Starting tomorrow, the ESC Online Baja TT Montes Alentejanos marks the beginning of the National Off-Road Championship.
The Alentejo region, with Beja as its nerve center, will host the opening stage of the National Off-Road Championship. There are 114 participants, divided into the Moto (45), Quad (17), and SSV (52) disciplines, who will face a route of 359.9 km over three days, with 288.65 km being timed. The 2023 champions, António Maio in the Moto competition and Luís Fernandes in the Quad, both on Yamaha, will defend their respective titles, while the reigning SSV champions, João Monteiro and Nuno Morais, will now join the ranks of car competition.
In the two-wheel category, where António Maio won his eighth National Champion title in 2023, the Yamaha rider will have as his main rivals Bruno Santos (Husqvarna), who won the last two stages in 2023, and Martim Ventura, who also won two races last year, including the 2023 edition of the Baja TT Montes Alentejanos, and now also competes with a Husqvarna. They will be joined by several Honda riders – Gustavo Gaudêncio, Fábio Magalhães, João Duarte, Tomás Dias, Gonçalo and Salvador Amaral – the brothers Bernardo and David Megre, both competing on Kawasaki this year, Micael Simão, and the newcomers Bruno Borrego on Sherco and Tiago Santos on AJP.
In the Quad category, champion Luís Fernandes (Yamaha) will have as his main rivals former champion João Vale, in a Can-Am Renegade XXC, and the young riders Tomás Paulo, Rodrigo Alves, and Tiago Ferreira, all on Yamaha.
Finally, in the SSV category, the list of candidates for victory is always extensive, but it is necessary to start with the names of Pedro Santinho Mendes, Hélder Rodrigues, Luís Cidade, and Nelson Caxias, all on Can-Am, drivers who have already tasted victories in recent years. Their main rivals will be Pedro Pinha, Sérgio Baptista, Vasco Martins, Herlander Araújo, Wilson Galo, and Pedro Grancha, also on Can-Am, and Tiago Guerreiro at the helm of a Polaris PRO R.
The ESC Online Baja TT Montes Alentejanos starts tomorrow, Friday, March 1st at 1:00 PM, with the departure from the closed park in Beja, followed by the departure of the first driver for a 7.4 km prologue, located near the Shooting Range at the ‘Cabeça de Ferro’ Estate. On Saturday, March 2nd, the departure from the closed park is scheduled for 7:00 AM and the start of the 1st selective sector, with a length of 140.6 km, will be given from 7:30 AM, repeating this schedule (and the route) in the 2nd selective sector, on Sunday, March 3rd.
About the 2024 edition of the race, Humberto Silva, president of the organizing club, CPKA – Clube de Promoção de Karting e Automobilismo, emphasized that “this is a completely renewed edition in terms of layout. It is a race that maintains the essence of being fast with a beautiful route, I would even say, it is fantastic. Paulo Fiúza, responsible for checking the roadbook, has already confided to us that this is the best layout ever. We are therefore confident that this race has everything to be a success again”.
The Baja TT Montes Alentejanos starts moving today, Thursday, February 29th, with the official presentation of all competitors starting at 8:00 PM at the event podium, located at the Beja Fair and Exhibition Park, better known as the “Ovibeja Park”.
