The Portuguese teams are getting ready for the return to competition after the long period away from the racing tracks due to the COVID. Their next race will be Baja do Pinhal, ( we can translate it to Pine Forest Baja since the region that will host the race is mostly covered by pine trees and eucalyptus), with all categories joining in, including Autos, Motos, Quads and the ever-popular SSV. Baja do Pinhal is organized by Escuderia de Castelo Branco and it will be valid for all the Portuguese cross-country rally championships.
The Portuguese teams will also host the foreigners racing in FIM - Baja World Cup. Despite the good level of the foreigners, the locals are particularly strong and will make the life of any opponent trying to reach the top of the leaderboard quite complicated.
In Portugal, motos, quads, and SSV all race under the same federation (FMP), which means the route and program are the same. For these three categories, Baja do Pinhal 2020 will have a total distance of 298,37 Km that is divided by three Selective Section (SS) of 80,87 Km (SS1), 140,32 Km(SS2), and 76,08 Km (SS3), to go by Moto, Quad, SSV and Hobby Class.
The car category will have a different program, with only two special stages, SS1 on Saturday 12 of October in the afternoon and SS2 raced on Sunday morning. It is not yet known the total distance of the two sectors, but both will be well above 100km.
The race track will be drawn over the hills and valleys of the municipalities of Sertã, Proença-a-Nova, and Vila Velha de Rodão. While allowing for some sections of fast to very fast speed, the roads of this region often get very technical with narrow forest roads going up and down the hills, demanding extra-focus to both driver and co-driver.
At this point in time, all the ones involved in the race, including organizers, teams, and authorities are working to have everything ready in time, but two variables can force the plans to change. The most obvious should be the Pandemic, and while in Portugal the situation appears to be under control, an outbreak in the region where the race should take place could lead the organizers and authorities to take decisions that could affect the race. The other variable is the weather, or the dry weather to be more precise. In recent years Portugal has experienced long, dry, and hot summers,causing many wildfires. Three years ago this area was the stage for one of the most horrendous wildfires Portugal has in memory. Already this year a big wildfire burned thousands of acres of forest in the same region.
There is also some expectation about how many teams will show up. The Portuguese "caravan" is quite numerous, full of fast teams in almost every single category, but the Pandemic spread damage over the finances of many companies, some owned by drivers or riders, or that sponsor those same drivers or riders. With a severe shortage of funds, many teams found themselves in a difficult situation. For some the decision was to stop racing (at least for this year), others are choosing one or two events to race, while a few are still able to keep the full racing program.
On a positive side, Baja do Pinhal can still receive some "unexpected" entries, especially of Dakar teams, now that they are deprived of the chance to test and race in Morocco and need all the opportunities available to add racing kilometers for testing and gain rhythm regarding the next edition "world's hardest rally".
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