KEY POINTS - FIM
It is a statistical law: Daniel Sanders has never lost two days in a row in the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal. It was true in 2025 and it remains just as true this week. Beaten yesterday, the KTM man came back swinging, dominating the 501 km loop around Badajoz ahead of Bruno Santos (+59″) and Tosha Schareina (+1′44″), his closest pursuer since the show got on the road. His third stage win of the week consolidates his grip on the overall, now 3′11″ ahead of the Honda factory rider and 5′31″ clear of Santos, who is level on time with Adrien Van Beveren. On the flip side, Sanders faces the unenviable task of opening the course towards Loulé tomorrow, with Schareina lurking right on his tail. "Anything can happen", warned the Spaniard.
Good things come in threes for Bruno Santos in Rally2 as well. Like Sanders, the Portuguese rider took his third win of the week in his class, a performance that padded his overall lead over Martim Ventura astride a Honda (+12′40″) and Neels Theric on board a Kove (+14′46″). Santos continues to turn heads, more than holding his own against the RallyGP pros.
A hat-trick, too, for Antanas Kanopkinas (CFMoto Thunder Racing), who got his own back in the quad class. The Rally3 winner, Murun Purevdorj (Xraids Experience), netted Mongolia its first ever W2RC victory.
KEY POINTS - FIA
Sébastien Loeb (The Dacia Sandriders) must be growing quite fond of Badajoz. It was on this very same loop that the Frenchman claimed his first victory at the event last year, and it was here again that he pocketed stage 2 yesterday before padding his overall margin today (see Performance of the Day). It was a commanding performance delivered with real class. Although he came in second to Lucas Moraes (+1′46″), the man from Alsace gained time on his closest overall rivals, the Toyota drivers Guy Botterill (not his usual self today) and Seth Quintero. Loeb now heads the rally by 1′27″ over the American and 1′34″ over Moraes.
The Brazilian was the other hero of the day, taking his maiden win with Dacia (see Stat of the Day) and hauling himself back into contention. Dacia have plenty to smile about, but also reason to wince. Beyond the one-two from the other two Sandriders, Nasser Al Attiyah saw his hopes of a second Portuguese title go up in smoke (see A crushing blow). The Qatari was forced out of the special, as were Henk Lategan (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC) and Mathieu Serradori (Century Factory Racing).
In the Stock class, Stéphane Peterhansel (Defender Rally) claimed his first stage win of the week and seized the overall lead in a show of authority. In Challenger, Alexandre Pinto (Old Friends Rally) made it two in a row and broke clear in the standings. Fellow Portuguese driver Luís Cidade (South Racing Can-Am) also took his second stage win of the week in SSV, bouncing back in style after his DNF yesterday.
