João Ferreira winning the Baja Portalegre 500 as the Portuguese Army watched has now happened two years in a row. Unlike in 2024, this year’s race was smoother sailing for him.

Now in a Toyota Hilux, Ferreira dominated the race from start to finish. He was the only driver to record a Prologue time under four minutes and had over 11 seconds on the next fastest car of Gonçalo Guerreiro. He increased his lead in Stage 1 as he beat Guerreiro and everyone else by over an hour.

An attrition-heavy, very wet Stage 2 (so much so that Toyota Gazoo Racing manager Jordi Duran quipped Ferreira’s Hilux was “swimming”) knocked out much of the field including Guerreiro, who was eliminated by a mechanical failure. While his opposition was removed from the picture, Ferreira avoided the same fate and held off Sean Haran—who was 47th overall and last in SSV after the first day—for the stage win.

“It was very difficult to drive these big cars between the trees and the mud, but we had an amazing car throughout the weekend,” said Ferreira. Although he didn’t run the full schedule, Ferreira won all four European Baja Cup races he entered: the season-opening Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura in May for Mini, the Baja Aragón in July for his maiden victory as a Toyota driver, and the other round in his native Portugal at the Baja TT Sharish Gin last month.

Stage 2 on Saturday ran past Campo Militar de Santa Margarida, where the Portuguese Army’s largest garrison is stationed. As they did for the 2024 race, the Brigada Mecanizada (Mechanized Brigade) brought out a Leopard 2A6 battle tank, M109 howitzer, and M113 armored personnel carrier and situated them along the course.

While they were placed next to a turn like last year, BrigMec had the M109 and Leopard on opposite sides of the road so competitors went between them. The section also doubled as an exhibit on the Army’s mechanized infantry for civilian spectators, who were allowed to approach the vehicles and speak with soldiers from BrigMec. The latter also watched the rally, some from the ground and others perched in the hatches.

“The Mechanized Brigade’s participation in this initiative strengthens the connection between the Army and the community, promoting the values ​​of proximity, team spirit, and resilience that characterize both motorsports and the Armed Forces,” reads a statement from the unit.

The vehicles and base weren’t the only things of military nature at the baja. António Maio, an officer in the Guarda Nacional Republicana (National Republican Guard) and occasional W2RC competitor, won the Trail class on his Yamaha Ténéré 700 Rally GYTR. The race’s FIA steward Kostyantyn Bevz, the first Ukrainian to hold such a position in international rally raids when he worked the 2024 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, has been on reserve for his nation’s armed forces amid the Russian invasion and helped donate vehicles to the AFU.

Maio usually races a WR450F Rally in the W2RC and bajas, but has increasingly tried his hand at the more powerful Ténéré that’s otherwise illegal for FIM rallies outside of Trail categories. His time was good for tenth among bike riders, while Micael Simão held off BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal Rally2 runner-up Bruno Santos for the overall win.

The race marked the returns of João Ramos and Ricardo Porém, both of whom had been sidelined by injuries. Unfortunately, they didn’t quite get the welcome-back they wanted. Porém, who missed Sharish Gin and the Rally Raid Portugal because of an accident in August, was taken out by a mechanical issue after running as high as fourth in the Prologue. Ramos, out of the driver’s seat since May because of right foot surgery, retired after a suspension arm broke.

Catie Munnings and Timmy Hansen, Extreme E teammates-turned-driver-and-boss in Extreme H, retired in the former’s return to cross-country rally after three years away. Hansen, a longtime rallycross star, was making his debut in the discipline as Munnings’ navigator.

Portalegre was the final round of the 2025 European Baja Cup. Bartłomiej Wajzer did not take part, but he still clinched the overall title since had a 74-point advantage over the next closest driver Włodzimierz Grajek, who couldn’t close the gap. He also claimed the Stock class title as the only driver entered as well as the new Baja Cup for Master Drivers (those over the age of 50).

Grajek still won the EBC’s Ultimate championship. Miguel Valero took advantage of Lőrinc Mészáros’ retirement to secure the Challenger crown. Afonso Oliveira kept Haran at bay to win SSV and the Junior Drivers Cup for drivers under 26.

Besides the EBC finale, it was also the sixth of eight rounds in the World Baja Cup. With two races left in the latter, Portugal was a crucial time for those making final pushing for WBC titles like Mitchel van den Brink, who finished third in SSV but earned max points since Luís Cidade and Luís Portela Morais are not registered for the World Cup.

“It was a nice rally,” van den Brink commented. “Scoring maximum points was the goal and we succeeded. The first day was mostly technical work. The local Portuguese were super fast: they know the stage, which has been held here for years, very well. We didn’t do anything crazy and were very satisfied after opening day.

“The Portuguese have much more knowledge of the terrain and that is certainly very important here. There were quite dangerous parts in the stages. Navigating was also very intensive here, but Bart (van Heun) was on top of it and navigated flawlessly. We focused on the result and we succeeded. We won both the general classification and our class. In total, we can add 83 points.”

FIA

Ultimate

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	1	200	João Ferreira	Filipe Palmeiro	Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa	Toyota Hilux Evo	T1+	5:37:02.2	Leader
2	6	201	Francisco Barreto	Carlos Silva	Barata Racing Team	Toyota Hilux Evo	T1+	5:52:49.8	+ 15:42.6
3	16	202	Włodzimierz Grajek	Michał Goleniewski	Grajek Rally Team	Toyota Hilux	T1+	6:12:25.4	+ 35:18.2
4	19	206	César Sequeira	Filipa Sequeira	César Sequeira	Mercedes-Benz 350SLC	T1+	6:16:05.6	+ 38:58.4
5	20	210	João Franco	Ricardo Batista	João Franco	Mini Paceman	T1.1	6:17:21.7	+ 40:14.5
6	21	205	Magdalena Zając	Błażej Czekan	Proxcars TME Rally Team	Toyota Hilux	T1.1	6:19:34.4	+ 42:27.2
7	22	209	Hugo Raposo	Rafael Lutas	Prolama Competição	Nissan Proto	T1.1	6:20:01.5	+ 42:54.3
8	23	212	Vincent Vroninks	Dave Berghmans	DaklaPack Rallysport	Red-Lined REVO+	T1.1	:22:42.9	+ 45:35.7
9	32	207	José Rogeira	Paulo Marques	PRK Sport Rally Team	Ford Ranger	T1.1	7:36:00.1	+ 1:58:52.9
10	33	208	Edgar Condenso	Nuno Silva	Prolama Competição	Ford Ranger EXR 05 Proto	T1.1	7:36:02.5	+ 1:58:55.3
DNF	DNF	203	João Ramos	Jorge Carvalho	Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal	Toyota Hilux Evo	T1+	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	204	Luis Recuenco	Daniel Oliverias	GPR Sport	Toyota Hilux	T1+	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	211	Nuno Madeira	Nelson Ramos	Nuno Madeira	Ford Ranger	T1.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	213	Sam Heyvaert	Dave Berghmans	DS Units	Red-Lined REVO+	T1.1	DNF	N/A

Challenger

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	3	306	Daniel Silva	Gonçalo Magalhães	Daniel Silva	Taurus T3 Max	T3.1	5:49:17.3	Leader
2	7	300	Sergei Remennik	Aleksei Ignatov	Nasser Racing	Taurus Evo Max	T3.1	5:53:29.7	+ 4:12.4
3	14	314	Luís Carneiro	Hugo Magalhães	Luís Carneiro	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.1	6:09:06.3	+ 19:49.0
4	24	311	Amândio Alves	Nuno Sousa	Cattiva Sport	Kaizen S1	T3.1	6:23:40.9	+ 34:23.6
5	26	316	Henk Klaassen	Sasha Siripanyavuthi	DaklaPack Rallysport	Taurus T3 Max	T3.1	6:31:30.0	+ 42:12.7
6	28	308	Nuno Faria	João Martins	Benimoto Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.1	6:38:33.1	+ 49:15.8
7	29	304	Miguel Valero	Carlos Ruiz	Gedeser XXI	VM Competición T34	T3.1	6:40:59.9	+ 51:42.6
8	30	309	Pedro Ruvio	Filipe Rasteiro	Pedro Ruvio	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.1	6:41:43.6	+ 52:26.3
DNF	DNF	301	Ricardo Porém	Henrique Damásio	Cattiva Sport	Kaizen S1	T3.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	302	Tiago Reis	David Monteiro	Team Transfradelos	Taurus T3 Max	T3.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	303	Lőrinc Mészáros	Albert Horn	M1 Motorsport	G Rally OT3	T3.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	305	Miguel Barbosa	Joel Lutas	BP Ultimate Adventure Team	Taurus T3 Max	T3.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	307	Edgar Reis	Fábio Ribeiro	Team Transfradelos	Taurus T3 Max	T3.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	310	Nuno Matos	Ricardo Claro	Nuno Matos	Volkswagen Amarok PROTO	T3.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	312	Roberto Gamboa	Herman Gamboa	Roberto Gamboa	Herrator HRX3	T3.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	313	Romuald Lasne	Delphine Delfino	PINCH Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	T3.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	315	Catie Munnings	Timmy Hansen	ASM Motorsport	Oryx T3 Evo2	T3.1	DNF	N/A

SSV

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	2	410	Luís Cidade	Valter Cardoso	South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:47:25.6	Leader
2	4	415	Luís Portela Morais	Carlos Mendes	BP Ultimate Adventure Team	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	5:50:45.8	+ 3:20.2
3	5	402	Mitchel van den Brink	Bart van Heun	Eurol Rally Sport / South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:50:45.9	+ 3:20.3
4	8	414	Alexandre Ré	Pedro Ré	South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:56:23.4	+ 8:57.8
5	9	413	Filipe Cameirinha Ramos	Jérémy Dubois	Benimoto Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	6:00:30.3	+ 13:04.7
6	10	417	Paulo Rodrigues	Fausto Mota	Rio Seco Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	6:00:39.2	+ 13:13.6
7	11	412	Herlander Araújo	Tiago Magalhães	Herlander Araújo	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	6:00:39.2	+ 16:00.6
8	12	404	Eugenio Amos	Paolo Ceci	South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	6:03:56.0	+ 16:30.4
9	13	408	Filipe Lopes	Gonçalo Reis	Rio Seco Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	6:06:23.5	+ 18:57.9
10	15	407	Balázs Molnár	Gabriella Molnár	M1 Motorsport	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	6:11:19.7	+ 23:54.1
11	17	405	Afonso Oliveira	Fábio Belo	Santag Racing	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	6:12:27.8	+ 25:02.2
12	18	406	Sean Haran	Martin Hales	Sean Haran	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	6:14:39.5	+ 27:13.9
13	25	422	Ricardo Santos	Robson Schuinka	Ricardo Santos	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	6:30:17.4	+ 42:51.8
14	27	424	Hervé Crêvecoeur	Paul Duramé	Crêvecoeur Racing	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	6:37:09.2	+ 49:43.6
15	31	411	Rúben Rodrigues	Rui Paulo	Rio Seco Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	6:56:31.3	+ 1:09:05.7
16	34	421	Kevin Haran	Paul Severn	Kevin Haran	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	7:45:26.3	+ 1:58:00.7
17	35	403	Amerigo Ventura	Erika Mingozzi	Quaddy Racing	Yamaha YXZ1000R	T4	9:44:35.6	+ 3:57:10.0
DNF	DNF	400	Gonçalo Guerreiro	Pablo Moreno	BP Ultimate Adventure Team	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	409	Tiago Guerreiro	Carlos Paulino	Tiago Guerreiro	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	416	João Monteiro	Nno Morais	South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	419	Olivier Goullioud	Grégory Revest-Arnoux	Olivier Goullioud	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	DNF	N/A

Stock

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
DNF	DNF	500	Fernando Barreiros	José Sá Pires	Fernando Barreiros	Isuzu D-MAX	DNF	N/A

CNTT class winners

Moto

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Vehicle	Total Time
TT1	5	8	Gustavo Gaudêncio	Offroad Center Bianchi Prata	Honda CRF250RX	5:31:19.1
TT2	2	2	Bruno Santos	BS Frutas Patrícia Pilar	Husqvarna FE 450	5:24:28.5
TT3	1	7	Micael Simão	Mundimat Racing Team	GasGas EC 500F	5:24:11.2
Trail	10	3	António Maio	Yamaha Motor Portugal	Yamaha Ténéré 700 Rally GYTR	5:46:13.2
Maxi-Trail	61	77	Alexandre Azinhais	Alexandre Azinhais	KTM 890 Adventure R	6:44:41.3

Quad

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Vehicle	Total Time
Open	1	163	Tomás Paulo	Team Arnaldo Martins / Gallos Group / Goldspeed	Yamaha YFZ450R	5:36:59.9

SSV

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time
SSV	1	1	Roberto Borrego	Daniel Jordão	Bitracing	Can-Am Maverick R	5:34:03.4
Stock	13	844	Arnaldo Monteiro	José Duarte	Mundimat Racing Team	Polaris RZR Pro R	5:50:54.7
S-TT2	38	867	Luís Lourenço	Ana Lopes	Luís Lourenço	Segway Villain SX10	6:30:51.8

National class winners

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time
T1	2	701	Jorge Cardoso	José Motaco	MMSport	Ford Ranger	6:07:30.1
T2	17	752	Pieter de Backere	Anthony de Backere	Oeste Racing Competition	Isuzu D-MAX	8:33:38.3
T3	3	712	Marco Cardoso	André Barras	MMSport	Can-Am Maverick R	6:10:18.9
T4	1	723	Daniel Pereira	Vasco Franco	Daniel Pereira	Can-Am Maverick R	6:03:54.6
T8	5	735	João Rato	Bruno Neves	João Rato	Mitsubishi ASX	6:13:21.0
T9	16	740	Joaquim Calado	João Filipe	Joaquim Calado	Nissan Terrano I	7:59:54.1

Featured image credit: Automóvel Club de Portugal