maverick R                                 37hr 33min 34sec

49. Enrico Gaspari (ITA)/Fausto Mota (POR) Can-Am Maverick XRS RR                                42hr 35min 43sec*    

50. Luis Portela (POR)/David Megre (POR) Polaris RZR Pro R                                                54hr 03min 39sec

51. José Oscar Nogueira (POR)/Arcélio Couta (POR) Can-Am Maverick XRS RR                    61hr 14min 04sec

*denotes registered for W2RC