With the Quads not invited to the Rallye du Maroc, their W2RC season ended with the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal. Entering the race, the top of the standings was a deadlock between CFMOTO teammates Antanas Kanopkinas and Gaëtan Martinez, meaning whoever finished ahead of the other would win the title.

Due to issues that plagued Kanopkinas, Martinez would ultimately come out on top.

Kanopkinas had edged out Martinez by just 30 seconds to finish second at the 2024 BP Ultimate Rally-Raid, and both riders kept it close as the 2025 edition began. They set near-identical times in the Prologue, and Kanopkinas got the edge by just half a second.

Stage 1 went Martinez’s way as he beat Kanopkinas by 1:16. However, their duel very quickly became one-sided the next day when Kanopkinas hit a tree and damaged his suspension arm, causing him to fall behind by nearly 40 minutes.

Kanopkinas made up roughly half the lost ground by winning Stage 3 while Martinez was 19 minutes back in third, though both riders had their issues with flat tires. The final blow to Kanopkinas’ hopes came when he msised a corner in Stage 4 and bent the rear suspension arm; although he finished second in Quad, he was once again behind Martinez.

With Martinez leading by a comfortable 24:27 entering the last stage, he could afford to take it easier to secure the title. Indeed, Kanopkinas won the stage with Martinez 2:10 back.

CFMOTO became the first manufacturer besides Yamaha to claim a Quad championship.

“I’m delighted with the rally win and the championship title,” said Martinez. “This is a huge accomplishment for me and for CFMOTO.”

After missing out by just five points, Kanopkinas was gracious in defeat.

“I am where I am. Second place is a very solid and strong result,” said Kanopkinas. “I lost only to my teammate, I’m very happy for him as well. As team manager, I’m extremely proud that we secured first and second places in the championship. I want to keep building on what we are doing together as a team.”

Alexis Varagne joined them on the overall podium. He had suffered a small engine problem in Stage 3 that cost him 20 minutes, but made it safely to the finish.

Marek Łój, the only other rider to do all three races (Quads are also not at Dakar), was not classified because of two stage penalties.

Results

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	25	174	Gaëtan Martinez	CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team	15:45:20	Leader
2	29	173	Antanas Kanopkinas	CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team	16:07:37	+ 22:17
3	33	175	Alexis Varagne	Team Drag’on Distribution	17:06:58	1:21:38
4	46	172	Marek Łój	Poland National Team	NC	N/A

Stage winners

Stage	Overall	Rider	Time
Prologue	26	Antanas Kanopkinas	5:25.3
Stage 1	29	Gaëtan Martinez	3:16:26
Stage 2	26	Gaëtan Martinez	3:55:03
Stage 3	25	Antanas Kanopkinas	3:51:53
Stage 4	27	Gaëtan Martinez	3:02:32
Stage 5	28	Antanas Kanopkinas	1:12:55

W2RC

Rank	Rider	Points	Margin
1	Gaëtan Martinez	70	Leader
2	Antanas Kanopkinas	65	– 5
T-3	Marek Łój	16	– 54
T-3	Alexis Varagne	16	– 54
5	Marcin Wilkołek	13	– 57

Featured image credit: Helena Clancy / Edophoto / DPPI / ASO