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00:07The world's very best off-road rally raid drivers and riders rolled into Portugal for round three of the World
00:13Rally Raid Championship.
00:15Yes, the long-anticipated BP Ultimate Rally Raid was here, an event in stark contrast to the deep, sandy dunes
00:22of the Dakar Rally and the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge earlier in the year.
00:28The biggest names in the sport, all ready and prepared to take on this new epic challenge, each with their
00:34sights firmly focused on picking up points towards their World Championship campaign.
00:40Over a thousand kilometres of competitive action spread over five days, taking in some of the country's toughest trails and
00:46tracks.
00:53And in the bikes, Championship leader Ross Branch was hoping to add yet more points to his tally.
00:59It's going to be an amazing race. Certainly some new terrain for all of us.
01:03It's not what we're used to in the desert, open desert style, but I'm looking forward to it.
01:07You know, I'm going to give it my best shot. Obviously most of our team is from Portugal, so it's
01:11like a home race for us.
01:12Meanwhile in the car category, Nasser Alatir returns after a win last time out in Abu Dhabi and the Qataris
01:18looking for a repeat to reel in Championship leader Carlos Sainz.
01:24The weather will be not easy, you know, for everyone, but okay, we are a professional driver and we know
01:30what we do and we can race in each condition, you know, it's no problem.
01:36But okay, we need to be clever and to win this race.
01:39In the challenger class, young Lithuanian star Rokas Bacchuska returns with a 14 point lead over Austin Jones.
01:48Always, you know, in attack, they get some safety, but yeah, we'll try to push, we try to do our
01:54job because we want to take a point.
01:56But Bacchuska would have stiff competition, particularly from this familiar face.
02:01Nine times world rally champion Sebastian Loeb competing in a Taurus machine.
02:07My expectation here is to learn the race because next year we will come with that chair and so it's
02:14important to have a little experience of here.
02:16It's a very different car from what I'm used to, but okay, I think to learn the place is good.
02:23As is tradition, the opening ceremony kicked off proceedings, the locals getting a rare glimpse of their heroes before the
02:29action got underway.
02:34In the bike category, plenty of big names were on the entry list.
02:38Adrian van Beveren and Tosha Schreiner for Honda, Sebastian Buehler and Ross Branch for Hero,
02:44with Skylar Howes, Pablo Quintanilla and others all making the starting line-up.
02:53As stage one got underway, it was Tosha Schreiner who set the early pace.
02:58After winning the prologue, the Spaniard continued that momentum into the first full test and he did just that.
03:04Winning the stage and holding the lead by over four minutes.
03:10In the beginning it was really, really hard with the Sunday terrain.
03:14I tried to push again hard, but I had a little mistake with my riding in the sand.
03:23But yeah, waiting for tomorrow.
03:28Meanwhile, Ross Branch was in the wars straight away.
03:32The Botswanan had a small off early on and he picked up some damage to the bike.
03:46Yeah, I just made a small mistake, came over a ridge and the track went left and there was no
03:49danger.
03:50So I went into the bush, went over the bars a few times.
03:53But yeah, we're still in it, still in one piece and we'll see how it goes for the rest of
03:56the week.
04:02With Schreiner leading as the bikes progressed into the second day, hero Sebastian Buehler, born in Germany,
04:09but a son of Portugal, made his presence known.
04:11He won stage two by nearly three minutes and was now less than three minutes off the overall lead.
04:24It has a lot of water before the refueling.
04:28So I tried to go fast, but at the same time to take care of the bike because very fast
04:34it can't go wrong.
04:41With Schreiner and Buehler in their own fights at the front, further back, Adrian van Beveren was on a charge
04:47through the field after picking up abrasive penalties on day one.
04:58I feel good, I enjoy this kind of terrain, I enjoy this race, it's nice to ride in Portugal, you
05:03know.
05:04It's completely different than what we are used to do in the desert, but it's nice, it's technical
05:11and you have to be really focused on the paddles, on the water paddles.
05:15For California's Schreiner House, this would be a ride made up of sound, solid, consistent riding.
05:22He never really challenged the top spot, but kept himself knocking on the door of the top five.
05:26He eventually finished sixth.
05:33Meanwhile, local star Bruno Santos competing in the Rally 2 category was starting to raise some eyebrows.
05:40In a comfortable third position overall, Andy found himself still there as dawn broke for the final day.
05:46Another incredible ride and Santos not only took the win in Rally 2, but also closed out the overall podium
05:52positions.
05:59All the week, an amazing race and amazing stages every day, every day different.
06:06I'm very happy with this result.
06:09It's a privilege for me to be one of them and keep fighting like I fight every day here.
06:20Another local hero making waves was Antonio Mayo.
06:24Winning stage four, it marked the first victory for Yamaha since the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in 2021.
06:34A phenomenal achievement. He would finish fourth behind Santos.
06:57But with the fans waiting for the final day at the front, it was Schreiner and Beulah who were in
07:04a league of their own.
07:04Hero versus Honda and this time it would be Honda that would come out on top.
07:11Schreiner racked up three stage wins to take top honours at this year's BP Ultimate Rally Raid 2024.
07:20Always the first victory is super special for me.
07:23And yeah, super special to be here in the final straight with taking the victory.
07:29And yeah, super happy for me, for the team.
07:31Big part of the team is from here, Portugal, so yeah, super happy.
07:37So after five hard days racing, Schreiner's final winning margin four minutes and 38 seconds from Beulah
07:43with Bruno Santos scoring an exceptional third place ahead of Mayo and Van Beveren.
07:48That means Ross Branch, who finished seventh here in Portugal, continues to lead the championship by 21 points from Van
07:56Beveren,
07:57with Dakar winner Ricky Brabeck slipping to third.
08:00It wasn't just a podium overall for Bruno Santos.
08:04The local star also confirmed his victory in the Rally 2 category, a phenomenal ride and a name to remember.
08:13Meanwhile, Bradley Cox put in a spectacular effort to finish second overall, but lead home the W2RC runners.
08:20Another man who had to fight back after picking up 20 minutes of penalties on day one.
08:25He behaved himself for the rest of the event to beat Romain Dumontier by over five minutes.
08:38Confirmation then of the overall Rally 2 victory for Santos on his home soil.
08:42An incredible ride over 20 minutes clear of Bradley Cox in second.
08:49And just look at that, a real fight on our hands for the W2RC championship.
08:53Just three points separate Dumontier, Jean-Lou Lepin and Bradley Cox.
09:05Rally 3 kicked off in Portugal and it was a proper family affair.
09:10The Amaral brothers going at it hammer and tongue.
09:14But it was Gonzalo who beat his brother Salvador to the top spot.
09:22Gonzalo's event winning margin over his brother nearly ten minutes with Pedro Bianchi Prata in third,
09:28but well over an hour further back.
09:34And so by default, Gonzalo leads Salvador by five points with Bianchi Prata in third on 16.
09:48In the quad category, championship leader Manuel Anduja arrived in Portugal as the clear favourite.
09:57This terrain, although not his preferred surface, was similar to what he was brought up riding on.
10:03And he knew this was a big opportunity to further extend his championship lead.
10:07Things began well. He charged through the prologue stage and did the double just a few hours later to win
10:13stage one.
10:17He was able to continue that into day two, another stage victory.
10:21His lead was now already up to ten minutes.
10:25Oh, very nice.
10:27A little bit drops with the water in the whole stage, but I feel so much.
10:33It's a different terrain that we used to ride.
10:37So very happy to push here and try to do my best.
10:43Meanwhile, Gaiten Martinez lying in second behind Andujar
10:47and for the time being able to keep the chasing Antonas Kanopkinas and Kamil Vizniewski safely at bay.
10:54It was nice. Similar than yesterday, but with a fast track and narrow track between the trees.
11:01I like it. I take pleasure. It was fun.
11:04Another stage win on three for Andujar.
11:07It was all starting to look like a foregone conclusion, but this is rally raid and anything can happen.
11:14And for Andujar, sadly, it did.
11:17A rear axle failure on stage four followed by a fall saw him drop 40 minutes.
11:23The win was long gone and he would eventually finish the rally in fourth overall.
11:34Up at the business end and Kamil Vizniewski had been hammering in hot times
11:38and now found himself leading overall in the category.
11:42A good clean run through the final stage and the Polish rider confirmed his victory in Portugal.
11:55Vizniewski's final winning margin nearly six minutes clear of Kanopkinas in second
12:00with Martinez just 30 seconds further back.
12:03Andujar in fourth, ruining that stage four drama.
12:06All that means in the championship, Andujar now leads Kanopkinas by just 14 points
12:11with Hanni Alnumessi dropping to third.
12:22Over to the ultimate class now.
12:24And while there was plenty of talent on the entry list, all eyes were focused on the battle of the
12:29titans.
12:30Carlos Sainz fresh after his Dakar win with Audi arrived in Portugal armed with a Mini
12:34and was going head-to-head with Nasser Alatia in his pro-drive run Hunter.
12:48But as stage one got underway, first blood went to neither Sainz nor Alatia.
12:54Instead it was this man, Francis Guerlain Chichery with Mathieu Balmere alongside him that set the pace.
12:59They won stage one to take the early lead.
13:06It was really, really technical, you know, like super, super slippery, super tight.
13:12It was really easy to make mistakes.
13:14Actually, we, like everybody, we missed some corners because, you know, the road is not easy to see.
13:20Yeah, pretty good, but really dangerous stage.
13:25A great start for Chichery then, but that would come to an abrupt halt on stage too.
13:30His Toyota picked up a mechanical issue just a few kilometres into the stage
13:34and the Frenchman was forced to abandon the test and head back to the bivouac.
13:38From that moment on, he was sadly out of the fight.
13:46Alatia seized the opportunity and stepped up to the mark.
13:50After a slow start on the opening stage, the Qatari got the hammer down on day two
13:55to race to a stage victory and the overall lead of the rally.
14:14It's good, you know, to win the stage, but we're really careful all the way
14:19because still a new rally for everyone and it's easy to make a mistake.
14:25But we try to keep it step by step, you know, and just to have a good result for this
14:31championship.
14:33Just 20 seconds further back came Yazeed Al-Rajji.
14:37The Saudi Arabian proving that he's not just capable on the sand
14:40and, in fact, is multi-talented across various surfaces.
14:44Drawing on all of his experience from the WRC, he lay second overall.
14:56That was until stage three, the longest of the rally, when he suffered a multiple barrel roll dropping 20 minutes.
15:03He was able to continue and even took a stage victory on four,
15:07but the damage was done and he was out of the fight for the win.
15:14We push and we catch the car in the front of us and we follow him around 40k.
15:21I can't pass him until neutralization and after neutralization we tell him,
15:25we need to pass him around and we wouldn't stand.
15:29I think we do it well.
15:33While Nasser Alatia was leading out front, the local focus was on hero and relative newbie to the ultimate class,
15:41Joao Ferreira.
15:41The Portuguese youngster was proving his mettle against the more experienced Alatia.
15:47Ferreira, a comfortable second overall and determined to bring his mini home on the podium
15:53and score a rostrum finish on his own soil.
16:03Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz was not getting all his own way on stage three.
16:08An overshoot costing him time and then a failed windscreen wiper motor added to his woes.
16:14Despite his mini looking very second hand, he still somehow managed to finish fourth on stage three
16:20and repeated that effort on stage four.
16:22With just one stage remaining, the Spaniard was in third overall and happy with how things were going.
16:32We tried to push as hard as possible and we are enjoying a little bit more today.
16:39And so into the final stage in the last 100km dash to the finish.
16:44A reasonably short effort but Sainz was dropping time and this man, Lucas Marais in the Toyota was in fourth.
16:51And he was on an absolute stormer, closing the gap and with every kilometre that passed,
16:56he got closer and closer to Sainz.
16:59Until the splits eventually showed Marais was up to third ahead of El Matador
17:04and at the final hour, he stole the final podium position for third.
17:11To be honest, what a fight.
17:14First of all, congrats to the whole organisation to put this race together.
17:17I think it's really important for the World Championship to have a European round.
17:21And we did it.
17:23We won today, back on the podium after some struggles on the second stage.
17:28But no, happy to finish in third overall, good points and keep going.
17:35Ahead of Marais came Joao Ferreira, confirmed in second in the mini and a brilliant, mature, consistent drive.
17:43He's proved his pace here in Portugal.
17:45Remember the name, this young man is going places.
17:49All the emotions through this week, the tension was really, really high.
17:53A lot of pressure from our side because we are the locals, let's say like this.
17:57But I think we managed quite well and I'm very happy.
18:00This is also my first race with a new partnership with Repsol.
18:03So I think we started the right foot.
18:06And that just left Nasser Alatir.
18:08He is, of course, familiar with Portuguese territory, having competed successfully in the Baja Porto Alegre in the past.
18:15And that experience clearly paid off this year.
18:18Since taking the lead of the category on stage two, the Qatari did not look back.
18:22It's two in a row.
18:23Your ultimate class winner in Portugal, Nasser Alatir.
18:27It was an amazing rally.
18:30I hope, you know, we keep it for next year because it's very important.
18:34And never we see like this spectator, you know.
18:38Thanks for everyone.
18:40We are so happy.
18:41Yes, this is good.
18:43Confirmation of Alatir's victory.
18:45Nearly three minutes clear of Ferreira with Marais nicking third.
18:49And making it three different manufacturers on the podium, Sainz rounds out the top four.
18:56All that means in the championship, Alatir now leads the charge with Sainz slipping to second.
19:01But only two points behind with just two events remaining on this year's calendar.
19:11And so on to the challenger class now.
19:14And with the terrain so dramatically different from the deep sand of the Dakar and Abu Dhabi,
19:18Portugal would really highlight the best all-rounders in the category.
19:23Luis Portela Marais was quickest out of the blocks winning the prologue stage.
19:27But with the top ten covered by just eight seconds, he set the scene for what will succumb over the
19:32next five days.
19:34Stage one, and it was local man Joel Diaz that took the win.
19:38Again, putting all of his local knowledge to good use, he overcame the wet and muddy conditions to take the
19:43early lead of the rally.
19:56But one man who quickly responded just as we would all expect is Sebastian Lowe.
20:03Stage two and the Frenchman showed why he is a nine times world rally champion.
20:08He can hop in anything and instantly get on the pace.
20:11That's exactly what he did to win the stage and lead the rally by nearly four minutes.
20:20Yeah, it was full attack. I think we did what we could with the car we have, so it was
20:26a big push.
20:29Couldn't do much better.
20:31But it would all fall apart for Lowe on stage three.
20:35After he passed through the 234km mark, the engine in his Taurus began to overheat.
20:41And short of cooking the cylinder head, he dropped an hour and limped to the bivouac.
20:46The charge for the win was gone.
20:52Instead, it was championship leader Rokas Baciuszka who got the hammer down.
20:56In a sprint to the finish versus Portela Marais, it was Baciuszka who took the stage win and jumped into
21:03the overall lead.
21:06I was pushing like hell actually. Two times almost a crash, but yeah, if you don't risk, you know, you
21:12never win.
21:13As the sun rose on the final day, Baciuszka's lead was over seven minutes.
21:18Instead, the battle was on for second place between Riccardo Perem, Alexandra Pinto and Nicolas Cavigliasso.
21:26Cavigliasso in the Taurus was the outsider, starting the day in fifth place overall,
21:31but he threw absolutely everything and more at the final 105km and the risk paid off.
21:37He not only won the stage, but did enough to climb up the overall leaderboard and finish in third.
21:43Next came local hero Armindo Araujo.
21:46The former World Rally Championship regular was a welcome addition to this year's BP Ultimate Rally Raid event
21:51and amongst stiff competition showed he still has plenty of natural pace.
21:59I'm really happy. The waist was fantastic. It was my first event in the World Championship.
22:05So I finished nine overall, second in the Challenger. So I'm really, really happy with this. So let's see the
22:13future.
22:13But up at the front and with all the hard work done already came Rokas Baciuszka.
22:19Winning stage three outright and leading overall since then, the Lithuanian did not need to push on the final day.
22:26In fact, it was a veritable Sunday drive, 11th fastest in the stage, but no matter. The main thing was
22:33wrapping up the win and that job had been ticked off.
22:39It's kind of different what we driving, you know, but yeah, it was more technical rally, but yeah, we are
22:46here. We finished first in our category.
22:48But yeah, thanks for all team, you know, who helps and yeah, two rounds more and yeah, now we are
22:55keeping good and need to keep going like that.
22:57Confirmation then of Rokas Baciuszka's overall victory over seven minutes clear of Armindo Orojo with Nicolas Cavigliasso rounding out the
23:05podium positions.
23:07All that means in the championship, Baciuszka now extends his lead to 34 points over Austin Jones. Cavigliasso moves up
23:15to third.
23:20And finally to the SSV category and local star Joao Monteiro set the early pace through stage one.
23:28He sent a clear message to the rest of the field that this was his home turf and he intended
23:33to win on it.
23:38It seemed only W2RC championship leader Yassir Sayedan was able to take the fight to Monteiro.
23:45He won stage two, but sadly a mechanical issue before stage three even began ended his charge.
23:58Spain's Riccardo Romillo had the pace to take stage victories.
24:01He clocked up two stage wins overall, but would have to settle for second place in the fight for the
24:06rally win.
24:08Nevertheless, the Spaniard delighted with his week's work.
24:17And that just left Monteiro.
24:20After a fast start, particularly over the first two stages of the event, he was able to back off the
24:26pace and manage his drive.
24:28Looking after his south racing Can-Am in the process, he arrived in Grandola after over a thousand kilometers of
24:34hard racing as the overall winner in the SSV category.
24:58And there is confirmation of Monteiro's victory. Over 13 minutes clear of Romillo in second with another local driver, Rui
25:06Serpa, in third.
25:07And in the championship, despite a difficult weekend for Yassir Sayedan, the Saudi Arabian continues to lead the category, 37
25:15points clear at the top.
25:20The riders and drivers loved it. The fans loved it.
25:25The tricky technical trails of the BP Ultimate Rally Raid delivered on every front.
25:30Next up, the championship heads for Argentina in June for the De Safia Ruta, and we'll be there to bring
25:35you every second of action.
25:37Until then, it's goodbye.
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