Baja Portalegre 500 with more than 400 participants and the World Champion

At the departure ceremony on Thursday night, 415 teams will pass through the center of Portalegre, distributed among the categories of Cars (112), Motorcycles (99), Quads (36), SSV (84), Promotion / Hobby (59), and Mini Baja (25).

The heavy rains of recent weeks may increase the difficulty level of the 439-kilometer timed route for cars (out of a total of 668.9 kilometers), the 368.1-kilometer timed route for motorcycles, SSV, and quads (total of 524.2 kilometers), and the 183.7-kilometer route for the Promotion and Hobby categories (240.3 kilometers in total). As usual, the competition starts with the popular Prologue of 3.7 kilometers at Herdade das Coutadas on Friday morning, which is followed by a selective sector with 61.8 kilometers timed. On Saturday, cars have two more selective sectors (totaling 373.5 kilometers), while motorcycles, SSV, and quads cover a single sector of 303 kilometers.

The service park and operational center of the race are located at NERPOR, which also hosts the final press conference scheduled for 6:00 pm on Saturday, and the prize-giving ceremony at 8:30 pm.

The return of Nasser Al-Attiyah

The Baja Portalegre 500 is the penultimate round of the FIA Bajas World Cup, preceding the rounds in Dubai and Jordan. Scoring points for the world competition of drivers, co-drivers, teams, T3 drivers, T4 drivers, and T4 teams, this is also the most important round of the Portuguese Off-Road Championships of FPAK and FMP. 

In the list of cars, Nasser Al-Attiyah stands out, the current leader of the Bajas World Cup, who recently became a two-time Rally-Raid World Champion at the Morocco Rally. The five-time Dakar winner will make his debut behind the wheel of a Prodrive Hunter, the same car that Sébastien Loeb has excelled with in the World Rally-Raid Championship and that will be in action for the first time in Portugal. Despite the illustrious career of the Qatari driver and prince, which includes world titles in rallies, TT, and a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, Al-Attiyah has never managed to win the Baja Portalegre 500. 

One of Al-Attiyah’s main rivals promises to be João Ferreira, who in 2022 became the youngest winner of Portalegre and a FIA World Cup event, now driving the Mini JCW T1+ with a biodiesel-powered engine. The former national and European champion, who recently won the Morocco Rally in the T4 category with Filipe Palmeiro, is familiar with the gasoline-powered Toyota Hilux T1+, where names like Saudi Yazeed Al-Rajhi, navigated by Timo Gottschalk, or national champions Tiago Reis and Valter Cardoso, arrive in Portalegre motivated by their third CPTT title. With extensive experience in Portalegre, João Ramos (navigated by Jorge Carvalho) and Miguel Barbosa (with Paulo Fiúza) are also contenders for top positions, also with the Hilux T1+. 

Last year, the T3 SSVs were just 21.7s away from an unprecedented overall victory in Portalegre, through João Dias and João Miranda (Can-Am), who return to the competition this year, as well as Luís Portela de Morais and Tomás Neves (ORT3), who closed the overall podium in 2022. In this category, there are several candidates for a prominent position, such as Armindo Araújo and Luís Ramalho (Can-Am), who led the race overall last year and currently lead the CPTT in the T3 class. Ricardo Porém, the only driver to win the Baja Portalegre 500 four times in a row (between 2014 and 2017), makes his debut in the T3 category with a Can-Am, on his way to his 15th participation! And what about the 33 participations (out of 37 possible) of Carlos Silva, a renowned navigator who this year accompanies the young Algarve driver Francisco Barreto, in a Toyota Hilux T1+… Titles up for grabs

In the motorcycles, the thrilling duel between António Maio and Simão Ventura from last year will not be replayed, decided in favor of the national champion by an incredible 0.1s after 414.2 kilometers. Simão Ventura recently got injured, but the motorcycles list has an extensive, quality lineup with the TT3 national title still to be decided. António Maio (Yamaha) has already renewed his absolute champion title and sets out in search of his ninth victory in Portalegre, on a weekend where Sebastian Bühler returns to national competitions with the official Hero team. Other highlights are the Honda riders – Gustavo Gaudêncio, Fábio Magalhães, João Duarte, Gonçalo and Salvador Amaral -, the Husqvarna riders – Bruno Santos, Miguel Castro, and Daniel Jordão – and also Bernardo Megre (KTM), David Megre (Kawasaki), Tomás Dias (Fantic), or André Sérgio (Beta). The TT3 title will be contested between Bruno Santos and Fábio Magalhães. In the quads, João Vale won last year and appears in Portalegre with the Can-Am Renegade XXC, but this year the fight for the champion title involves Luís Fernandes (Yamaha), the championship leader after three victories, and the young Rafael Carvalho (Yamaha) and Rodrigo Alves (Yamaha).The list of candidates for victory in the SSV is extensive and includes three former national champions who are in direct competition for the title: João Monteiro, Pedro Santinho Mendes, and Roberto Borrego, all in Can-Am. Gonçalo Guerreiro, the reigning champion and winner of the last two editions in Portalegre, leads the Polaris offensive, with his brother Tiago Guerreiro, while Luis Cidade, Hélder Rodrigues, and Nelson Caxias, all in Can-Am, also have arguments to fight for victory. In the Stock championship, the title will be decided between Nelson Saramago (Polaris), Rui Serpa (Can-Am), and Paulo Fernandes (Yamaha), who is the Portuguese representative in the European SuperFinale of the Yamaha YXZ1000R Cup, which is being held in Portugal for the fourth time. Mini Baja looking to the future The ACP event includes the Mini Baja category, aimed at young pilots aged 8 to 16, divided into the Infant, Initiate, and Juvenile classes. Integrated into the FMP Mini TT Championship, it is an important moment for those who aspire to follow in the footsteps of the national TT and Rally-Raid stars who have made history in Portalegre and Dakar. Domingos Cunha (Yamaha) and Bernardo Caiado (Gas Gas) lead the Juvenile and Initiate classes, while Francisco Porto Nunes (Yamaha) is already the champion among the Infants.The Mini Baja route includes a passage through the Prologue on Friday and a Selective Sector of about 85 kilometers (with a halfway stop for refueling) on Saturday. Baja Portalegre 500 is an Eco-event

The Baja Portalegre 500 has an Environmental Sustainability Plan that gives the event ACP’s “Eco-event” status. In partnership with the company Valnor and the municipalities of Portalegre, Ponte de Sor, Nisa, Gavião, Crato, Chamusca, Alter do Chão, and Abrantes, the organization aims to achieve measurable environmental sustainability goals throughout the event, in line with the environmental codes of the FIA and FIM. As in previous years, the work carried out with Valnor aims to reduce the amount of waste produced, separate packaging, and selectively collect and recycle waste. In the different locations where the event takes place, particularly in the areas with the highest public attendance (NERPOR, Prologue, and Spectacle Zones), containers and recycling bins are provided for waste sorting, and participants, assistance teams, and spectators are encouraged to contribute to the correct separation of waste. Local training and awareness-raising actions are also promoted to disseminate the best recycling practices.

At the end of the event, the amount determined by the collection of waste produced during the event, delivered by ACP to Valnor, will revert in full to the Volunteer Firefighters of Portalegre.