The 34th Baja Portalegre 500 is already on the tracks of Alto Alentejo. Having completed almost 80 kilometers against the clock, Sebastian Buhler, who won the last two editions, is in the lead. The Hero ryder is almost a minute ahead of the runner-up, his teammate Joaquim Rodrigues. Bruno Santos, fastest in SS1, occupies the third place more than two minutes away. One of the day’s moments was the abandonment of António Maio due to engine problems on his bike.
In the first stage of the Baja Portalegre 500, the ryders faced very difficult weather conditions. The strong rain that fell almost all morning left the courses very muddy and with demanding conditions of adhesion. At the controls of the bike that he will use in the Dakar, Sebastian Buhler explained, in the preview, that he wants to do more kilometers with this larger Hero. But he guaranteed, from the start, that he is able to fight for the triumph because “this bike is very competitive”, he said.
His performance on the track confirmed the potential of the Hero 450 Rally and Buhler registered the best time in the 75 kilometers of the second selective sector. The leader of the FIM World Cup in Bajas took the lead after having seen Bruno Santos (Husqvarna) impose his pace in the first match of the day, along the 3.4 km of SS1. The then leader left for the afternoon round ahead and showed that only the Hero’s pilots have a superior pace.
At the end of the day, Joaquim Rodrigues, who had been third in SS1, appears in second place in the overall classification. Also riding an Hero 450 Rally, Buhler's teammate confirmed the Indian builder's dominance.
“Everything went flawlessly. It was more difficult because of the level of water we found on the track. But it is good to be this hard, so that we may have a Baja as it used to be. The bike was good and we will try to do the same tomorrow. It is more complicated to ride a motorcycle with these characteristics in this type of terrain, especially with so much water, but it is running beautifully. Tomorrow we will continue in this way, ”said Sebastian Buhler.
André Sérgio also entered the competition organized by the Automóvel Club de Portugal with the right foot, registering the second best time in the first selective sector. But in the longest section of the day, he dropped in the classification and occupies, at the end of the inaugural stage, the 18th place.
António Maio out
The leader of the national championship, António Maio, was one of the victims of the 34th Baja Portalegre 500. With an eye on the champion title, he left with confidence. In SS1 he was fourth and finished ahead of direct opponents. However, a problem with the Yamaha engine forced him to give up. At this moment, the WR Rally driver can still be crowned champion but it depends on the result of the second placed in the championship, Martim Ventura, who occupies the 20th place in the general classification.
Tomorrow the second stage of the Baja Portalegre 500 will take place in 2020. From the front, the pilots have a selective sector with more than 300 kilometers in length. The first ryder starts a new challenge against the stopwatch at 9:30 am.