A mere 0.25s was the difference between Henrique Nogueira, the Baja Portalegre 500 SSS1 winner, and Mário Patrão, the second fastest. While the Honda CRF 250 rider had the goal of finishing this first duel in P1, the leader of the National Bike Championship opted for a conservative approach. Even so, he managed the second fastest time, in front of the German Sebastian Buhler, who ended up 5.53s from Nogueira.
Meanwhile, Patrão arrived at Portalegre with a 13 points advantage over Maio in the Championship, and won the first duel amongst themselves. Maio had problems with his Yamaha YZ450F and had to push his bike to the finish line over the last few hundred meters. The riders are now more than five minutes apart.
Ruben Alexandre was the strongest among Quads. The Yamaha rider completed the SSS1 5.52 km in 4:32.23s, while Ricardo Carvalho was 3.83s slower. The raining Champion Roberto Borrego was third. The Vicars brothers manage a 1-2 on the SSS1, with Teo taking the best over Roberto by only 0.21s. António Ferreira was third, 7.38s from the winner.
Tomorrow riders will face the 2014 Baja Portalegre 500 SS2 with an extension 380 km, with the first starting at 9h15.