Raid "Cross-Country Paradise" Góis-Arganil celebrates its 30th edition
This race is valid for the Portuguese Cross-Country Rally chamspionship (CNTT) for motos, quads and SSV non-FIA
Martim Ventura (moto), Rafael Carvalho (Quad) and the couple João Monteiro/Nuno Morais (SSV) lead the championship
While the car pilots are taking a break until the second race of the Portuguese championship, which will take place in Spain in the first days of April, the pilots of all other categories will have this weekend full of action and competition in the mountains of central Portugal.
Celebrating its 30th edition, the Raide "Paraíso do Todo-o-Terreno" Góis-Arganil, second stage of the National Cross-Country Championship, presents an entry list with more than one hundred competitors that, starting tomorrow, will face a 303 km long course in the mountain tracks of Góis and Arganil. Winners of the opening race Martim Ventura and Rafael Carvalho, both on Yamaha and respectively in the Moto and Quad competitions and the duo João Monteiro/Nuno Morais on Can-Am in SSV, lead the championship.
In the two-wheelers we will surely watch a duel between the candidate to the title and the champion, Martim Ventura and António Maio, both on Yamaha, which in the fast tracks of Beja, was for the former. To point out the much welcomed return of Bruno Santos on Husqvarna. The former national Rally Raid champion suffered an accident in 2021 and 16 months later is back on the track, having recently shown all his fiber in Abu Dhabi, second stage of the World Championship. Bruno Santos joins an increasingly excellent squad on two wheels that includes Honda pilots - Gustavo Gaudêncio, Fábio Magalhães, João Duarte, Gonçalo and Salvador Amaral - Husqvarna - Miguel Castro, Daniel Jordão and Micael Simão - Fantic - Tomás Dias and Fernando Ferreira and Bernardo Megre (KTM) and David Megre (Kawasaki). Also returning to the national races is the current veterans world champion Mário Patrão on KTM.
In the Quad races, the Góis race will not be able to count on national champion João Vale, who had an accident in Beja in his debut at the controls of a Can-Am Renegade XXC. The fight for the victory should be very lively between the young Rafael Carvalho, winner in Beja, and the very fast Luís Fernandes and Fernando Cardoso, all on Yamaha. Other names to consider are Fábio Ferreira on ATVRacing, the young Rodrigo Alves and Tiago Ferreira and the returning Filipe Martins, all on Yamaha. Important presence is the European champion Luis Pimenta on a Moto Star.
In SSV the list of candidates to victory is extensive, but we must start with the names of João Monteiro in Can-Am, winner of the opening race, and the national champion Gonçalo Guerreiro, now at the wheel of a Polaris PRO R, registered as official pilot of the American manufacturer, who won this race last year. Other names to keep in mind are Luis Cidade, Roberto Borrego, Nelson Caxias, Helder Rodrigues, Pedro Santinho Mendes, Ricardo Sousa, Herlander Araújo, Marco Pereira, Avelino Luís all Can-Am pilots who in Beja rolled strong. In the Stock championship highlight for the predictable duel between Rui Serpa in Can-Am winner in Beja and the champion Nelson Saramago in Polaris.
The 30th Raide "Paraíso do Todo-o-Terreno" Góis- Arganil is a competition organized by the Góis Moto Clube. In this 30th edition the pilots will start their participation in a prologue with 2,9 km that will take place on Saturday, 18th. On the same day the PEC 1 with 148, 69 km of selective sector will be disputed and repeated the next day. The race ends on Sunday with the 13:00 PEC 3 with 2.9 km.
Automatic translation from the original Portuguese version available on www.todoterreno.pt
Source: CNTT/ A2 Comunicação
Photos: Rally-Raid Network / Imagens Desportivas
Helder
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