Baja Oeste Portugal 2021: João Ramos wins Baja Oeste de Portugal

Tiago Reis wins Portuguese cross-country rally championship
David Spranger wins category T3
Simão Comenda won the T2 category
Sérgio Vitorino was the best among T8

João Ramos and Filipe Palmeiro are the winners of Baja Oeste de Portugal. The Toyota Hilux duo imposed themselves in the new race of the Portuguese Cross-Country Championship after taking the first place in the prologue. Tiago Reis and Valter Cardoso, also in Toyota Hilux, finished the race in third place and closed the championship in their favor. Alejandro Martins and José Marques also stand out, as they put the Mini Countryman JCW in the second final place.

It was with great enthusiasm that the West region of Portugal received the newest competition of the Cross-Country Portugal Championship. The Portuguese rally-raid caravan settled in this region of the country for two days of intense competition. It all started with the prologue, a challenge of little more than seven kilometers. The strongest team was that of João Ramos. The pilot from Oporto set the best mark and took the lead.

Tiago Reis was less happy. The championship leader arrived at Baja Oeste de Portugal with high expectations. He could already be the national champion. But a run off the track made him lose time and he entered the selective sectors looking for losses.

In the first one, Ramos was stronger again. The Toyota driver gained a comfortable advantage that allowed him to manage the last day of competition. Alejandro Martins, on the other hand, felt difficulties when he ran out of second gear in his Mini. He had to drive about 100 kilometers in these conditions, which hurt him. Tiago Reis was back to front. Seventh after the prologue, he closed the first stage in third place.

In the second and last stage, the teams had to compete in a sector of just over 130 kilometers. There, Ramos chose to manage the margin he had. Tiago Reis was more focused on the championship and knew that, if the positions were maintained, he would guarantee the title. But he set a strong pace and that earned him the victory in this confrontation. In the general classification, the first three drivers kept their positions from the day before.

"The race was done with a strong pace, but at a certain point we were concerned with managing. Despite this management, we never dropped too much pace. You can't. What I liked most in this race was the first sector. Very technical, with curves and counter-curves. I loved it. It was there that we expanded the advantage. This gave us the ability today, in the last sector, with more than three minutes to go, to control our opponents. We got the victory, which was the objective", said João Ramos.

"We started the last day in third. We were able to control our opponents because what we most wanted was to win the championship already. We managed to do it, and we even won the last sector, something I didn't think was possible. I'm very happy with the title and I just have to thank my team. Without them it wouldn't have been possible. Congratulations are all in order", exclaimed the new Portuguese champion.

Luis Recuenco, fourth, and Edgar Condenso, fifth, closed the top five. David Spranger, with his Bombardier Can Am Maverick, finished sixth and won the T3. Sérgio Vitorino managed to finish in the "top-ten", in eighth, and won the T8 category. To close, note to the victory of Simão Comenda who was the best competitor with a car closer to the series cars.

Automatic translation from the official press release
Souce: Escuderia de Castelo Branco