João Ferreira’s Portuguese Cross-Country Championship (CPTT, Campeonato Portugal de Todo-o-terreno) title defense is off to a good start. He dominated last weekend’s season-opening Baja TT Montes Alentejanos by winning both stages, giving him plenty of momentum going into next week’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

Driving his usual Mini JCW 3.0d, Ferreira cleared the Toyota Gazoo Hilux of João Ramos by over a minute in the first stage. Ramos had lost some time in the Prologue because the fire suppression system went off; he finished that section in sixth, 23 seconds behind Ferreira. Too far back to catch Ferreira after Stage #1, Ramos raced conservatively on the second and final day and placed third behind Ferreira and Taurus T3 Max driver Tiago Reis. Ferreira had 3:14 on Reis.

With the CPTT opener wrapped up, Ferreira now heads to the ADDC for the second round of the W2RC. He finished eighth in the Dakar Rally last month.

“It was a perfect weekend,” he said. “We won all the stages and secured the maximum points for the championship. Thanks to X-raid for this amazing weekend.”

After sacrificing his shot at the T4 title in 2024 to focus on desert rallies ahead of his Dakar debut, Gonçalo Gurreiro swept the class to kick off 2025. João Dias narrowly lost by 33 seconds.

Dave Klaassen was forced to retire after a battery exploded on his Red-Lined REVO during Stage #2. He and Tessa Klaassen got away safely, though the team was not certain as to the cause.

Nuno Madeira’s Ford Ranger was fastest in T1 before a transmission failure knocked him out. On the T3 side, Nuno Matos was gunning for a top five when the brake pump broke just 10 kilometers into SS2 on his Volkswagen Amarok.

All but six drivers entered were competing for the Taça Ibérica de Todoo-Terreno (Iberian Off-Road Cup), a joint trophy between the CPTT and Spain’s national championship CERTT. Miguel Barbosa was the highest placing non-TITT driver in fourth ahead of Edgar Reis, Hugo Raposo, Nuno Faria, David Carreira, and Jorge Franco. Filipe Cachopas, Edgar Condenso, Alejandro Martins, Nuno Matos, and Richard Timmerman did not finish.

CPTT results

T1

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Time	Margin
1	10	562	Jorge Cardoso	Andre Barras	MMSport	Ford Ranger	4:23:31.7	Leader
2	11	513	César Sequeira	Filipa Sequeira	César Sequeira	Mercedes-Benz 350SLC	4:24:08.0	+ 36.3
3	12	514	Lino Carapeta	Fábio Carapeta	Lino Carapeta	Ford Ranger	4:24:23.5	+ 51.8
4	14	563	Sérgio Matos	Sebastião Dominguez	Sérgio Matos	Toyota Hilux	4:25:30.9	+ 1:59.2
5	19	534	Hugo Raposo	Rafael Lutas	Prolama Competição	Nissan Proto	4:43:32.8	+ 20:01.1
6	21	565	Jasper Herman	Evert Blauw	DaklaPack Rallysport	Red-Lined VK50	4:45:13.1	+ 21:41.4
7	35	573	Vitor Figueiredo	Amílcar Damião	Vitor Figueiredo	Mini Cooper D Prototype	6:17:42.1	+ 1:54:10.4
DNF	DNF	510	Miguel Casaca	Carlos Jorge Mendes	Miguel Casaca	Volkswagen Amarok	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	520	Joel Marrazes	José Motaco	Joel Marrazes	Mercedes-Benz V230 TD	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	567	José Rogeira	Paulo Marques	PRK Sport Rally Team	Ford Ranger	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	577	Nuno Madeira	Nelson Ramos	Nuno Madeira	Ford Ranger	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	591	Edgar Condenso	Nuno Silva	Prolama Competição	Ford Ranger EXR 05 Proto	DNF	N/A

T1+

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Time	Margin
1	1	501	João Ferreira	Filipe Palmeiro	X-raid Mini JCW Team	Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0d	3:56:23.3	Leader
2	2	599	João Ramos	Jorge Carvalho	Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal	Toyota Hilux	4:00:50.3	+ 4:27.0
3	6	515	Francisco Barreto	Carlos Silva	Francisco Barreto	Toyota Hilux Overdrive	4:08:28.6	+ 12:05.3
4	32	527	Pedro Dias da Silva	José Janela	Pedro Dias da Silva	Ford Ranger	5:42:33.6	+ 1:46:10.3
DNF	DNF	509	Luis Recuenco	Daniel Oliverias	GPR Sport	Toyota Hilux	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	561	Dave Klaassen	Tessa Klaassen	DaklaPack Rallysport	Red-Lined REVO T1+	DNF	N/A
DNS	DNS	548	Alejandro Martins	David Monteiro	Alejandro Martins	Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0d	DNS	N/A

T2

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Time	Margin
1	25	572	Eduardo Rodrigues	António Nunes	Eduardo Rodrigues	Toyota Land Cruiser	4:56:48.8	Leader
2	34	524	Jorge Franco	Vasco Franco	Franco Sport	Nissan Navara D22	6:07:28.4	+ 1:10:39.6

T3

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Time	Margin
1	3	511	Tiago Reis	Paulo Fiúza	Team Transfradelos	Taurus T3 Max	4:02:42.9	Leader
2	4	532	Miguel Barbosa	Hugo Magalhães	BP Ultimate Adventure Team	Taurus T3 Max	4:07:11.6	+ 4:28.7
3	8	538	Edgar Reis	Fábio Ribeiro	Team Transfradelos	Taurus T3 Max	4:17:48.8	+ 15:05.9
4	9	540	Pedro Santinho Mendes	Vítor Mendes	Old Friends Rally Team	Can-Am Maverick X3	4:22:50.3	+ 20:07.4
5	16	570	João Rato	Vitor Hugo	GPR Sport	GPR 24	4:37:45.9	+ 35:03.0
6	23	545	Nuno Faria	João Martins	Benimoto Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	4:53:15.4	+ 50:32.5
7	26	512	Daniel Silva	Gonçalo Magalhães	Team Transfradelos	Taurus T3 Max	5:07:25.8	+ 1:04:42.9
8	27	533	Pedro Ruvio	Filipe Rasteiro	Pedro Ruvio	Can-Am Maverick X3	5:07:27.7	+ 1:04:44.8
9	28	583	Paulo Rodrigues	Fausto Mota	Rio Seco Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	5:23:39.4	+ 1:20:56.5
10	31	588	David Carreira	António Serrão	Prolama Competição	Can-Am Maverick X3	5:36:36.8	+ 1:33:53.9
11	33	523	Alexandre Franco	Rui Franco	Franco Sport	Yamaha YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype	5:47:54.6	+ 1:45:11.7
DNF	DNF	506	Pedro Carvalho	Romeu Martins	Santag Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	518	Alexandre Cardoso	Jaime Cortes	MMSport	Can-Am Maverick X3	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	528	Nuno Matos	Ricardo Claro	Nuno Matos	Volkswagen Amarok PROTO	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	560	Filipe Cameirinha	José Marques	Benimoto Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	569	Filipe Nascimento	João Serôdio	PRK Sport Rally Team	PH Sport Zephr	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	571	Sérgio Vitorino	Daniel Carvalho	Sérgio Vitorino	Can-Am Maverick X3	DNF	N/A

T4

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Time	Margin
1	5	519	Gonçalo Gurreiro	Pablo Moreno	JB Racing	Polaris RZR Pro R	4:06:17.2	Leader
2	7	529	João Dias	Rui Pita	Santag Racing	Polaris RZR Pro R	4:08:50.5	+ 33.3
3	13	530	Herlando Araújo	Tiago Magalhães	Old Friends Rally Team	Can-Am Maverick X3	4:25:07.5	+ 16:50.3
4	15	531	Rúben Jorge Rodrigues	Rui Jorge Moreira	Rio Seco Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	4:31:26.4	+ 23:09.2
5	20	581	Tomás Filipe Simão Lopes	Ivo Miguel Antão Prieto	Rio Seco Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	4:43:37.4	+ 35:20.2
6	22	544	Afonso Oliveira	Fábio Belo	Benimoto Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	4:50:27.4	+ 42:10.2
7	24	517	Dinis Rogeira	José Carlos Silva	PRK Sport Rally Team	Can-Am Maverick X3	4:53:49.2	+ 45:32.0
8	29	508	Luís Cidade	Valter Cardoso	South Racing Can-Am	Can-Am Maverick X3	5:24:59.6	+ 1:16:42.4
9	37	526	José Faria	Marco Macedo	MMSport	Can-Am Maverick X3	7:00:12.2	+ 2:51:55.0
DNF	DNF	521	Paulo Duarte	Ivo Santos	PRK Sport Rally Team	Can-Am Maverick X3	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	564	Filipe Lopes	Gonçalo Reis	Rio Seco Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	DNF	N/A

T8

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Time	Margin
1	17	574	João Paulo Oliveira	Pedro Cação	João Paulo Oliveira	Nissan D21	4:40:52.5	Leader
2	18	505	Johannes Senders	Kala Senders	Oeste Racing Competition	Fiat Fullback Proto	4:41:25.1	+ 32.6
DNF	DNF	504	Cláudio José Carapeta	Ségio Inocêncio	Cláudio José Carapeta	Bowler Wildcat Proto	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	507	Filipe Cachopas	Pedro Inácio	Filipe Cachopas	BMW 346L Proto	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	549	Richard Timmerman	Hendrik Geest	Oeste Racing Competition	Toyota Hilux	DNF	N/A

T9

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Time	Margin
1	30	555	Miguel Teodoro	Vitor Rosado	Miguel Teodoro	Nissan Navara D21	5:29:52.9	Leader
2	36	516	Leonor Barreto	Sérgio Cerveira	Leonor Barreto	Nissan Pickup 2.7 TDI	6:58:06.0	+ 1:28:13.1
DNF	DNF	595	Sérgio Mourato	José Pereira	Sérgio Mourato	Nissan Navara D22	DNF	N/A

Featured image credit: Ricardo Oliveira / GO Agency