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Victory on final stage of Rally-Raid Portugal for Lucas and Armand
1st on Stage 5 for Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon
10th on Stage 5 for Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz
3rd overall for Lucas and Armand
Two Toyota Hilux in Overall Top 5
Round 3 of the 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) ended near the Portuguese town of Grandola on Sunday, April 7, after five competitive stages in Portugal and Spain. The BP Ultimate Rally-Raid, as the event was officially known, brought an overall podium finish for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR), as well as a win on the final stage for Lucas Moraes and Arman Monleon, which gave the team reason to smile. Beyond that, TGR continues to lead the W2RC Manufacturer Standings, while Lucas is up into 4th place in the overall W2RC rankings.
The third round of the season was marked by extremely wet and muddy conditions, which made reading the road quite tricky, and brought testing conditions for the engine drive belts on several cars. It was these conditions that initially caused Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz to abandon the opening stage, relegating them to scoring points towards the W2RC, rather than fighting for the outright win.
Teammates Lucas and Armand, however, managed to keep their noses clean despite the watery conditions, and fought hard throughout the five-stage event. The Toyota Hilux crew had suffered a setback during the previous round of the W2RC when they lost their car due to a fire, but the youthful pairing showed remarkable tenacity to bounce back in Portugal and Spain.
The final stage saw the Brazilian driver, together with his Spanish co-driver, set the fastest time over the 101 km log fifth and final stage. Their time of 49min 56sec was 12sec clear of the crew in second place, netting them maximum stage points toward the W2RC in the process. This stunning result cemented the Toyota crew's third place in the overall standings, thereby earning 20 additional points towards the championship.
Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk brought their privately entered Toyota Hilux to the finish in fifth place overall, thus putting two Toyota Hilux in the Top 5 of the event. Yazeed is in third place in the W2RC Driver Standings, just three points ahead of Lucas.
Thanks to the power performances by its crews during Round 3 of the 2024 W2RC, TGR has extended its lead at the top of the Manufacturer Standings to 23 points over Nasser Racing by Prodrive, who remains in second place. As it stands, TGR is on 143 points, with two rounds to go in the 2024 season. Next up is the Desafio Ruta 40, which is set to take place in Argentina on June 1 to June 7 this year.
Alain Dujardyn, W2RC Team Principal: "Overall, I am pleased with our results here in Portugal this week. Round 3 has been a very tough one for the team, and while we may well have bagged more points were it not for some technical challenges in the muddy conditions, we can't help but be proud of what we have achieved on this event. It was great for Lucas and Armand to finish with a stage win, but the points for third place overall are even more valuable. Seth and Dennis had a tough outing, but managed to gain significant experience with the GR DKR Hilux, and will be hoping for a better result in Argentina on Round 4. For now, we are very happy to be at the head of the Manufacturers' Standings in the W2RC after three rounds, and to have Lucas up in fourth place in the Driver standings."
Lucas Moraes: " It was more sandy today, but great to be able to finish this rally with a win, especially after what happened with us in Abu Dhabi. Thanks to the whole TOYOTA GAZOO Racing team, for delivering another great car. It was amazing to win again today and finish third overall, very close to the lead. But we're climbing the standings again, and I'd also like to thank all the fans that were here following us. It was a very nice atmosphere and yeah, looking forward to Argentina now."
Seth Quintero: "This rally has been the most fun rally that I've ever done. The fans here have been unreal, it's just a smile the whole time, there's so many people lining the whole course. Unfortunately, we didn't get the results we were looking for. We had a few problems there at the beginning, but the whole TOYOTA GAZOO Racing team did an amazing job figuring it all out and getting us back on course. And we went back out and showed a lot of pace, so yeah, definitely bummed on the end result, but happy with the speed, happy with the car, happy with everything else. And we learned a lot, so excited to keep it going."
Source: Toyota
Photos: Rally-Raid Network / ImagensDesportivas
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