The Baja TT Montes Alentejanos marked the debut of the 2024 National Off-Road Championship, with victories for Martim Ventura, Rodrigo Alves, and Pedro Santinho Mendes.
Martim Ventura (Husqvarna) in the bikes, Rodrigo Alves (Yamaha) in the quads, and the duo Pedro Santinho Mendes / Duarte Santos (Can-Am) in the SSVs, were the big winners of the ESC Online Baja TT Montes Alentejanos, an event that, based in Beja and organized by CPKA – Clube de Promoção de Karting e Automobilismo, opened the 2024 season of the National Off-Road Championship.
The action started on Friday, with a short prologue of just over 7 km, where National Champion António Maio (Yamaha) took the lead on two wheels with an 11-second advantage over Martim Ventura, who was making his debut on a Husqvarna FE 501 after representing Yamaha in previous seasons.
Among the quads, Tomás Paulo (Yamaha) was the fastest, ahead of João Vale (Can-Am) and the reigning champion, Luís Fernandes (Yamaha). In the SSVs, Nelson Caxias (Can-Am), navigated by João Rodrigues, won a very contested prologue, finishing with a 2-second advantage over Hélder Rodrigues’ Can-Am.
On Saturday, the first selective sector took place, with 140 km on a fast track that pleased the majority of participants. António Maio in the motorcycles and Tomás Paulo in the quads repeated their dominance from the previous day, respectively ahead of Martim Ventura by 2m20s and Rodrigo Alves by 21s, while Pedro Santinho Mendes, after a flat tire in the prologue forced him to start the day in 27th position, finished in the lead among the SSVs, beating Hélder Rodrigues by 1m24s.
Sunday, the day of all decisions, once again featured a 140 km selective sector. Despite António Maio’s dominance throughout almost the entire race, a stroke of bad luck towards the end paved the way for Martim Ventura’s victory. António Maio would later mention on his social media that, after comfortably leading 90% of the race, he had a small fall towards the end and his Yamaha got stuck in a fence, causing him to lose a lot of time before getting back into the race. Despite this, he remained in the lead, but the motorcycle would eventually stop in a stream about half a kilometer from the finish line, managing to reach the finish “with a lot of luck,” securing 2nd place overall and victory in the TT2 class.
Martim Ventura declared himself “very happy” upon arriving in Beja, after winning the race with a 2m21s advantage and also taking victories in TT3 and the Junior class. “This victory is very important for the start of this new project. I am still adapting, but to leave here with a victory is fantastic. I feel like luck was on my side and I thank those who also give me that luck. I had an exciting duel in the final stretch and I was luckier. It was fantastic.” The 3rd place went to Bruno Santos (Husqvarna), ahead of Tomás Dias (Honda) and Bernardo Megre (Kawasaki), who closed the top 5 and won the TT1 class. Christophe Lajouanie (Sherco) triumphed among the Veterans, while Ivan Ferreira (Husqvarna) and Hugo Matias (KTM) respectively conquered victory in the Promotion and Trail classes.
Also in the Quad competition, the final stage shook up the standings, with young Rodrigo Alves (Yamaha) winning the duel he had with the renowned and former national champion João Vale who, riding a Can-Am Renegade XXC, dominated the selective sector, but not enough to reach victory. The two finished separated by one minute. “It was my first victory in Championship races. I hope to achieve more in the future. I am naturally very happy. I think I managed to set a good pace. I had a small fall in a corner where the throttle got stuck and I lost some time there, but I managed to recover and achieve victory,” said the young rider at the end of the race who is starting his second season in the CNTT. Third place for champion Luís Fernandes (Yamaha).
Finally, among the SSVs, the duo Pedro Santinho Mendes / Duarte Santos confirmed their good form from the previous day – although the fastest in this selective sector was Herlander Araújo – and won the first round of the year with a lead of 4m13s over Nelson Caxias/João Rodrigues, both in Can-Am. The 3rd place went to another Can-Am, driven by Hélder Rodrigues, who led the stage for over 60 km but suffered a setback that significantly delayed him.
The National Off-Road Championship continues with its second round at the end of this month, with the ‘Paraíso do TT’ Raid in Góis scheduled for March 28th to 30th.
