Nasser Al-Attiyah sealed victory in the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal this Sunday. This was the third race of the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) season, which visited Portugal for the first time.
In the fifth and final stage, starting and ending in Grândola, the drivers covered 105km of timed racing. Lucas Moraes (Toyota) was the fastest, beating Al-Attiyah (Nasser Racing by Prodrive) by just 12 seconds. João Ferreira (X-Raid/MINI) finished third, 20 seconds behind, with the top five of the Ultimate category completed by Lionel Baud (Overdrive Racing/Toyota) and Francisco Barreto (Toyota).
Despite finishing the stage in second place, Al-Attiyah posted a time good enough to secure victory in the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal. He beat Ferreira by 2m49s, denying the Portuguese a home win. Moraes finished third, with the top five rounded out by Carlos Sainz (X-Raid/MINI) and Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Racing/Toyota).
Nicolas Cavigliasso (Taurus) set the pace in the final stage for the Challengers, but couldn’t prevent Roka Baciuska (Can-Am Factory) from taking the win. The Lithuanian finished with a lead of 7m44s over Armindo Araújo (Santag Racing/Can-Am), with Cavigliasso taking third on the final podium.
As for the SSV category, Ricardo Ramilo (Taurus) posted the fastest time on Sunday, while the overall winner was João Monteiro (South Racing Can-Am). The Portuguese driver beat Ramilo by a clear 13m19s, while Rui Serpa (Santag Racing/Taurus) completed the category’s podium.