Stat of the week: 21
Portugal has reaped a bumper harvest of 21 specials —a W2RC record for the nation! Local competitors have won stages in every class they contested. João Ferreira grabbed 2 in Ultimate. His countryman Alexandre Pinto started on the back foot but rocketed to the top of the Challenger ranking with four consecutive victories. Portugal even completed a clean sweep of the SSV race, courtesy of Luís Cidade (stages 1, 3 and 4) and João Monteiro (stages 2 and 5). There was no shortage of victories on two wheels either: 5 in Rally2 thanks to Bruno Santos (3), Martim Ventura (1) and Micael Simão (1) and the same number in Rally3, all thanks to Gonçalo Amaral.
The local contingent snapped up 6 wins in 2024, 13 in 2025 and 21 this year. This meteoric rise illustrates the progression of the country on the international rally-raid scene, just a few months after Pinto and Bernardo Oliveira delivered Portugal's first-ever W2RC title in the SSV class.
106
The vicious, evenly matched struggle for victory between Daniel Sanders and Tosha Schareina will come to a head tomorrow, with the Australian 1′46″ ahead at the start. Granted, you could say KTM no. 1 has already done the difficult part by holding on to the lead today. It will also be able to capitalise on the traces of Honda no. 68. 101 km does not seem enough to swing the pendulum, but then again, Luciano Benavides toppled Ricky Brabec over a similar distance (105 km) to win the last Dakar. Back then, KTM denied Honda at the last minute. Now, it is up to Squadron Red to squeeze the Clockwork Orange.
1′46″. 106 seconds. So close, yet so far. The last time that the first and second riders had been so close with one stage to go in a W2RC round was the 2024 Desafío Ruta 40, nearly two years ago. At the time, Brabec set out with 1′27″ in hand over Schareina, and the Spaniard managed to erase all but 15 seconds of it. Can he go that last step tomorrow?
3
Stage 3 of the 2026 bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal delivered the 3rd stage win of the week for Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in RallyGP, as the Australian also broke through the 3-minute barrier over his closest rival in the overall standings, Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda HRC).
Bruno Santos (BS — Frutas Patrícia Pilar) also pocketed his 3rd victory of the 2026 edition, his 3rd on the bounce. Antanas Kanopkinas (CFMoto Thunder Force) also completed a 3-peat in the quad race. Only the Rally3 class feted a new FIM winner, with Murun Purevdorj (Xraids Experience) ending a streak of 3 victories by Gonçalo Amaral (Wingmotor).
The Ultimate winner, Lucas Moraes, became only the 3rd Dacia driver in history to take a stage win, following Nasser Al Attiyah and Sébastien Loeb. The Frenchman strengthened his grip on the FIA lead and is firmly in pole position for a 3rd W2RC victory, after the 2022 Andalucía Rally and the 2025 Rallye du Maroc.
In Stock, all 3 Defender drivers have now won a stage, with Stéphane Peterhansel joining Rokas Baciuška and Sara Price on the top step. Last but not least, Portugal remains unbeaten for a 3rd consecutive day in SSV, with Luís Cidade (South Racing Can-Am) and João Monteiro (Can-Am Factory) sweeping the lot.
Hat-trick
João Ferreira (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA) in Ultimate, Luís Cidade (South Racing Can-Am) in SSV and Bruno Santos (BS — Frutas Patrícia Pilar) in Rally2: Portugal has taken the spoils in three W2RC classes. Not much has changed since last season, when the last stage of the 2025 bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal, held around Lisbon, also witnessed a hat-trick by the host nation. Back then, it was Ferreira (already) in Ultimate, Gonçalo Guerreiro in Challenger and Alexandre Pinto in SSV. Ferreira is dreaming of taking home the FIA trophy of the third edition. He has four days to make it happen.
Stat of the day: 1
Jeremy Knuiman, sixth in the Enduropale du Touquet last month, is contesting his first W2RC round. The 23-year-old Dutchman hit the ground running and claimed his first win as the 123rd rider to prevail in a championship prologue or stage. It is also the first Dutch triumph on two wheels! Until now, the Oranje had picked up 7 victories in Challenger and 18 in Trucks. Rally raid diehards will recognise the name "Knuiman" from his father, Henk, who cracked the Dakar top 10 multiple times and helped to catapult Marc Coma to the top spot in 2011.
