Agencies
Grandola (Portugal)
After a storming prologue win, Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and his French co-driver Edouard Boulanger dropped to sixth in the afternoon session of Wednesday as Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit (Toyota) led the Rally-Raid Portugal overall standings after winning the opening stage.
Chicherit and his new French co-driver Mathieu Baumel completed the first of five stages of the third round of the Rally-Raid World Championship, in One hour and 13:54 minutes, while Saudi driver Yazeed Al Rajhi finished the day in second position. With the third fastest time of the day, Lucas Moraes confirmed Toyota’s dominance on the opening day.
Lithuanian Vaidotas Zala was tied at the third place with Moraes.
Driving a MINI, four-time Dakar winner and two-time WRC world champion, Carlos Sainz, was the fifth fastest of the day, ahead of W2RC’s two-time champion Al Attiyah.
The five-time Dakar Rally champion Al Attiayah had earlier topped the opening 3.53km Prologue stage at Grandola in the morning.
At the end of the opening stage, Al Attiyah was one minute 19 seconds behind the race leader.
Despite the minor setback, the champion driver promised to make a strong comeback.
“The stage was fantastic, with a lot of fans, good roads, and different surfaces. The machine is perfect, so tomorrow we’ll attack,” Al Attiyah said.
South African Saood Variawa (Toyota) was the seventh fastest of the stage, preceding the first national duo, Joao Dias / João Miranda. The Portuguese had an impressive performance with the light and agile Can-Am, being the first among national teams and leading the Challenger category.
Joao Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro performed well with the Ultimate category’s MINI, securing ninth place in the stage, ahead of Alexandre Pinto (Can-Am) and Rokas Baciuška, Can-Am’s factory pilot.
WRC legend Sébastien Loeb, making his debut in the Challenger category, finished the day in 12th place, just ahead of Armindo Araújo.
Earlier, a storming time of 3min 41sec was sufficient for Al Attiyah and Boulanger to win the opening Prologue.
The opening stage does not count towards the overall FIA W2RC classification but a good starting position is crucial for drivers and riders on the narrow and muddy rural tracks in Portugal.
Al Attiyah finished six seconds ahead of Brazilian Moraes in his Prodrive Hunter and was given the advantage to choose his favourable starting position for the opening 100.95km stage.
But the revelation of the Prologue was the performance of the three Portuguese crews of Luis Portela/David Megre (OT3), Miguel Barbosa/Luis Ramalho (Taurus) and João Dias/João Miranda (Can-Am), who finished second, third and fourth quickest and topped the times in the Challenger category.
Toyota takes the lead
The partnership of Guerlain Chicherit with navigator Mathieu Baumel, driving the Overdrive Racing’s Toyota Hilux, resumed perfectly (after almost two decades), with the French duo winning the first stage with a 28-second lead over their closest competitors. “We can’t complain. The car is flawless, the stages are very varied, and we managed a good pace throughout the day. But there are still many kilometers ahead, and this is just the beginning,” emphasized Chicherit.
Also behind the wheel of a Toyota Hilux, Yazeed Al Rajhi finished the day in second position, with the Saudi driver stating: “The rally is spectacular, congratulations to the organization, congratulations to the municipalities for supporting this sport. It’s fantastic to drive in Portugal in these special stages with so much support from the fans.”
With the third fastest time of the day, Lucas Moraes confirmed Toyota’s dominance on the opening day of the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal, with the Brazilian underlining: “Very fun, that’s what I can say! It’s always a pleasure to race here, we see a lot of people on the ground, and that gives us great motivation. The car is perfect. Being at the top of the World, among these legends... can’t complain!”
Lithuanian Vaidotas Zala, with Portuguese Paulo Fiúza as navigator, started from a modest 36th position but surpassed several cars in their MINI JCW Rally Plus, reaching third place tied with Lucas Moraes.
Also driving a MINI, the four-time Dakar winner and two-time WRC world champion, Carlos Sainz, was the fifth fastest of the day, ahead of W2RC’s two-time champion Nasser Al Attiyah. The Qatari driver, in turn, confirmed that “the stage was fantastic, with a lot of fans, good roads, and different surfaces. The machine is perfect, so tomorrow we’ll attack,” promised Al Attiyah.
South African Saood Variawa (Toyota) was the seventh fastest of the stage, preceding the first national duo, Joao Dias/Joao Miranda.
