Stage 2 of the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal took the field on a loop around Grândola today. Sebastian Bühler clinched his maiden W2RC stage win in the Rally GP motorbike race. The Hero MotoSports rider rocketed to second overall, still trailing Tosha Schareina (Honda Monster Energy). Skyler Howes (HRC) stayed on the podium. Bradley Cox (BAS World KTM Racing) beat Romain Dumontier (Dumontier Racing) and Mathieu Dovèze (BAS World KTM Racing) to the line among the W2RC entrants in the Rally 2 motorbike race. The French trio Dovèze-Dumontier-Lepan remains at the top of the ranking. Over in Rally 3, the Amaral Bros, Gonçalo and Salvador, again prevailed in the stage and retained their positions at the summit of the leader board. In the quad category, it was another day, another victory for the championship leader, Manuel Andújar. The Argentinian padded his lead over CFMoto's Gaëtan Martinez and Antanas Kanopkinas. Nasser Al Attiyah (Nasser Racing by Prodrive) carried the day in the car competition and reclaimed the overall lead from Guerlain Chicherit (Overdrive Racing), who was forced to retire from the special. Over in the Challenger class, Nicolás Cavigliasso (Taurus Factory by Wevers) took the win ahead of Ricardo Porém and Austin Jones (Can-Am Factory). The stage winner vaulted past Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am Factory) and Mario Franco in the ranking. Meanwhile, in the SSV race, Yasir Seaidan (MMP) romped home ahead of Ricardo Ramilo and Sebastián Guayasamín (FN Speed), who make up the top 3 overall in this same order.
BULLSEYE FOR BÜHLER
Sebastian Bühler, the most Portuguese of the German riders, was born on German soil but moved to Portugal when he was three months old. Boasting dual nationality, he now lives in Relíquias, in Grândola, the epicentre of the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal. Where better to toast his first W2RC victory? Dominating stage 2 from flag to flag, the Hero MotoSports factory rider cashed in on his home advantage to become the twentieth rider to clinch an FIM stage win since the 2022 season. This makes him the fourth stage winner for the Indian maker, following in the slipstream of Joaquim Rodrigues, Ross Branch and Aaron Mare. In Rally GP, Bühler claimed victory ahead of Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Honda), who was out for redemption after receiving a 12-minute penalty yesterday. The Frenchman came in 1′09″ down and showed that he has the Portuguese tracks down to an art. He led the charge for the four Rally GP riders fielded by Monster Energy Honda, with Skyler Howes finishing third at 2′38″, Tosha Schareina fourth at 2′48″ and Pablo Quintanilla fifth at 4′58″. Schareina defended his lead, now reduced to 2′56″ over Bühler. Howes chipped 10 seconds off his deficit and is now 4′17″ back. VBA slipped under the ten-minute mark (+ 9′59″) with three more days to mount a comeback. He is eyeing up a pass on the championship leader, Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports), who struggled and dropped 8′30″ today. The Botswanan seems out of his element on the terrain in Portugal and missing the open desert landscapes that were more his forte in the Dakar and Abu Dhabi. Bradley Cox (BAS World KTM) had some catching up to do in Rally 2 after copping a 20-minute penalty yesterday. The South African put the pedal to the metal and clocked the fastest time of the day in his class, even taking the fight to some W2RC-registered riders. He outpaced the French duo of Romain Dumontier (Dumontier Racing) by 4′03″ and Mathieu Dovèze (BAS World KTM) by 4′34″. Dovèze is still perched at the summit of the ranking with 1′02″ in hand over "Dudu" and 4′48″ over Duust Rally's Jean-Loup Lepan. Cox, lagging by 6′52″, clawed back some of his lost time. It was a Portuguese hat-trick in Rally 3, with Gonçalo Amaral sealing the deal on Thursday after his win yesterday. This time round, he was faster than his brother Salvador and the veteran Pedro Bianchi Prata. Gonçalo padded his overall lead, now with 22 minutes to spare over Salvador. Manuel Andújar also claimed back-to-back wins in the quad race and remains undefeated since the prologue. The Argentinian put 5′03″ into Kamil Wiśniewski and 5′06″ into Gaëtan Martinez. The Frenchman is the Argentinian's closest pursuer, but the gap has widened to 8′57″.
CHICHERIT MESSES UP AS AL ATTIYAH DOUBLES DOWN
Guerlain Chicherit picked up right where he had left off yesterday, setting the pace at the first intermediate time check. However, drama unfolded before the second one. The overall leader made a mistake while attempting to dodge a motorbike in a ford and later damaged a suspension arm on a tree stump. The navigator Jean-Paul Cottret had warned drivers of these dangers. Nasser Al Attiyah and Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Racing) then dominated the timesheets all the way to the finish. The reigning two-time world champion clinched the stage win, adding to his prologue victory from yesterday. The Qatari put 1′11″ into his runner-up in the 2023 championship. Next came the JCW Minis of João Ferreira and Carlos Sainz at 1′46″ and 2′32″, respectively. Nasser Al Attiyah took the helm of the overall, a mere 20 seconds ahead of Yazeed Al Rajhi. The world championship leader, Carlos Sainz, is positioned on the podium at 2′30″, a razor-thin 2 seconds ahead of his Portuguese teammate. The tussle for the top spot and the podium places is shaping up to be a cracker! Meanwhile, today's action felt eerily reminiscent of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge for the "Fall Guys", Guerlain Chicherit and Guillaume de Mévius. It was a bad day at the office for the Belgian, who spent a whole hour dealing with brake gremlins and a snapped alternator belt that required an on-the-fly replacement. The duo of stuntmen, who landed in Portugal in third and fourth place in the championship, just a few points behind Nasser Al Attiyah, will now see their adversary pull clear. Over in the Challenger race, Nicolás Cavigliasso pulled off a blinder today among the W2RC entrants. Starting the day fourth overall, he capitalised on the slip-ups of Rokas Baciuška and Marcelo Gastaldi (BBR) to leap from the bottom step of the provisional podium to the top of the W2RC standings! The Argentinian now holds a 1′46″ cushion over the Lithuanian and a 2’06’’ margin over Mario Franco. In the SSV race, yesterday's headline acts lit up the stage again today. Yasir Seaidan crossed the finish line with 3′22″ to spare over Ricardo Ramilo and 4′13″ in hand over Sebastián Guayasamín. The Saudi now leads the rally by 1′18″ over the Spaniard and 7′26″ over the Ecuadorian.
Programme
- 5 april: Stage 3 - Grândola – Badajoz (FIM - Total : 616 km / SS : 374 km) (FIA - Total : 747 km / SS : 388 km ) ·
- 6 april: Stage 4 - Badajoz - Grândola (Total : 539 km / SS : 251 km) ·
- 7 april: stage 5 - Grândola – Grândola (Total : 144 km / SS : 103 km)
