With 64 entries in the motorcycle and quad race, the third round of the World Championship features several stars from the official Honda, Hero and Sherco teams. After winning his second Dakar, Ricky Brabec is one of the candidates for victory in the Monster Energy Honda team, led by Ruben Faria. The official HRC team has also entered former world cross-country champion Pablo Quintanilla, Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren, third in the last Dakar, Spaniard Tosha Schareina and American Skyler Howes.
Hero Motorsport arrives in Portugal in the lead of the World Championship, both in terms of drivers and constructors. Ross Branch moved to the front of the championship in Abu Dhabi and will be accompanied by the Portuguese-German Sebastian Bühler, another of the Indian brand's bets for the top spots, not least because of his experience in races held in the regions covered by BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal.
Sherco's official team, on the other hand, brings the Spaniard Lorenzo Santolino and the Indian Harith Noah, reinforcing a squad that includes Portuguese riders capable of shining, such as António Maio (Yamaha), Bruno Santos (Husqvarna) or Martim Ventura (KTM), just to name a few.
More than 1,000 timed kilometers
The third event on the W2RC calendar and the only one held in Europe, the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal is contested over five stages and 1,758 kilometers, more than 1,000 of them timed. The town of Grândola hosts the operational center, the bivouac and the Prologue of the event, on a route that crosses more than a dozen municipalities in Portugal and Spain: in addition to Grândola, also Santiago do Cacém, Abrantes, Alcácer do Sal, Almeirim, Chamusca, Coruche, Mação, Ponte de Sor, Salvaterra de Magos, Sines and Badajoz, in the neighboring country.
The route of Rally-Raid races is secret, but thousands of spectators are expected along the different selective sectors, with "Points of Interest" for the public revealed 48 hours before each stage. Sport TV will broadcast Stage 1 and Stage 5 live, on Wednesday (April 3) and Sunday (April 7) respectively, as well as daily summaries of the race.
Source: ACP Motorsport
Photos: A.S.O./Frederic Le Floc'h/DPPI
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