Baja TT Montes Alentejanos 2022: João Ferreira (Mini) wins the opening round of the Portuguese championship

Info: Automatic translation 

João Ferreira, navigated by David Monteiro, driving an X-Raid built Mini John Cooper Works Rally, was the winner of the Baja TT Montes Alentejanos, the opening race of the Portuguese Cross-Country Championship (cars). Ferreira was followed on the podium by the Brazilian driver Christian Baumgart (2nd) and by the Portuguese champion Tiago Reis (3rd), both driving a Toyota.

"The balance is very positive. We debuted a new car in this race, in the middle of all these 'sharks' and we started by managing to get a second place in the prologue. In the afternoon sector we won, and today we won again. Tiago was doing very well, but I think there was some problem that slowed him down. The pace was good. The car is great. Today we drove better than yesterday, at least I didn't make many mistakes and that's why the result was much better. From the feedback I got from David, the roadbook is also very well done and the sections are spectacular, very similar to the race we did two years ago. We are very surprised and happy with the result", revealed the youngster at the end of the Baja TT Montes Alentejanos.

With several punctures and a one-minute penalty, the Portuguese Champion Tiago Reis finished third, 35s behind the Brazilian Christian Baumgart who saw his brother Marcus finish in fourth, also in a Toyota, both prepared and assisted by Tiago Reis' team.

Alejandro Martins, in a Mini John Cooper Works Rally, closed the top five with 32s ahead of Nuno Madeira in a Ford Ranger. João Dias in a Can-Am finished in 7th place and won the T3 Class.

The remaining winners were Fernando Barreiros (Isuzu) in T2, Filipe Cardoso (Can-Am) in T4 class, and among the T8 triumphedNuno Tordo (Nissan Navara).

Automatic translation from the original Portuguese version available on www.todoterreno.pt
Source: Official press release