After brilliantly rising to 6th place in the Challenger yesterday, Luís Portela Morais found himself unable to complete the 7th stage of the Dakar Rally 2025 today, having not even started the 418 km selective sector of the stage that started and ended in Al Duwadimi. Problems with the gearbox of the G-ECKO prototype, which is navigated by David Megre, could prevent the bp Ultimate Adventure Team duo from continuing in the race.
“This morning when we were leaving the bivouac we saw that the car was leaking a lot of oil from the gearbox. We went back. We tried to find a solution, but during the call, I noticed that the gearbox temperature was very high and when we arrived at the start of the special to start, the car already had no oil in the gearbox. We decided not to start and now we are back at the bivouac (note: the stage started and finished in Al Duwadimi)”, explained Luís Portela Morais who added: “Whatever is decided, I will no longer be able to finish the Dakar classified, but for now I have to be happy and proud of what I have managed to do so far. I came to this Dakar after, last year, having a very serious illness. Just the fact that I managed to be here and completed these first seven stages was already very important. Furthermore, I have always been in the fight for the top spots and this morning I would start in 6th place in the Challenger, which was fantastic and almost unthinkable, especially driving the only car with a size 30 tire. We will wait for the team's decisions and continue to evolve, learn. and plan for the future.”
Source: Luís Portela Morais_A2 Comunicação
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