The Quad category has been in decline over the years as manufacturer investment decreased, bottoming out last year when it only appeared at three of the five W2RC races. CFMOTO is trying to reverse that trend by running the “full” four-of-five schedule, though this in turns means the Thunder Racing Team’s riders are often the only competitive entries.

So it certainly made for a surprise when a Yamaha Raptor 700R was atop the leaderboard for the final BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal stage on Sunday. After spending the entire race in CFMOTO’s dust, Alexis Varagne set the fastest time in Stage 5, respectively beating Adomas Gančierius and Antanas Kanopkinas by 1:17 and 1:58.

Varagne, who did the Africa Eco Race earlier this year since quads are no longer allowed at the Dakar Rally before committing to the W2RC, was in Kanopkinas and Gančierius’ shadows for much of the rally. Electrical failures on his Yamaha forced him out of Stage 2 and ended his hopes of the overall, though he had been finishing behind the CFMOTOs in every stage by double-digit minutes.

The Senegalese rider was dealt a pretty bad hand to begin with since he’s a privateer compared to the factory-backed Thunder Racing riders, while the Gančierius–Kanopkinas duo could also ride together as teammates whereas Varagne was on his own. On the other hand, being the only other entrant in Quad meant he was still assured an overall podium.

Sunday looked to be more of the same as Gančierius and Kanopkinas led the way early on. However, Kanopkinas was also taking a more conservative approach to protect his overall lead while Gančierius—also out of overall contention—accompanied him.

“The tracks were very narrow and extremely slippery. Antanas and I agreed to ride together to avoid any issues,” Gančierius explained. “This stage really reflected the whole rally: there were mountains, speed, and in the end, mud as well. The rally was great and incredibly fast. I don’t remember another rally with this kind of pace. You always had to stay focused, because even a small mistake could turn you into a passenger.”

This allowed Varagne to close the gap before beating both of them, clearing Gančierius by 1:34 and Kanopkinas by 2:09 at the end of SS6 (Stage 5 was split into two Selective Sections). The CFMOTOs reduced the margins somewhat during the seventh and final special, though nowhere near enough to catch Varagne.

Varagne is the first non-CFMOTO rider to win a W2RC Quad stage since Marek Łój claimed Stage 5 of the 2025 “season-opening” Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge on his Yamaha.

“We’re wrapping up this first round on a high note. So, mission accomplished,” said Varagne.

“Despite a difficult start to the rally due to really bad weather and an electrical issue with the quad midway through the week, we’re leaving this rally with my very first stage victory in the championship and in rallying! And to have done it on one of the World Championship stages is a source of pride. Hoping this is the first of many.”

Quad wasn’t the only class with a milestone stage winner. Micael Simão, the 2025 Portuguese national champion, ended his first W2RC race with a stage victory in Rally2 as he beat Neels Theric by 20 seconds. Had Theric made up the gap, Kove would’ve gotten its first stage win outside of the Dakar Rally, where Theric had won twice in January.

Dacia capped off a strong race with Lucas Moraes and Nasser Al-Attiyah completing a 1–2 for the day in FIA, with just three seconds between them. Sébastien Loeb secured the overall win by finishing fourth. João Ferreira prevented the Sandrider podium sweep as he was 16 seconds in front of Loeb.

Mathieu Serradori rounded out the FIA top ten for the day to end a frustrating rally, lowlighted by crashing into a tree in Stage 3, on a high note. Mitchel van den Brink, on the other hand, had yet another mechanical issue that “threw a spanner in the works today.”

Stage winners

FIA

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
Ultimate	1	223	Lucas Moraes	Dacia Sandriders	1:03:07
Challenger	10	301	Alexandre Pinto	Old Friends Rally Team	1:05:32
SSV	11	403	Luís Cidade	South Racing	1:05:32
Stock	22	502	Rokas Baciuška	Defender Rally	1:07:39

FIM

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
RallyGP	1	1	Daniel Sanders	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	1:04:30
Rally2	4	8	Micael Simão	Xraids Experience	1:06:38
Rally3	19	69	Gonçalo Amaral	Wingmotor Honda	1:14:28
Quad	23	172	Alexis Varagne	Team Sénégal	1:18:08
Experimental	30	17	Pedro Bianchi Prata*	Offroad Center Bianchi Prata	1:22:09

Overall winners

FIA

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
Ultimate	1	219	Sébastien Loeb	Dacia Sandriders	10:58:52
Challenger	9	301	Alexandre Pinto	Old Friends Rally Team	11:32:44
SSV	14	406	Miguel Barbosa*	BP Ultimate Adventure Team	11:43:12
Stock	16	500	Stéphane Peterhansel	Defender Rally	11:57:33

FIM

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
RallyGP	1	1	Daniel Sanders	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	11:03:53
Rally2	5	35	Bruno Santos	BS Frutas Patrícia Pilar	11:24:39
Rally3	20	69	Gonçalo Amaral	Wingmotor Honda	13:02:26
Quad	23	171	Antanas Kanopkinas	CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team	13:44:02
Experimental	31	17	Pedro Bianchi Prata*	Offroad Center Bianchi Prata	16:15:15

Featured image credit: Alexis Varagne