After a less fortunate start to the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal, 2025 SSV World Champion Alexandre Pinto, driving a Taurus, claimed his third consecutive Challenger category victory, dominating Stage 4, which featured 317 timed kilometres across a route split between Spain and Portugal.
With this result, both the Old Friends Rally Team driver and his navigator Bernardo Oliveira stepped onto the podium for the third day in a row to receive the stage winner medals, while also securing valuable W2RC points in the fight for the world title—now in the Challenger category. Despite being forced to recover after losing time midway through the stage, the reigning world champions once again impressed with their pace, repeating a Top 10 overall finish in the car classification. With this performance, Alexandre Pinto extended his lead in the Challenger standings to 4m51s over the second-placed crew.
“It was a day where almost everything went well. However, we had a puncture which forced us to make up for lost time, but in the end we secured our third victory in this rally. There is just one stage left, where we will need to stay extremely focused,” said the driver, who competes as part of the Odyssey Academy by BBR, upon arrival at the bivouac in Loulé.
The final stage of the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal, starting and finishing in Loulé, will feature a short 101-kilometre timed special, plus an additional 190 kilometres of liaison
Source: Old Friends Rally Team
Photo: Rally-Raid Network / ImagensDesportivas.pt
