Based out of the Portalegre municipality in the Alentejo region of eastern Portugal, the three-day event has attracted a 58-car field with 14 crews in the Ultimate section, 17 in Challenger, 25 in SSV and two in Stock.

Nine are registered for the FIA World Baja Cup and eight for the FIA European Baja Cup with the remainder competing generally for points in the Portuguese national off-road series.

The Portuguese pairing of two-time winner João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro head a Toyota-dominated Ultimate category and are registered for the FIA European Baja Cup. Ferreira still has a chance of claiming a podium finish in the Drivers’ Championship in his Toyota Gazoo Racing entry.

Only one of the leading contenders for overall FIA World Baja Cup honours has made the trip to Portugal, the others preferring to concentrate on the last two rounds in the Middle East. The absent Juan Cruz Yacopini leads the way on 317 points and has a 22-point cushion over Miroslav Zapletal. Portugal’s Francisco Barreto (Toyota) is fifth in the rankings and has the chance to move up to third with a points-scoring finish.

Non-registered Ultimate drivers include João Ramos and Luis Recuenco in a pair of Toyotas, José Rogeira and Edgar Condenso in Fords and João Franco in a Mini Paceman.

The battle for Challenger honours has developed into a two-horse race between the absent Khalid Al-Jafla and Sergei Remennik. Al-Jafla has a 35-point advantage over his Taurus rival but Remennik has taken maximum points from his three outings so far this season in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Spain and only has competition from local driver and four-time event winner Ricardo Porém this weekend.

Likewise, his navigator Aleksey Ignatov will be hunting for championship points in the Nasser Racing Team Taurus.

Last year’s winner Miguel Barbosa, Daniel Silva and Edgar Reis will be trying to upset the registered drivers in a trio of Taurus T3s, while ASM Motorsport is running an Oryx T3 Evo2 for Extreme E front-runner Catherine Munnings and her co-driver/rallycross supremo Timmy Hansen at the rear of the Challenger field.

Quaddy Racing’s Amerigo Ventura (Yamaha) and Erika Mingozzi trail Mitchel van den Brinck and Bart van Heun by 40 points in the SSV category and have the perfect opportunity to close the gap on their South Racing Can-Am Team rivals in Portugal.

Further registered competition in the FIA World Baja Cup section comes from the Italian duo of Eugenio Amos and Paulo Ceci in another South Racing Can-Am.

The challenge from non-registered opposition is also fierce with the talented Gonçalo Guerreiro wheeling out a BP Ultimate Adventure Team Polaris, while João Dias is entered in a Santag Racing machine. There are a host of rapid local drivers running Can-Ams and Polaris machinery, including Alexander Ré, Rúben Rodrigues, Luis Cidade and Rui Serpa.

The two-horse race between Portugal’s Fernando Barreiros (Isuzu) and Saudi Arabia’s Majed Al-Thunayyan (Nissan) sees the duo separated by just four points in the Stock category for series production cross-country vehicles with three rounds of the series to run.

Al-Thunayyan scored maximum points across home desert and in Jordan, while Barreiros prevailed in Italy and Spain. Their navigators, Jose Sa Pires and Fahad Al-Sufyani, will decide the outcome of the Navigators’ Championship.

Remaining FIA European Baja Cup titles to be decided in Portugal

With several of the FIA European Baja Cup titles already decided, only eight drivers are competing for points at the final round.

The Drivers’ and Navigators’ titles have already fallen to the Stock category-winning crew of Bartholmiej Wajzer and Ernest Gorecki (subject to FIA confirmation). The Pole has also secured the Master Driver award, while Afonso Oliveira has prevailed in the Juniors.

With Benediktas Vanegas not making the trip to Portugal, a finish for the Polish duo of Wlodzimierz Grajek and Michal Goleniewski should be sufficient for the Toyota crew to confirm success in the Ultimate category. Grajek is also eyeing a podium finish in the overall Drivers’ Championship, where he faces competition from Ferreira, Magdalena Zając and Miguel Angel Valero.

Valero (VN Competition) heads into the weekend with a 56-point cushion over Lőrinc Mészáros (OT3) in the battle for Challenger honours, although the Hungarian faces competition from Tiago Reis (Taurus) to hold on to his second place. Carlos Ruiz has a similar 56-point lead over Albert Horn in the Navigators’ Championship.

Afonso Oliveira has a 29-point advantage over Briton Sean Haran in the SSV category with Balasz Molnar out of the running for the title but still in contention for second place. Martin Hales and Gabriella Molnar will decide the outcome of the Navigators’ Championship with Fábio Belo.

Action gets underway with a 3.77km Prologue at Herdade das Coutadas on Friday (October 24th). This will decide the running order for the afternoon’s opening 70.87km stage that runs from Ponte de Sor to Crato.

The bulk of the competition takes place on Saturday (October 25th) with passes through two demanding stages of 166.78km and 166.20km along narrow rural Portuguese tracks between Ponte de Sor, Gafete and Portalegre. In a route of 638.01km, 407.62km are timed against the clock (subject to final checks and FIA confirmation).

39th Baja Portalegre 500 – entry list:

Ultimate

200. João Ferreira (POR)/Filipe Palmeiro (POR)                                         Toyota Hilux Evo+

201. Francisco Barreto (POR)/Carlos Silva (POR)                                        Toyota Hilux Evo*

202. Wlodzimierz Grajek (POL)/Michal Goleniewski (POL)                      Toyota Hilux+

203. João Ramos (POR)/João Carvalho (POR)                                             Toyota Hilux Evo

204. Luis Recuenco (ESP)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP)                                         Toyota Hilux

205. Magdalena Zając (POL)/Błażek Czekan (POL)                                     Toyota Hilux+          

206. César Sequeira (POR)/Filipe Sequiera (POR)                                      Mercedes 350 SLC Coupe

207. José Rogeira (POR)/Paulo Marques (POR)                                          Ford Ranger

208. Edgar Condenso (POR)/Nuno Silva (POR)                                           Ford MO EXR05 Proto

209. Hugo Raposo (POR)/Rafael Lutas (POR)                                              Nissan Proto

210. João Franco (POR)/Ricardo Batista (POR)                                           Mini Paceman

211. Nuno Madeira (POR)/Nelson Ramos (POR)                                        Ford Ranger

212. Vincent Vroninks (BEL)/Dave Berghmans (BEL)                                 Red-Lined VK56

213. Sam Heyvaert (BEL)/Krzysztof Zolty (POL)                                          Red-Lined VK56

Challenger

300. Sergei Remennik (UAE)/Aleksey Ignatov (KGZ)                                  Taurus Evo Max*

301. Ricardo Porém (POR)/Henrique Damásio (POR)                                Kaizen S1*

302. Tiago Reis (POR)/David Monteiro (ESP)                                               Taurus Evo Max+

303. Lőrinc Mészáros (HUN)/Albert Horn (HUN)                                        G Rally Team OT3+

304. Miguel Angel Valero (ESP)/Carlos Ruiz (ESP)                                      VN Competition T34+

305. Miguel Barbosa (POR)/Joel Lutas (POR)                                              Taurus T3 Max

306. Daniel Silva (POR)/Gonçalo Magalhães (POR)                                    Taurus T3 Max

307. Edgar Reis (POR)/Fábio Ribeiro (POR)                                                 Taurus T3 Max

308. Nuno Faria (POR)/João Martinas (POR)                                               Can-Am Maverick X3

309. Pedro Ruivo (POR)/Filipe Rasteiro (POR)                                            Can-Am Maverick X3

310. Nuno Matos (POR)/Ricardo Claro (POR)                                             Volkswagen Amarok Proto

311. Amândio Alves (POR)/Nuno Sousa (POR)                                            Kaizen S1

312. Roberto Gamboa (POR)/Herman Gamboa (POR)                              Herrator HRX3

313. Romuald Lasne (FRA)/Delphine Delfino (FRA)                                   Can-Am Maverick X3

314. Luis Carneiro (POR)/Hugo Magalhães (POR)                                      Can-Am Maverick X3

315. Catherine Munnings (GBR)/Timmy Hansen (SWE)                            Oryx T3 Evo2

316. Henk Klaassen (NED)/Sasha Siripanyavuthi (THA)                             Taurus T3 Max        

SSV

400. Gonçalo Guerreiro (POR)/Pablo Moreno (ESP)                                  Polaris RZR Pro R

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

402. Mitchel Van Den Brinck (NED)/Bart van Heun (NED)                       Can-Am Maverick R*

403. Amerigo Ventura (ITA)/Erika Mingozzi (ITA)                                      Yamaha YXZ 1000 R *

404. Eugenio Amos (ITA)/Paolo Ceci (ITA)                                                   Can-Am Maverick R*

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

406. Sean Haran (GBR)/Martin Hales (GBR)                                                Polaris RXR Pro R+  

407. Balasz Molnar (HUN)/Gabriella Molnar (HUN)                                  Can-Am Maverick R+

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

409. Tiago Guerreiro (POR)/Carlos Paulino (POR)                                      Polaris RZR Pro R

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

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

412. Herlander Araújo (POR)/Tiago Magalhães (POR)                              Polaris RZR Pro R

413. Filipe Cameirinha (POR)/Jérémy Dubois (FRA)                                   Can-Am Maverick R

414. Alexandre Ré (POR)/Pedro Ré (POR)                                                    Can-Am Maverick R

415. Luis Portela (POR)/Carlos Mendes (POR)                                            Polaris RZR Pro R    

416. João Monteiro (POR)/Nuno Morais (POR)                                          Can-Am Maverick R

417. Paulo Rodrigues (POR)/Fausto Mota (POR)                                        Can-Am Maverick R

418. Rui Serpa (POR)/Miguel Silva (POR)                                                     Polaris RZR Pro R

419. Oliver Goullioud (FRA)/Gregory Revest (FRA)                                    Polaris RZR Pro R

420. Rui Silva (POR)/Francisco Albuquerque (POR)                                   Polaris RZR Pro R

421. Kevin Haren (GBR)/Paul Severn (GBR)                                                 Polaris RZR Pro R

422. Ricardo Santos (POR)/Robson Schuinka (BRA)                                   Can-Am Maverick R

423. Alberto Gonzalez (ESP)/Alberto Hernando (ESP)                              Polaris RZR Pro R

424. Hervé Crèvecouer (FRA)/Paul Duramé (FRA)                                     Polaris RZR Pro R

Stock

500. Fernando Barreiros (POR)/Jose Sa Pies (POR)                                    Isuzu D-Max*

501. Majed Al-Thunayyan (KSA)/Fahad Al-Sufyani (KSA)                          Nissan Patrol*

*denotes registered for FIA World Baja Cup

+denotes registered for FIA European Baja Cup

Timetable of events

Thursday, October 23

Administration checks, NERPOR                                            07.00-20.00

Scrutineering checks, NERPOR                                               09.00-18.00

Press conference – Portalegre                                               21.00hrs

Ceremonial start, Jardim do Tarro – Portalegre              21.30hrs

Friday, October 24

Prologue – 3.77km, Coutades                                                 10.45hrs

SS1 – 70.87km, Ponte de Sor                                                  14.30hrs (first car)

Saturday, October 25

SS2 - 166.78km, Ponte de Sor                                                 07.50hrs (first car)

SS3 - 166.20km, Ponte de Sor                                                 13.15hrs (first car)

Podium ceremony, NERPOR                                                    16.30hrs

Post-event press conference, NERPOR                               17.00hrs

Prize giving ceremony, NERPOR                                            19.30hrs