The very tough 184.3 km of Selective Sector 3 put João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro in command of the Baja Portalegre 500 among cars.
The weather conditions left the floors with a lot of water and mud, a terrain where the Mini JCW Plus T1+ duo was the most effective, now having an advantage of 1m04.7s overall over Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Prodrive Hunter T1+). This afternoon’s Selective Section will decide the winners of the 37th edition of the Automóvel Club de Portugal race.
Winner of the Baja Portalegre 500 last year, João Ferreira put himself in a good position to fight for another victory this year, being the fastest in the tough SS3, this morning. “We had some difficulties with the mud and we rode behind Nasser, who was having problems. We lost a lot of time there. But this is Portalegre and there are still many kilometres to go”. The heavy rains of recent weeks left the floors of Alto Alentejo quite muddy and the rivers along the route with a flow of water even more challenging for machines and drivers, conditions in which João Ferreira and navigator Filipe Palmeiro were the strongest.
The returning Nasser Al-Attiyah, who already confirmed the FIA Bajas World Cup title in Portugal, was left without a windshield wiper in the Prodrive Hunter T1+, sailed by Mathieu Baumel. “Very hard from the beginning, as the windshield wipers stopped working. We still stopped and, as a result, lost a lot of time. Let’s see how it goes in the afternoon.” Even so, Al-Attiyah beat Saudi Arabian Yazeed Al-Rajhi, accompanied by Timo Gottschalk, who occupy third place overall, 2m43.4s behind João Ferreira, after also having problems with fogging on the windshield of his Toyota Hilux. T1+.
The SSVs in the T3 category, which were just 21s away from winning the 2022 edition overall, through João Dias and João Miranda, have precisely the Can-Am duo as the best representative, in fourth place, 3m32.6s ahead of João Ferreira. Luís Portela de Morais came in second place overall at km 119, but the GRally driver was late. Miguel Barbosa and Paulo Fiúza (Toyota Hilux T1+) currently complete the top 5, just ahead of Armindo Araújo and Luís Ramalho (Can-Am Maverick X3), who are in the fight for the national title in the T3 category. In the T1 category, Alexandre Franco and Rui Franco are, for now, the leaders, despite problems with the Mercedes 350D’s turbo.
The competitors will now face the decisive Selective Sector 4, in the afternoon, to find the winners of the 37th Baja Portalegre 500.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and TikTok and see the exclusive content for social networks.
