Rally Barretos was valid for the Brazilian championships

Guilherme Bissotto (Motorcycles), Júnior Siqueira (UTV) and Marcos Baumgart / Kleber Cincea (Cars) win at the opening of the Brazilian CBM Rally Baja and CBA Rally Raid championships

Party for the winners of the 15th Barretos Rally - valid for the opening of the CBM Baja Rally (Motorcycles and UTVs) and CBA Rally Raid (Cars) Brazilian championships. On Sunday (16), the competition continued over the same 132km timed section as the previous day - in total, the event had almost 300 km of disputes. The large amount of dust and intense heat in Barretos (SP) was one of the most striking features of the stage.

The concentration point for the Barretos Rally was the Parque do Peão - where one of Brazil's most famous festivals takes place: the Festa do Peão de Boiadeiro. There, the fastest drivers and navigators in the Motorcycle, UTV and Car categories were also awarded prizes.

The fact that the competitors had already covered the timed section the day before made the competition even tighter. With “knowledge” of the cause and after analyzing where it is possible to adopt a more aggressive approach and acquire better performance, the final day was extremely challenging.

Skill and technique were required to overcome the hairpin bends, erosions and trials in the shortest possible time, and also to push the pace on the straights where it was possible to reach top speeds. The Barretos Rally is always a complete event and one that off-roaders love!

On two wheels, an unprecedented champion at the Rally Barretos: rider Guilherme Bissotto (Yamaha WR 450F / IMS bLU cRU) started the race in third place and attacked to overtake the two rivals who had finished ahead of him the previous day. Fastest on Sunday, he topped the podium beating João Torres (Gasgas EC 500F / Mult Racing) by just 25 seconds. Francine Rossi, the reigning Brazilian champion from Minas Gerais, finished the 15th Barretos Rally in third place.

“I just have to thank my sponsors and my family. I'm very happy with my first overall victory in a rally. The race was excellent and the region is beautiful. I hadn't raced a Baja stage since 2019 and, on my debut in Barretos, I managed to be the fastest. The first day was about adapting to the bike and the course. On the second day, I had a better set-up, set a stronger pace and took the deficit,” said Bissotto.

An unprecedented winner also in the UTVs, where once again the balance was total. Júnior Siqueira (Polaris RZR Pro R / Cotton Racing - Polaris Racing Brasil) dominated Saturday's stage and, on Sunday, kept up his performance to finish the day in third place and, on aggregate, beat Guilherme Cysne (Polaris RZR Pro R / GC Rally Team - Polaris Racing Brasil) by no more than 26 seconds.

“I liked the win, as this is my second of the year in two races. Around km 100 the brake pads ran out and I tried to manage. As I had a good lead, I managed to take the overall. I'm so happy. I've been fighting for this for four years and the car was perfect. The course was very selective, with tricky and technical sections, where the equipment and I made the difference,” said the driver from São Carlos.

In the cars, Marcos Baumgart / Kleber Cincea (Toyota GR Hilux DKR T1+ / X Rally) once again tasted victory in the land of the Festa do Peão de Boiadeiro. The duo confirmed their strength as the fastest on both days. “It's always an enjoyable race and it's even better when we win first place. We came from third place in the Abu Dhabi round of the World Rally Raid Championship and we kept up the positive momentum,” said the driver.

Once again, the competitors ended the challenge satisfied with what they had found. “That's always the aim of our work. We tried to use the experience of previous years as a lesson, innovated on some points to test the drivers and navigators and delivered a race worthy of the Barretos Rally tradition. We would like to thank the support of Barretos City Hall and the Independents, who made this edition possible,” said Fernando Bentivoglio, general director of Rallymakers.

Automatic translation of the Brazilian Portuguese version
Source: Rallymakers / Liberdade de ideias