Eight days and more than 4,000 kilometres of demanding terrain across the heart of Brazil. There were tears too, plenty of them, as competitors crossed the timing beam for the final time on Sunday, August 30. Drivers and riders agreed: the 2026 Sertões Petrobras was a proper rally, one of the toughest editions in recent memory. Simply reaching the finish was an achievement. Winning it required something exceptional.
For Bruno Crivilin (Honda CRF450RX/Honda Racing Brasil), a maiden victory in the biggest rally in the Americas came with drama, determination and a remarkable display of teamwork.
During the final 127-kilometre special, Crivilin damaged his motorcycle’s oil radiator after hitting vegetation. His hopes of victory suddenly looked in danger, but Portugal’s Martim Ventura (Honda CRF450RX/Monster Energy HRC), second overall, came to the rescue. Ventura towed his fellow Honda rider for around 80 kilometres, allowing Crivilin to finish the stage and reach the final ramp at the Goiânia International Circuit.
The comfortable advantage Crivilin had built during the rally proved decisive. His victory was celebrated by his family and the entire Honda team, as the Japanese manufacturer extended its record to 12 motorcycle wins in the event. It also returned a Brazilian rider to the top step of the Sertões podium after four years.
There were plenty of other stories behind the finishers.
Veteran Moara Sacilotti completed the rally for the 26th time and announced that she is hanging up her helmet. Bárbara Neves, a seven-time Brazilian Enduro champion from Goiás, fulfilled her dream of racing the Sertões and finished second in the Brasil category.
Dimas Mattos returned to competition after several years working as a team manager and celebrated another finish alongside his wife, while regularity enduro specialist Jomar Grecco completed his first Sertões despite suffering a fractured collarbone during the closing stages.
Every competitor entered in the Self category also reached the finish, led by Marco Antônio Pereira. Riders in this class receive no outside mechanical assistance and spend the event sleeping in tents.
Lucas Moraes and Kaíque Bentivoglio (MEM Prototype/MEM Motorsport) enjoyed a relatively controlled final day, but their fourth Sertões victory was no less emotional.
Their campaign had been commanding from the Prologue onwards. The Brazilian pairing won six of the eight stages across a wide variety of terrain, confirming the pace that has made Moraes one of rally raid’s leading international drivers.
For Moraes, the victory was particularly significant after becoming the first Brazilian to win the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship in the Ultimate category in 2025.
Bentivoglio also made history by joining Beco Andreotti as the most successful navigator across the rally’s 34 editions.
Marcelo Gastaldi/Cadu Sachs (Toyota GR Hilux DKR/Baja Tek), winners in 2023, finished second, while Flávio Lunardi/Fred Budtikevitz (Toyota Hilux IMA/Bulldog Racing) completed the podium with their best result together.
The women’s FIA Girls on Track Brasil pairing of Pamela Bozzano and Elisa Lacerda celebrated victory in SSV Brasil, while Fernando Fernandes/Fábio Machado won SSV FIA.
Fernandes, a multi-sport athlete and television presenter, competed with an adapted UTV using hand-operated throttle and brake controls. Mechanical problems forced him out of three of the eight stages, but he still achieved his main objective: reaching the finish in Goiânia.
New for the Sertões Petrobras in 2026, the Production division brought together more lightly modified vehicles and Classic models built up to 2005 or originally raced in the event up to 2006.
Portugal’s J. Cardoso, navigated by Frederico Zettel, took the category victory in a Mitsubishi L200 RS prepared by former Sertões-winning driver Maurício Neves.
J. Cardoso first competed in the rally in 1998 and returned in 2026 after a 13-year break from competition. Remarkably, he only became acquainted with the vehicle he would race on the eve of the Prologue.
For Zettel, whose background includes vehicle preparation and navigating in Brazilian rally competition, it was his first Sertões.
History was also made in the UTV category.
After victories in 2019, 2023 and 2024, Deni Nascimento claimed his fourth Sertões title with navigator Gunnar Dums. The Can-Am Maverick R crew from Bompack Rally produced a consistent performance throughout an extremely demanding event.
Nascimento became the first four-time UTV winner in Sertões history, while Dums collected his third victory, itself a new landmark for a navigator in the category.
Pedro Mac Dowell/Daniel Spolidorio (Can-Am Maverick R/QI Racing) finished second overall and won UTV1, while Bruno Varela/Ari Fiúza completed the overall podium.
Fábio Beal/Osmar Mendonça won the UTV Sportbay category.
The 2026 Sertões Petrobras also introduced an unprecedented live broadcast operation. More than 60 hours of live footage were produced during the event, described by the organisation as a record for the discipline.
Coverage was carried through Roxo Sports and Sertões Petrobras on YouTube, as well as Acelerados, N Sports, Grande Prêmio and Terra.
Lucas Moraes, 37, began competing in motocross before moving into rally raid. He made his Sertões debut in 2018, winning his category, and claimed his first overall victory the following year.
Further wins came in 2022 and 2024 before his fourth triumph in 2026. Internationally, Moraes announced himself by finishing third on his Dakar Rally debut in 2023 and became the first Brazilian world rally-raid champion in the Ultimate category in 2025.
Kaíque Bentivoglio, 41, also began on motorcycles before becoming one of Brazil’s leading cross-country rally navigators. His partnership with Moraes produced Sertões victories in 2019, 2022, 2024 and now 2026.
“We won the Prologue, the Super Prime and six of the eight stages,” Moraes said. “It was one of the toughest editions of the Sertões and I had always dreamed of racing at home as world champion.”
Bentivoglio highlighted the pair’s natural understanding inside the car and described matching Beco Andreotti’s record among navigators as an emotional achievement.
Bruno Crivilin, 29, arrived in rally raid after an outstanding enduro career that included 12 Brazilian titles, two Latin American crowns, a Portuguese title, ISDE gold medals and third place in the 2020 Junior Enduro World Championship.
He moved into rally raid in 2025 and joined Honda’s international Monster Energy HRC structure in 2026. Earlier in the season, he became the first Brazilian motorcycle rider to score a World Rally-Raid Championship podium, taking second in Rally2 at the Ruta 40 in Argentina.
His first Sertões victory now confirms his rapid rise in the discipline.
“This victory belongs to the whole team,” said Crivilin. “Without Martim’s help today I would not have made it. I owe him a lot.”
Deni Nascimento, 46, began his career on two wheels and first raced the Sertões on a motorcycle in 2008. After moving to UTVs, he won in 2019, 2023 and 2024.
His 2026 success makes him the first four-time winner in the history of the category.
Navigator Gunnar Dums, 32, developed his skills in regularity events before becoming Brazilian UTV1 champion in 2022. Together with Nascimento, he has now won the Sertões three times.
“This was by far the toughest of my seven participations,” said Dums. “It was hard from the first kilometre to the last.”
Portuguese businessman J. Cardoso, 65, first entered the Sertões in 1998 and returned to competition this year after a 13-year absence.
Despite his long break and having almost no time to familiarise himself with the Mitsubishi L200 RS, he and Frederico Zettel completed the rally without even suffering a puncture.
“It is always good to win,” J. Cardoso said. “I was rusty and didn’t know the car, but everything worked out.”
Zettel described the event as extremely demanding for both crew and machine and praised J. Cardoso, the car and the entire team for the result.
Source: Sertões
Photo: Honda
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