Tiago Reis returns to the victories
Baja TT Idanha-a-Nova was expected to be very disputed, as several drivers are still in the fight for the championship and several others are still trying to return to the good results they are capable. Among the ones doing everything in their power to return to the top of the leader board are João Ramos and Nuno Matos, but once again these two were not able to finish the race. Ramos won the prologue but was forced to retire on the first kilometers of the special stage number 1 with gearbox problems on his Hilux. Rally-Raid Network official partner Nuno Matos started the race more cautious, finishing the prologue only in 10th, but also him was forced out of the race, but on is case due to an unexpected illness of his co-driver Pedro Marcão.
After SS1 Tiago Reis found himself leading the race with his Racing Lancer with 1m16s advantage over second-placed Pedro Dias da Silva (Ford MO EXR05 Proto). Alexandre Ré was by that moment third overall 2m46s behind the leader.
The 167km long SS2 was raced on the second day of this event, but despite the distance and the very demanding route Escuderia de Castelo Branco - the race organizer prepared nothing changed on the top 3, as Tiago Reis was able to resist to the attacks of his rivals. "It was a very hard race where we were able to overcome all obstacles. This was a very difficult weekend where I've raced with two broken toes on my foot and that will be on my memory forever. We are very pleased with the result, in on month time, in Portalegre we will be full throttle without any kind of race strategy", said the winner of the race.
Behind Tiago Reis, the fight was quite intense, has not only the race result was at stake but also some very important championship points that can come handy in the near future. Pedro Dias da Silva on his diesel-powered Ford MO EXR05 Proto did all on his reach to not lose sight of the race leader and keep safe from the constant attacks of Alexandre Ré: "The race was good. We passed by the front of the race on the first day, where we took advantage of the highest torque of our diesel-powered car. Today, with conditions dryer, Tiago (Tiago Reis) and Ré (Alexandre Ré) that have more powerful and superior cars to ours had a rhythm that we could not follow, but we managed to control Alexandre Ré when we came close to us and pushed to keep the second place".
Alexandre Ré, that arrived at Idanha-a-Nova in the lead of the championship saw the gap between him and his main rivals become dangerously smaller. The race didn't started well from the VW Amarok driver, after a flat tire in the prologue that made him lose time for the front cars. On the rest of the race, Alexandre Ré tried his best to reduce the gap, fighting mostly with Pedro Dias da Silva for the second place while Tiago Reis was leading the race. "We didn't had a lot of information about our times on the track and we ended losing the second place close to the finish. Despite that, second or third place will don't make a big difference, as all is delayed for (Baja) Portalegre," said Ré at the end of the race.
In T2 category, Nuno Corvo in Nissan Pathfinder was the winner. In T8 was João Rato who took the 1st place trophy home. Finally, in the cross-country cup, the winner was Tiago Canêdo dos Santos.
To view the results please followBaja TT Idanha-a-Nova 2019: Final results - CARS
Rally-Raid Network
Source Escuderia de Castelo Branco.
