UTV racing, regardless of discipline, has been predominantly a battle between Can-Am and Polaris. The Maverick had been the main hegemon for much of the early 2020s before Polaris invested more into developing the RZR for motorsport, triggering an arms race that has culminated in the Maverick R and RZR Pro R going blow for blow.

After Polaris won the Dakar Rally in January yet again, Can-Am was keen on striking back at the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal. On paper, it should be an easier fight as well since LOEB FrayMédia Motorsport only does Dakar and RZR Factory Racing since returned to the United States.

As it turned out, Miguel Barbosa’s got hands.

Racing a mostly stock RZR in the T4 subclass meant Barbosa was at a technical disadvantage compared to the more powerful Maverick R in SSV1, like those fielded by South Racing and the Can-Am Factory Team. Unsurprisingly, the latter teams were routinely the fastest as Luís Cidade and João Monteiro won all five stages.

Even then, Barbosa hung with them. He finished third in four of the five legs and second in Stage 3, taking the overall lead after the penultimate stage with 3:36 on Monteiro. Although Monteiro won Stage 5, he couldn’t close the gap on Barbosa.

“We had some issues with the fuel mixture, some problems leaving the special, and we’re without power steering,” said Barbosa after the last day. “It’s been an ordeal, but we’re here and the victory is secured.”

Since Barbosa isn’t registered for the World Rally-Raid Championship, Monteiro’s runner-up earns him maximum points ahead of teammate Jeremías González Ferioli. Although Monteiro won two stages, a technical issue in Stage 1 kept him stuck in seventh and then a flat tire 25 km from the Stage 3 finish relegated him to fifth for that day.

Cidade led the way with three stage wins and finished second to Monteiro in Stage 5. However, Stage 2 was his undoing when a mechanical failure struck 225 kilometers in and forced him to retire. That stage DNF also knocked him out of contention for the Road to Dakar, which Andréa Deldossi claimed instead.

When Cidade bowed out, the SSV overall was briefly a moment for Polaris as RZR drivers ranked first and second courtesy of Luís Portela Morais and Barbosa. Portela held onto the lead for two days before alternator issues took him out.

Jeremías González Ferioli rounded out the podium. With Portela’s retirement and José Gayoso finishing 11th, Barbosa was the only Polaris driver in the top ten.

Former Dakar Rally bike winner Matthias Walkner was one of the DNFs. His SSV driving debut, coming in a three-year-old Maverick that he didn’t expect to be competitive, was hampered by multiple mechanical issues that caused him to lose four-wheel drive several times. It also didn’t help that his Can-Am, being an older model, was too narrow and couldn’t fit properly into the ruts as Monteiro and other drivers’ cars.

Eventually, a gearbox failure ended his rally 33 km before the finish.

“It’s frustrating when you never really get into a proper rhythm and have to deal with technical issues most of the time,” said Walkner. “But that’s racing.”

Results

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	14	406	Miguel Barbosa*	Joel Lutas	BP Ultimate Adventure Team / JB Racing	T4	11:43:12	Leader
2	15	401	João Monteiro	Nuno Morais	Can-Am Factory Team	SSV1	11:45:13	+ 2:01
3	18	402	Jeremías González Ferioli	Gonzalo Rinaldi	Can-Am Factory Team	SSV1	12:00:09	+ 16:57
4	19	417	Andréa Deldossi*	Jeremy Tricaud	BTR	SSV1	12:06:06	+ 22:54
5	22	409	Paulo Jorge Rodrigues*	João Miranda	Rio Seco Racing	SSV1	12:26:37	+ 43:25
6	27	412	José Óscar Nogueira*	Arcélio Couto	Old Friends Rally Team	SSV1	12:52:20	+ 1:09:08
7	31	405	Mindaugas Sidabras	Ernestas Cesokas	Izoton Sport	SSV1	13:44:25	+ 2:01:13
8	33	410	Juan Piferrer	Xavier Blanco	Buggy Masters Team	SSV1	13:57:20	+ 2:14:08
9	37	407	Rúben Jorge Rodrigues*	Rui Paulo	Rio Seco Racing	SSV1	23:43:00	+ 11:59:48
10	41	415	Bruno Oliveira*	José Sá Pires	Bruno Oliveira	SSV1	30:29:07	+ 18:45:55
11	45	414	José Ignacio Gayoso*	Santiago Ramiro	JB Factory Racing	T4	33:34:54	+ 21:51:42
12	46	403	Luís Cidade	Valter Cardoso	South Racing	SSV1	34:06:56	+ 22:23:44
13	47	413	Filipe Lopes*	Gonçalo Reis	Rio Seco Racing	SSV1	35:21:15	+ 23:38:03
DNF	DNF	404	Pedro Mac Dowell	Daniel Spolidorio	South Racing	SSV1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	408	Luís Portela Morais*	David Megre	BP Ultimate Adventure Team / JB Racing	T4	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	416	Matthias Walkner*	Oliver Pyerin	Matthias Walkner	T4	DNF	N/A

Stage winners

Stage	Overall	Driver	Total Time
Stage 1	11	Luís Cidade	1:37:40
Stage 2	19	João Monteiro	2:58:04
Stage 3	14	Luís Cidade	2:59:09
Stage 4	12	Luís Cidade	2:54:35
Stage 5	8	João Monteiro	1:05:05

Featured image credit: Irina Petrichei / Edophoto / DPPI / ASO