Finishing on a Saturday, rather than the more traditional Baja conclusion on a Sunday, the three-day event is based out of the Portalegre municipality in the Alentejo region of eastern Portugal.

It has attracted 65 entries, with 17 crews registered in the Ultimate category, 25 in Challenger, 19 in SSV and four in Stock. A dozen are chasing points in the FIA World Baja Cup with 11 concentrating on the FIA European Baja Cup.

Five crews chasing points in the FIA World Baja Cup’s Ultimate category head the field but the leading two men in the overall Drivers’ Championship are absent.

Saood Variawa leads the series and the Ultimate category. The Toyota Gazoo Racing SA driver won the Jordan Baja outright and has scored 232 points from four events so far. Six scores from a possible eight count towards the championship but he is not present in Portugal.

There is an emphasis on class-based results in the series with success in other categories also counting heavily towards the Drivers’ and Navigators’ Championships. The absent Emirati Mansour Al-Helai leads the SSV section in an R-X Sport Can-Am and trails Variawa by just 20 points.

The top seed in Portugal is the former Middle East Baja champion Dania Akeel: she holds third in the rankings, just two points behind Al-Helai in her Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux. Akeel faces Ultimate competition from the father and daughter duo of Lionel and Lucie Baud in a petrol-engined X-Raid Mini JCW Rally, the Portuguese Toyota crews of Francisco Barreto/Paulo Fiúza and the in-form João Ferreira/Filipe Palmeiro and Emirati Khalid Al-Jafla with his navigator Andrei Rudnitskiy.

The Challenger category is set for a thrilling climax over the final three rounds in Portugal and the Middle East. Mitchel Van Den Brink has a two-point lead over Hamed Al-Wahaibi in the rankings, with Master driver front-runner Al-Wahaibi hoping to return from injury on the last two rounds. Van Den Brink is the only competitor chasing Challenger points in the FIA World Baja Cup in Portugal.

While Al-Helai is setting the pace amongst the SSVs, there are plenty of points available for the likes of Norwegian Junior pace-setter Hedda Hosås, Dutchman Erik van Loon and Pole Tomasz Bialkowski to hunt him down.

Saudi Arabia’s Al-Mashna Al-Shammeri currently leads the way in the Stock category for series-production cross-country machines from fellow Nissan driver Majed Al-Thunayyan. They are separated by just 16 points. Portugal’s Fernando Barreiros has won two of the last three rounds and is 52 points behind the leader.

FIA European Baja Cup wide open in absence of leading duo

With two rounds of the FIA European Baja Cup remaining in Portugal and Hungary next month, Lithuania’s Benediktas Vanagas and Aisvydas Paliukenas have the bit between their teeth and a 22-point advantage in the Drivers’ and Navigators’ Championships.

The Gurtam Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltics crew have five scores on the board from a possible six and that has opened the door for Poland’s Maríusz Wiatr and Łukasz Łaskawiec to make a late bid for the title in a Ford F-150 Evo. Neither crew, however, has made the trip to Portugal.

João Ramos and João Carvalho (Toyota) will duel with fellow countrymen José Rogeira and Paulo Marques (Ford) for Ultimate points in Portalegre.

A disappointing result at the recent Baja TT Sharish Gin has cost former series leader Paulo Rodrigues ground in the title race and the Rio Seco Racing star holds third, 23 points in front of Can-Am team-mate Rúben Rodrigues. The Portuguese duo are the class of the SSV category with fellow countryman Filipe Lopes a distant third in the rankings. Poland’s Ernest Kús and local driver Herlander Araújo join the trio in chasing European points in Portalegre.

Junior category champion-elect Dinís Rogeira was overtaken in the battle for Challenger honours by Marek Kubicek at the last round and the Pole now leads the series by seven points after three successive wins in Poland, Spain and Portugal. It’s a two-way race to decide the outcome with Nelson Ramos 50 points clear of Dominik Ragiel in the Navigators’ series. Kubicek also leads the Master Driver section by 15 points from absent Ultimate driver Karel Trněný.

The Hungarian duo of Lőrinc Mészáros and Albert Horn will be hoping to spoil the two-way fight for the title in their G Rally Team G-ECKO.

Fernando Barreiros is locked in a duel with Andrei Halabarodzka for Stock honours. The pair are separated by just 16 points. Aleksei Ignatov leads the Navigators’ series by 27 points from José Marques.  With Barreiros opting to chase points in the FIA World Baja Cup, Halabarodzka and Ignatov are the sole crew chasing Stock points in the European series.      

Much of the remainder of the sizeable entry is made up of crews chasing points in the competitive Portuguese Off-Road Championship.  

A Prologue of 5.02km at Herdade das Coutadas will determine the starting order for the afternoon’s opening 72.01km stage that runs from Ponte de Sor to Crato on Friday (October 16th).

The bulk of the competition takes place on Saturday (October 17th) with increased competitive distance on the 2025 edition and a pair of demanding stages of 172.08km and 186.18km between Ponte de Sor, Gafete and Portalegre.

In an extended route of 699.20km, 435.29km will be timed against the clock (subject to final route checks).

40th Baja Portalegre 500 – entry list:

Ultimate

200. Dania Akeel (KSA)/Sébastien Delaunay (FRA)                                                      Toyoya Hilux Evo*

201. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA)                                                     X-Raid Mini JCW 3.0i*

202. Francisco Barreto (POR)/Paulo Fiúza (POR)                                        Toyota Hilux Evo*

203. Khalid Al-Jafla (UAE)/Andrei Rudnitskiy (BLR)                                    Toyota Hilux Evo*

204. João Ferreira (POR)/Filipe Palmeiro (POR)                                         Toyota Hilux Evo*

205. João Ramos (POR)/João Carvalho (POR)                                             Toyota Hilux Evo+

206. José Rogeira (POR)/Paulo Marques (POR)                                          Ford Ranger+

207. Luis Recuenco (ESP)/Sergio Peinado (ESP)                                         Toyota Hilux Evo

208. Alejandro Martins (POR)/Oriol Mena (ESP)                                        X-Raid Mini JCW 3.0d

209. Bruno Oliveira (POR)/Victor Jesus (POR)                                             Ford Ranger T1

210. Ronald van Loon (NED)/Erik Lemmen (NED)                                      Toyota Hilux Evo

211. César Sequeira (POR)/Filipe Sequiera (POR)                                      Mercedes 350 SLC Coupe

212. Jorde Cardoso (POR)/José Motaco (POR)                                           Ford Ranger

213. Vítor Figueiredo (POR)/João Serôdio (POR)                                        Toyota Hilux

214. Hugo Raposo (POR)/Rafael Lutas (POR)                                              Nissan Proto X

215. Nuno Madeira (POR)/José Janela (POR)                                              Ford Ranger

216. Bert Mourik (NED)/Evert Boersma (NED)                                           Red-Lined VK56

Challenger

300. Mitchel van den Brink (NED)/Bart van Heun (NED)                          Can-Am Maverick R*

301. Marek Kubicek (POL)/Artur Kordala (POL)                                          Taurus Evo Max+

302. Lőrinc Mészáros (HUN)/Albert Horn (HUN)                                        G Rally Team G-ECKO+

303. Dinís Rogeira (POR)/Nelson Ramos (POR)                                          Can-Am Maverick X3+

304. Tiago Reis (POR)/Nuno Morais (ESP)                                                   MMP T3 Rally Raid

305. Mário Franco (POR)/João Miranda (POR)                                           Can-Am Maverick X3

306. Ricardo Porém (POR)/Nuno Sousa (POR)                                            Taurus Evo Max

307. Edgar Reis (POR)/Fábio Ribeiro (POR)                                                 MMP T3 Rally Raid

308. Alexandre Cardoso (POR)/Jaime Cortes (POR)                                   Kaizen S1

309. Alexandre Franco (POR)/Ricardo Batista (POR)                                 Kaizen S1

310. Daniel Silva (POR)/Gonçalo Magalhães (POR)                                    MMP T3 Rally-Raid

311. Edgar Condenso (POR)/Nuno Silva (POR)                                           Kaizen S1

312. Nuno Matos (POR)/Ricardo Claro (POR)                                             Volkswagen Amarok

313. Luís Carneiro (POR)/Hugo Magalhães (POR)                                      MMP T3 Rally-Raid

314. Nuno Faria (POR)/João Martins (POR)                                                 Can-Am Maverick X3

315. Tiago Patrocínio (POR)/Alexandre Coelho (POR)                               Can-Am Maverick X3

316. Pedro Gonçalves (POR)/Arcélio Couto (POR)                                     Odyssey CR-X

317. Eugenio Amos (ITA)/Paulo Ceci (ITA)                                                   Can-Am Maverick R

318. Daniel Alonso (ESP)/Sergio Fernandez (ESP)                                      Bairons SRT Viking

319. Pedro Ruivo (POR)/Filipe Rasteiro (POR)                                            Can-Am Maverick X3

320. Daniel Pereira (POR)/Vasco Franco (POR)                                          Can-Am Maverick R

321. Juan Gasso (ESP)/Ion Del Cid (ESP)                                                       G Rally Team OT3

322. Sergio Vitorino (POR)/Rui António (POR)                                            Can-Am Maverick X3

323. Edward Ruszczyc (POL)/Krzysztof Kubis (POL)                                   Taurus Evo Max

324. João Serra (POR)/Rui Marques (POR)                                                  MMP T3 Rally Raid

SSV

400. Hedda Hosås (NOR)/Pol Tibau (ESP)                                                    Can-Am Maverick R*

401. Erik van Loon (NED)/Wouter Rosegaar (NED)                                    Can-Am Maverick R*

402. Tomasz Białkowski (POL)/Dariusz Baśkiewicz (POL)                         Polaris RXR Pro R*

403. Paulo Rodrigues (POR)/Fausto Mota (POR)                                        Can-Am Maverick R +

404. Rúben Rodrigues (POL)/Rui Paulo (POR)                                             Can-Am Maverick R +

405. Filipe Lopes (POR)/Tiago Magalhães (POR)                                        Can-Am Maverick R+

406. Ernest Kús (POL)/Grzegorz Szymanski (POL)                                      Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS RR+

407. Herlander Araújo (POR)/Tiago Leite (POR)                                         Polaris RXR Pro R+

408. Luís Cidade (POR)/Valter Cardoso (POR)                                             Can-Am Maverick R

409. Gonçalo Guerreiro (POR)/Pablo Moreno (ESP)                                  Polaris RXR Pro R

410. Miguel Barbosa (POR)/Carlos Jorge Mendes (POR)                          Polaris RXR Pro R

411. Mário Ferreira (POR)/Miguel Silva (POR)                                            Polaris RXR Pro R

412. Pedro Carvalho (POR)/Romeu Martins (POR)                                                      Polaris RXR Pro R

413. Filipe Cameirinha (POR)/Jérémy Dubois (FRA)                                   Can-Am Maverick R

414. João Lourenço (POR)/David Monteiro (POR)                                     Can-Am Maverick R

415. Alexandre Ré (POR)/Pedro Ré (POR)                                                    Can-Am Maverick R

417. Junior Duarte (POR)/Rui Pita (POR)                                                      Polaris RXR Pro R

418. Sean Haran (GBR)/Martin Hales (GBR)                                                Polaris RXR Pro R    

419. Kevin Haren (GBR)/Max Delfino (FRA)                                                 Polaris RZR Pro R

Stock

500. Al-Mashna Al-Shammeri (KSA)/Abdullah Al-Shammeri (KSA)         Nissan Patrol*

501. Fernando Barreiros (POR)/José Sá Pires (POR)                                  Isuzu D-Max*          

502. Majed Al-Thunayyan (KSA)/Fahad Al-Sufyani (KSA)                          Nissan Patrol*

503. Andrei Halabarodzka (BLR)/Aleksei Ignatov (ESP)                             Toyota Land Cruiser+

*denotes registered for FIA World Baja Cup

+denotes registered for FIA European Baja Cup

Timetable of events

Thursday, October 15

Administration checks, NERPOR                                            07.30-16.00

Scrutineering checks, NERPOR                                               09.00-18.00

Press conference, Jardim do Tarro – Portalegre             21.00hrs

Ceremonial start, Jardim do Tarro – Portalegre              21.30hrs

Friday, October 16

Prologue – 5.02km, Coutades                                                 10.45hrs

SS1 – 72.01km, Ponte de Sor                                                  14.30hrs (first car)

Saturday, October 17

SS2 - 172.08km, Ponte de Sor                                                 07.50hrs (first car)

SS3 - 186.18km, Ponte de Sor                                                 13.15hrs (first car)

Podium ceremony, NERPOR                                                    17.00hrs

Post-event press conference, NERPOR                               17.30hrs

Prize giving ceremony, NERPOR                                            19.30hrs

Ends