In the third stage of the World Rally Raid Championship, the Brazilian led the day, but had a flat tire at the end of the stage
On the third day of the European leg of the World Rally Raid Championship, the third of this year's season, saw Lucas Moraes return to third place in the overall standings. The third day of activities had the longest challenge of the stage: more than 700 km between Grândola, in Portugal, and Badajoz, in Spain.
In all, 388 km of the route were timed. It was the most hectic day of the rally so far, with many lead changes and a few scares for the drivers, including Moraes, who races with the main Toyota Gazoo Racing team.
Despite the incident, good results
The route for Lucas Moraes and his navigator, Spaniard Armand Monleon, began with a top-5 finish. The pack was separated by three minutes, but this would change over the course of the day, with the Brazilian being faster than his opponents at various times.
More than halfway through the race and in the lead, Moraes had a flat tire on his car. The pace consequently dropped. Even so, the Brazilian, who featured in the Dakar in 2024, managed to finish the special in second place in the Ultimate class and fourth among all the cars.
The result was directly reflected in the rally's overall standings: Moraes, who came into the third day in sixth place in the cumulative standings, moved up to third, with a gap of 4min59s to the leaders, Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah and Frenchman Edouard Boulanger. With this, the Brazilian is getting closer and closer to the podium of the stage, which ends on Sunday (07/04).
"A podium would be sensational"
"This race has proved to be very difficult, with surprises along the way. So talking about results now is rather premature," said the Brazilian. "If we repeat today's pace over the next few days, I believe we have a good chance of finishing on the podium, which would be sensational," said the driver, who is competing in his first full season in the World Championship.
This Saturday, the competitors leave Spain and return to Grândola, Portugal, where the base camp is located. The cars will battle against the clock for around 270 km, while the total route is 550 km.
Lucas Moraes is a two-time champion of the Sertões Rally, and is competing in the World Championship with the support of Red Bull, Repsol, Strava, Oakley, Zapalla - as well as having led Brazilian tire brand SpeedMax to sponsor the Toyota team, the current champions of the competition.
Automatic translation of the original Brazilian Portuguese version available on www.todoterreno.pt
Source: Official press release
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Photo: ImagensDesportivas
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