Info: Automatic transltion
With a handful of pilots in direct fight for victory, the BP Ultimate Baja TT ACP 2022, second race of the cross-country Portugal Championship, was prodigal in emotion. And after two days and 275 kilometers of courses drawn on the dirt and sand tracks of the Alentejo coast, victory for João Ferreira (Mini), the second of his career - and consecutive - for the young driver from Leiria. João Ramos (Toyota) and Alejandro Martins (Mini) finished in the remaining places of the podium.
The most competitive off-road championship in Europe is well and recommended, as confirmed by the BP Ultimate Baja TT ACP, an organization of the Automobile Club of Portugal. If the quality and quantity of the entered list already foresaw an exciting race, the truth is that the expectations were not disappointed, with five pilots to play an exciting fight for victory. A show that was watched by thousands of spectators.
If, in the opening stage of the BP Ultimate Baja TT ACP, the duo João Ferreira/David Monteiro was fourth, today (Sunday), the young driver from Leiria was the fastest in the selective sector of 157.88 kilometers, with a time that allowed him to win, the second of his career and consecutive. In other words, two races of the Cross-Country Portugal Championship and as many victories for the Mini driver.
"I'm very happy with this new victory. Today, we did the second selective sector always attacking and gaining time to our opponents, in a strong tone that we hadn't been able to impose yesterday. It was, after all, a difficult race, with alternating fast parts and others with sand, which forced us to change pace constantly. We even touched a tree, which made us think that we might not make it to the end, but we did, and so we are satisfied with this excellent result."
Despite recognizing difficulties in imposing a stronger pace in the last stage, the duo João Ramos/Filipe Palmeiro (Toyota Hilux) conquered the second place, a result that serves their aspirations in terms of championship.
"After yesterday's cautions, today was a bit more complicated. In the first half of the second selective sector I lost a lot of time and I didn't have confidence with the excess of information that I was receiving and the successive neutralizations that there were on the course, which forced me to break the rhythm, which was no longer good. Then, in the final part, we still got a bit of Baumgart's dust, but we managed to pass him and, from then on, we attacked to the maximum in the sand to get the second place. We were successful, so we are satisfied", underlined João Ramos.
After the fifth place on the first day, the duo Alejandro Martins/José Marques (Mini) made a good recovery in the last stage, conquering the last place on the podium. "Yesterday, with the accident in the last 10 kilometers, we lost a lot of time and we lost concentration. But today everything was normal, which allowed us to take second place in the stage. So we are happy. Now, we'll try to fight for the title and for the best results, race by race".
Miguel Barbosa (Toyota Hilux) was fourth, preceded by Luís Portela Morais (1st Group T4), Brazilian Cristian Baumgart (problems in the Toyota Hilux prevented him from fighting for the victory in the last stage), Francisco Barreto, João Dias (1st Group T3), Alexandre Silva and André Amaral, who closed the top ten.
A reference, also, to the successes of João Franco (Group T2) and Nuno Tordo (Group T8) in their respective groups.
Official ACP press release
Picture gallery of each of the participating drivers available here: www.imagensdesportivas.com
Photos Rally-Raid Network/Todoterreno.pt/Imagensdesportivas.com
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
