In 1982, the first Portuguese contingent to race the Paris–Dakar Rally appeared in the form of three UMM Cournils piloted by Diogo Amado, Pedro Cortêz, and José Megre. Two years later, Megre and navigator Pedro Villas-Boas finished 42nd overall in their Cournil.

Inspired by their adventures in Africa, the duo decided to start their own race back home. The Rali Maratona de Portalegre – Finicisa took place on April 17–19, 1987, demanding the field of 199 to complete two 400-kilometer laps. António Baiona and José Costa took the auto win in their Mitsubishi Pajero while Paulo Marques and Marcos Carvalho topped the bikes on their Aprilia RX 250.

For the third edition in 1989, the race was switched to a single lap of 500 kilometers. It was accordingly renamed the “500 km Cervejas Sagres Portalegre”, then became the “Baja Galp 500 Portalegre” in 1997 followed by “Baja Porta da Ravessa 500 Portalegre”. Sponsors would change over the years, with 2026’s being a BP Ultimate-backed event, but this particular naming convention has stood the test of time since.

2026 marked the race’s 40th anniversary, and the festivities were aplenty.

An exhibition area was set up in the center of the service park for vehicles that competed and won throughout the baja’s 40-year history, surrounded by walls sporting a photo collage of several competitors as well as the 1987 course map. UMM was represented by João Pena Monteiro’s Cournil that ran the first two editions along with Alexandre Amaral’s UMM Alter Turbo. On the opposite end of the chronology was João Ferreira’s Mini JCW that claimed overall victory in 2023. In between were several bikes.

Others on display included a Pajero that raced in 1994 with Carlos Sousa and 1995 with Adriano Barbosa; João Fernando’s Fiat 127 from the inaugural race; Jorge Carretas’ Citroën Visa that won the 2WD class in 1991; and Volkswagen Beetle that Luís Almaça drove in 1992. The Nissan Navara with which Kenjiro Shinozuka suffered his near-fatal accident in the 2003 Dakar was also present, having been restored in the following years and driven by Marc Blázquez to victory in the 2006 Baja Portalegre.

The vintage UMMs led a procession at the beginning of each stage. They didn’t take part in the race itself save for three, two of whom—João Couto and João Almeida e Sousa—were in the UMM category while Gonçalo Morais finished runner-up in the Classic category.

As it has done since 2024, the Portuguese Army’s Brigada Mecanizada displayed some military vehicles along the route as passed Campo Militar de Santa Margarida. Unlike the past two years with the Leopard 2A6, M109, and M113, the unit displayed a pair of Pandur II 8×8 armored personnel carriers this time.

Ahead of the race weekend, a plaque was unveiled at a memorial to Megre, who passed away in 2009.

With his old car sitting in the service park, Ferreira naturally wanted to add another victory on this ruby anniversary. Alas, that didn’t happen.

An error made while leading SS2 sent his Hilux into a ditch and broke the gearbox, ending his hopes of defending his overall win. He called it an “incredibly amateurish, ridiculous mistake, but it is what it is.”

His SVR teammate Francisco Barreto salvaged the matter by taking the overall victory, beating the SSV of Gonçalo Guerreiro by three minutes. Barreto had been leading after the first day.

Ferreira was among several DNFs. Sean Haran was eliminated by an alternator failure, while Tomasz Białkowski had a brake failure. On the national side, Tonnie van der Hoeven crashed into a light pole while Ricardo Filipe flipped after getting loose while driving through a water crossing. Van der Hoeven still brought it home, albeit 13th and the penultimate finisher overall among CPTT drivers. Filipe likewise was 40th overall among FMP SSV drivers.

FIA

Ultimate

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	1	202	Francisco Barreto	Paulo Fiúza	Barata Racing Team SVR	Toyota Hilux Evo	T1+	5:28:22.0	Leader
2	6	200	Dania Akeel	Sébastien Delaunay	Overdrive Racing	Toyota Hilux Evo	T1+	5:38:06.2	+ 9:44.2
3	12	201	Lionel Baud	Lucie Baud	X-raid Team	Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0i	T1+	5:42:43.0	+ 14:21.0
4	17	209	Bruno Oliveira	Victor Jesus	767 / PRK Sport Rally Team	Ford Ranger	T1+	5:48:29.2	+ 20:07.2
5	21	211	César Sequeira	Filipa Sequeira	César Sequeira	Mercedes-Benz SLC350	T1.1	5:49:43.3	+ 21:21.3
6	22	212	Jorge Cardoso	José Motaco	Jorge Cardoso	Ford Ranger	T1.1	5:53:10.0	+ 24:48.0
7	24	210	Ronald van Loon	Erik Lemmen	Oase Motorsport	Toyota Hilux Evo	T1+	5:53:41.7	+ 25:19.7
8	26	215	Nuno Madeira	José Janela	Nuno Madeira	Ford Ranger	T1.1	5:55:15.2	+ 26:53.2
9	29	214	Hugo Raposo	Rafael Lutas	Prolama Competição	Nissan Proto X	T1.1	6:07:12.8	+ 38:50.8
10	35	203	Khalid Al-Jafla	Andrei Rudnitski	SRG Motorsports	Toyota Hilux Evo	T1+	6:42:48.9	+ 1:14:26.9
DNF	DNF	204	João Ferreira	Filipe Palmeiro	Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa	Toyota Hilux Evo	T1+	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	205	João Ramos	Jorge Carvalho	Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal	Toyota Hilux Evo	T1+	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	206	José Rogeira	Paulo Marques	767 / PRK Sport Rally Team	Ford Ranger	T1.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	207	Luis Recuenco	Sergio Peinado	GPR Sport	Toyota Hilux Evo	T1+	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	208	Alejandro Martins	Oriol Mena	Alejandro Martins	Mini John Cooper Works Rally 3.0d	T1+	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	213	Vitor Figueiredo	João Serôdio	Vitor Figueiredo	Toyota Hilux	T1.1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	216	Bert Mourik	Evert Boersma	Bert Mourik	Red-Lined VK56	T1.1	DNF	N/A

Challenger

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	5	310	Daniel Silva	Gonçalo Magalhães	Team Transfradelos	MMP T3	5:37:24.5	Leader
2	7	307	Edgar Reis	Fábio Ribeiro	Team Transfradelos	MMP T3	5:38:30.8	+ 1:06.3
3	8	300	Mitchel van den Brink	Bart van Heun	Eurol Rally Sport South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	5:38:418	+ 1:17.3
4	9	312	Nuno Matos	Ricardo Claro	Nuno Matos Race Team	Volkswagen Amarok	5:39:02.2	+ 1:37.3
5	14	301	Marek Kubiczek	Artur Kordala	Kubiczek Rally Team	Taurus Evo Max	5:45:55.4	+ 8:30.9
6	15	308	Alexandre Cardoso	Jaime Cortes	Alexandre Cardoso	Kaizen S1	5:46:51.8	+ 9:2.3
7	18	306	Ricardo Porém	Nuno Sousa	DaklaPack Rallysport	Taurus Evo Max	5:48:52.8	11:28.3
8	19	305	Mário Franco	Joel Lutas	Mário Franco	Can-Am Maverick X3	5:49:23.9	+ 11:59.4
9	23	321	Juan Gasso	Ion del Cid	Motor Club Sabadell	G Rally OT3	5:53:16.1	+ 15:51.6
10	28	313	Luís Carneiro	Hugo Magalhães	Luís Carneiro	MMP T3	6:01:48.0	+ 24:23.5
11	30	320	Daniel Pereira	Vasco Franco	Daniel Pereira	Can-Am Maverick R	6:07:20.5	+ 29:56.0
12	31	311	Edgar Condenso	Nuno Silva	Team Consilcar	Kaizen S1	6:14:14.1	+ 36:49.6
13	32	302	Lőrinc Mészáros	Albert Horn	M1 Motorsport	G-Rally G-Ecko	6:15:17.3	+ 37:52.8
14	33	314	Nuno Faria	João Martins	Benimoto Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	6:20:19.5	+ 42:55.0
15	34	319	Pedro Ruivo	Filipe Rasteiro	Pedro Ruivo	Can-Am Maverick X3	6:28:18.6	+ 50:54.1
DNF	DNF	303	Dinis Rogeira	Nélson Ramos	767 / PRK Sport Rally Team	Can-Am Maverick X3	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	304	Tiago Reis	Nuno Morais	Team Transfradelos	MMP T3	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	309	Alexandre Franco	Ricardo Batista	Alexandre Franco	Kaizen S1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	315	Tiago Patrocínio	Alexandre Coelho	Rio Seco Racing	Can-Am Maverick X3	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	316	Pedro Gonçalves	Arcélio Couto	BBR Motorsport	Odyssey CR-X	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	317	Eugenio Amos	Paolo Ceci	South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	318	Daniel Alonso	Sergio Fernandez	767 / PRK Sport Rally Team	Viking Challenger	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	322	Sérgio Vitorino	Rui António	Sérgio Vitorino	Can-Am Maverick X3	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	323	Edward Ruszczyc	Krzysztof Kubiś	RedFox	Taurus Evo Max	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	324	João Serra	Rui Marques	João Serra	MMP T3	DNF	N/A

SSV

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	2	409	Gonçalo Guerreiro	Pablo Moreno	BP Ultimate Adventure Team	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	5:31:31.9	Leader
2	3	412	Pedro Carvalho	Romeu Martins	Santag Racing	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	5:36:22.5	+ 4:50.6
3	4	408	Luís Cidade	Valter Cardoso	South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:36;51.9	+ 5:20.0
4	10	415	Alexandre Ré	Pedro Ré	South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:39:38.5	+ 8:06.6
5	11	413	Filipe Cameirinha Ramos	Jérémy Dubois	Benimoto Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:41:23.4	+ 9:51.5
6	13	404	Rúben Rodrigues	Rui Paulo	Rio Seco Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:44:25.1	+ 12:53.2
7	16	405	Filipe Lopes	Tiago Magalhães	Rio Seco Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:48:15.0	+ 16:43.1
8	20	401	Erik van Loon	Wouter Rosegaar	Van Loon Racing South Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:49:31.0	+ 17:59.1
9	25	403	Paulo Rodrigues	Fausto Mota	Rio Seco Racing	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	5:55:05.2	+ 23:33.3
10	27	411	Mário Ferreira	Miguel Silva	Santag Racing	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	5:57:55.3	+ 26:23.4
11	39	400	Hedda Hosås	Pol Tibau	R-X Sport	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	7:21:56.2	+ 1:50:24.6
DNF	DNF	402	Tomasz Białkowski	Dariusz Baśkiewicz	Kamena Rally Team	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	406	Ernest Kuś	Grzegorz Szymański	Wataha Racing Team	Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS Turbo RR	T4	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	410	Miguel Barbosa	Carlos Jorge Mendes	BP Ultimate Adventure Team	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	414	João Lourenço	David Monteiro	João Lourenço	Can-Am Maverick R	SSV1	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	417	Renato Duarte	Rui Pita	Santag Racing	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	418	Sean Haran	Martin Hales	Haran Plant Racing	Polaris RZR Pro R	T4	DNF	N/A

Stock

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	36	501	Fernando Barreiros	José Sá Pires	Fernando Barreiros	Isuzu D-Max	6:49:26.8	Leader
2	37	502	Majed Al-Thunayyan	Omar Al-Lahim	Majed Al-Thunayyan	Nissan Patrol	7:01:33.1	+ 12:06.3
3	38	503	Andrei Halabarodzka	Aleksei Ignatov	Andrei Halabarodzka	Toyota Land Cruiser	7:06:15.5	+ 16:48.7
4	40	500	Almashna Al-Shammari	Abdullah Al-Shammari	R-X Sport	Nissan Patrol	10:11:15.1	+ 3:21:48.3

National class winners

FPAK

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Time
T1+	4	700	Steven Rotsaert	Laure Rotsaert	DaklaPack Rallysport	Red-Lined Revo T1+	6:03:38.5
T1	1	703	Lino Carapeta	Fábio Carapeta	Lino Carapeta	Ford Ranger	5:51:31.0
T2	6	750	Américo Santos	Jorge Monteiro	Américo Santos	Nissan Pathfinder	6:18:59.7
T3	5	731	Alexandre Mota	Joaquim Serrão	Alexandre Mota	Kaizen S1	6:14:50.5
T4	9	741	Federico Ambrosetti	Lorenzo Ambrosetti	RPM Garage Racing Team	Can-Am Maverick X3	6:44:42.4
T8	3	760	Richard Timmerman	Lucas van Geest	Richard Timmerman	Toyota Hilux	6:02:58.9
TA	N/A	770	José Luís Vital	Manuel Lopes	José Luís Vital	SEAT Marbella GLX	7:44:41.1
UMM	N/A	780	João Couto	João Santos	João Couto	UMM Alter Turbo	5:01:32.2
Classic	N/A	790	Gustavo Morais	Miguel Mora	Gustavo Morais	Toyota Land Cruiser KZJ	57:15.9

FMP

Moto

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Vehicle	Time
TT1	4	58	Afonso Figueiredo	AN#123 | MotoGardunha | Alambique de Ouro Resort & Spa | RT Seguros	KTM EXC-F	5:17:36.8
TT2	2	3	Bernardo Megre	AN#123 | MotoGardunha | Alambique de Ouro Resort & Spa | RT Seguros	KTM 450 EXC	5:14:03.9
TT3	1	1	Micael Simão	Santag Racing	KTM 500 EXC	5:08:57.3
Trail	7	30	António Maio	Yamaha Portugal	Yamaha Ténéré 700	5:18:59.1
Maxi Trail	47	25	Joan Pedrero	Harley-Davidson	Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250	5:55:26.9

Quad and SSV

Class	Number	Competitor	Team	Vehicle	Time
Quad	151	Tomás Paulo	AN#123 | MotoGardunha | Alambique de Ouro Resort & Spa | RT Seguros	Yamaha YFZ450R	5:14:03.7
SSV	883	Gonçalo Guerra André Lopes	Santag Racing	Polaris RZR Pro R	5:13:12.2

Promo and Hobby

Class	Overall	Number	Competitor	Team	Vehicle	Time
Moto	2	602	Vasco Areia	Vasco Areia	Kawasaki KX250X	2:54:34.6
Moto Open	1	632	Rodrigo Amaral	Rodrigo Amaral	Hondra CRF450RX	2:50:40.0
Quad	9	641	André Gaiato	André Gaiato	Suzuki LT-R450	3:07:41.8
SSV	10	650	Daniel Russo	Daniel Russo	CFMoto Z10	3:09:07.6
Baja Vintage 40	14	630	Rui Xavier	Rui Xavier	TM EN 250	3:13:27.7
Maxi Baja	31	616	Luis Amorim	Neoparts Garmin Racing Team	Yamaha Ténéré 700	3:49:14.4

Featured image credit: Clube UMM