The fourth special stage of the Sertões Rally, held this Wednesday (July 30), kicked off the notorious "marathon phase" — a part of the race where teams must fix their own machines, without external assistance. It’s a stage that tests more than just speed: it demands resilience. But for the Varela family, veterans of this terrain and pressure, it was just another day in the desert.
Navigating 276 kilometers of tight, rocky tracks between Bom Jesus da Lapa and Xique-Xique (Bahia), the Varelas showed once again why they’re rally royalty.
Rodrigo Varela and navigator Matheus Mazzei, fresh off a win in the previous stage, came within a whisper of another victory, finishing just 2.9 seconds behind stage winners Deni Nascimento and Gunnar Dums. Rodrigo’s performance keeps him in second place overall — just 15 minutes behind the leaders Zé Hélio and Ramon Sacilotti.
The biggest turnaround of the day came from Bruno Varela and Ari Fiuza. After a heartbreaking mechanical failure near the end of Tuesday’s stage, they pulled off a dramatic recovery. Following an all-night repair effort, the duo stormed back to claim third place — just ten seconds off the top.
"Yesterday’s breakdown really hurt," Bruno said. "We had to drag the car out of a tough spot and lost precious time. But we were flying before that, and today we showed we still have pace. Now, it’s about making it to the finish and banking those points for the Brazilian Championship."
Gabriel Varela and co-driver Michael Masson also delivered a solid performance, finishing fifth overall in the special. They now sit in fourth place in the overall UTV rankings, and currently lead the UT1 class.
Meanwhile, Reinaldo Varela and Túlio Taniguchi, competing in the Car category under the Challenger class, crossed the line in fourth place. The result keeps Reinaldo atop his class — and now places him inside the overall top 10 of the Car category, despite racing in a UTV against larger and more powerful vehicles.
Stage five continues the marathon challenge on Thursday, with another grueling special and just 1 hour and 30 minutes allowed for self-repairs. Competitors will cover 296 km of special stages from Xique-Xique (BA) to Petrolina (PE), setting the tone for the final push toward Alagoas, where the champions of Sertões 2025 will be crowned on Sunday, August 3, in Barra de São Miguel.
Source: Best PR
Disclaimer:
As a service to the sport we all love and follow, Rally-Raid Network posts numerous media releases from a wide variety of sources on our website. Due to the large number, and some times short time available, it is nearly impossible to review each public release. These articles are written by reporters or press officers who work for various organizers, teams, drivers, riders, and other parties, and they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Rally-Raid Network.
