Rally Raid Portugal 2024: Al-Attiyah surges into the lead of the championship
The finish of the third round of the season in Portugal brought the championship into its second part.
Nasser Al Attiyah (Nasser Racing by Prodrive) won the inaugural edition of the Portuguese event in the Ultimate class, ahead of the local João Ferreira (X-raid Mini JCW) and Lucas Moraes (Toyota Gazoo Racing). Al Attiyah wrested the championship lead from Carlos Sainz (X-raid Mini JCW), who finished the rally just outside the podium. Toyota held on to the manufacturers' lead, but with a narrower margin over Prodrive.
Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am Factory) emerged victorious from the Challenger race, extending his championship lead over his teammate Austin Jones and his runner-up in the rally, Nicolás Cavigliasso (Taurus Factory by Wevers).
Ricardo Ramilo (Ramilo Scuderia) claimed his maiden win in the SSV race and surged to third in the championship, still led by Yasir Seaidan (MMP) despite his withdrawal yesterday. Sebastián Guayasamín (FN Speed), knocking on the door of the podium in Portugal, is second in the ranking.
The championship will now head to Argentina for the Desafío Ruta 40 from 1 to 7 June.
Nasser Al Attiyah picked up his second consecutive win of the season today. The Prodrive Hunter racer outgunned João Ferreira, who was making his first Ultimate appearance on home soil. The 25-year-old Portuguese driver came up 2′49″ short after giving the heavy hitters of the category a run for their money throughout the week. Both the man from Leiria and the X-raid manager, Sven Quandt, have good reason to be happy. Lucas Moraes came in third, 3′36″ from the winner. A last-minute effort allowed the Brazilian to bump Carlos Sainz (+ 6′12″) from the podium. It was the Spaniard's first outing in a Mini T1+ after three seasons with Audi, capped with his triumph in the Dakar last January.
In one fell swoop, Al Attiyah nullified the consequences of his DNF in the Dakar and became the new world championship leader, with 112 points to his name, toppling Sainz, who will fly out of Portugal with a tally of 100. The Qatari turned a 9-point disadvantage into a 12-point disadvantage going into the second half of the series. Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Racing), the runner-up of the 2023 season, is now third in the W2RC, with 79 points, courtesy of his fifth place in the rally. The Saudi bounced back from his tumultuous performance two days ago to clinch the stage. Moraes, who saw his Hilux go up in flames in the previous round when he was vying for victory (as in this round), is right behind him in fourth place, 3 points adrift with a total of 76. Guerlain Chicherit and Guillaume de Mévius (Overdrive Racing) are again the big losers of this round despite an auspicious start to the week, especially by the former. After the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, where they both had to throw in the towel after hard dune landings hurt Chicherit's co-driver and the Belgian driver himself, the man from Savoy again had to call it quits two days ago. He went home with a meagre haul of 5 points for his victory on the opening day. Meanwhile, the Belgian gained even fewer points, 3, after a snapped alternator belt dashed his hopes of performing as well as in the Dakar, where he took second place in Yanbu. The "Fall Guys" slip down the ranking to fifth and sixth place, with 69 and 65 points, respectively
Édouard Boulanger, riding shotgun with Stéphane Peterhansel in the Dakar and since racing with Al Attiyah, has wrested the world championship lead from Lucas Cruz, Sainz's usual right-hand man. The Frenchman landed in Portugal 3 points behind the Spaniard and will be flying out in the lead, with 107 points in the pocket. Al Rajhi's co-driver, Timo Gottschalk, is now second with 79 points, 3 more than Cruz, who is now tied with Moraes's navigator, Armand Monleón.
Toyota Gazoo Racing went into the race as the leader of the manufacturers' ranking with 108 points. Today, it has 143 points, courtesy of Moraes and Al Rajhi. Nasser Racing by Prodrive came to Grândola with 77 points and defended second place, now with 120 points earned by Al Attiyah, as well as Cristian Baumgart in seventh place. X-raid Mini JCW is third, with 77 points, thanks to João Ferreira and Carlos Sainz. The German marque squeaked past Audi by a single point. Prodrive's Hunters landed the biggest haul in this round, with 43 points to the Minis' 42 and the Hiluxes' 35. Prodrive slashed its erstwhile 31-point deficit to Toyota. 22 points separate the British manufacturer from the Japanese leader.
Rokas Baciuška gradually tightened the screws in the Challenger class to scoop up his first win of the season, following second place in both the Dakar and the ADDC. Nicolás Cavigliasso took the stage win but had to settle for second place overall, 8′22″ behind the Lithuanian. Ricardo Porém (MMP) crossed the finish line in Grândola 9′40″ off the pace. The two-time reigning champion in the FIA SSV competition padded his championship lead over his teammate Austin Jones. The American winner of the previous round finished just outside the podium today. Baciuška now has 160 points to AJ's 126. Cavigliasso rocketed up the ranking to third place with 121 points
In SSV, Ricardo Ramilo beat Rebecca Busi (OnlyFans Racing) and the battle-hardened Claude Fournier (MMP) in the third round of the series. The championship leader, Yasir Seaidan, was going from strength to strength at the beginning of the week, only to succumb to a mechanical. A one-two punch of DNFs in stage 3 and stage 4 knocked him out of the race. The Saudi only managed to harvest 9 stage points before packing his suitcase. Even so, he remains ensconced in the W2RC lead with 155 points thanks to his two earlier victories. Sebastián Guayasamín (FN Speed), fourth in the rally, pounced on the opportunity to slash his deficit with a 34-point haul in Portugal, bringing his total to 121. The winner of the rally sits in third place with 92 points. Rebecca Busi is close behind with 84.
Source: W2RC / A.S.O.
Photos: Rally-Raid Network / ImagensDesportivas
Helder
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