Toyota achieves 1-2-3-4-5 in stage 1 of Rally Raid Portugal

Henk Lategan led a 1-2-3-4-5 for Toyota on the first stage of the BP Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal by winning the 302 timed kilometers in Grândola with a time of 2:30:21. The 425-kilometer stage in total had four different leaders during the route, with Seth Quintero losing over 17 minutes due to a broken brake disc.

The 425-kilometer stage in total, starting and finishing in Grândola, had four different drivers leading during the route. Nasser Al Attiyah set the initial pace before yielding positions to João Ferreira, later to Seth Quintero —who lost over 17 minutes due to a broken brake disc— until Lategan took the definitive lead.

Photo By A.S.O

Al Attiyah Penalized

Al Attiyah of Dacia Sandriders, winner of this event in 2024, crossed the line second but the stewards imposed a 3-minute 20-second penalty on him. The penalty combined a false start, speeding, and failure to meet a transfer time, relegating him to eighth place, 4:57 behind the winner.

Lucas Moraes and Ferreira completed the podium at 1:51 and 1:52 respectively, consolidating Toyota's power at the start of the rally. Saood Variawa (fourth at 3:03) and Yazeed Al Rajhi of Overdrive Racing (fifth at 3:52) kept five Toyotas in the top 5.

Carlos Sainz and Sébastien Loeb Lose Time

The drivers who opened the track faced adverse conditions on the Portuguese terrain. Carlos Sainz, who deliberately set the slowest time in the qualifying prologue to start first, finished tenth at 6:09. His strategy of opening the track did not yield the expected results for Ford M-Sport.

Sébastien Loeb, second in the starting order, finished sixth at 4:15 with his Dacia Sandriders, becoming the best non-Toyota driver of the stage. Loeb had adopted a conservative approach in qualifying to avoid mistakes on loose terrain, but the initial conditions of the stage hampered him.

Photo By A.S.O

Mattias Ekström Reverses Result

Ekström of EKS redeemed himself from his one-second defeat to Gonçalo Guerreiro in the qualifying prologue. Ekström relegated Guerreiro of Nasser Racing by over a minute in his sixth season victory in the Challenger category, equaling his Ultimate wins with 12 total victories in the championship.

The overall Challenger standings place Ekström in the lead by 1:07 over Guerreiro and 4:54 over Pim Klaassen of Daklapack Rallysport in third position.

Alexandre Pinto Extends Streak in SSV

Alexandre Pinto, the SSV championship leader, reaffirmed his status with a new victory by 13:54 over his teammate at Old Friends Racing, Enrico Gaspari. This marks the 27th victory for Portugal in the Side by Side Vehicle category, consolidating the country as the most successful above Poland (26) and Lithuania (22).

Pinto had set the best time in the qualifying prologue, placing his Polaris RZR Pro R just seven seconds off Al Attiyah's time in the overall standings.

Photo By A.S.O

Stage One Results - BP Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal

The second stage will take the caravan from Grândola to Badajoz on September 25th, with a total route of 655 kilometers that includes 429 timed kilometers, the longest special stage of the week. The rally concludes in Lisbon on September 28th with a short stage of 103 special kilometers.