Nearly 400 competitors will participate in the Baja Portalegre 500. The race, part of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas calendar, will take place from October 17th to 19th over hundreds of kilometers through the Alto Alentejo and Ribatejo regions. Organized by the Automóvel Club de Portugal, the event will also host the national cross-country championships and the Yamaha-promoted European Cup SuperFinale, promising excitement and spectacle for thousands of spectators.
The Baja Portalegre 500 is one of the most important races in the FIA World Cup and the highlight of the national off-road racing season. This 38th edition, organized by the Automóvel Club de Portugal, has drawn 383 registered teams—a record unmatched by other races—across various categories: Cars (98), Motorcycles (101), SSVs (94), Quads (29), Promo/Hobby (27), and Mini Baja (34). On the evening of Thursday, October 17th, drivers will be greeted by thousands of people during the starting ceremony at Jardim do Tarro in the heart of Portalegre.
Starting Friday, competitors will face a challenging course, made even more difficult by recent rains that hit the Alentejo and Ribatejo regions. The race covers 638.01 kilometers for cars (407.62 timed kilometers), 601.38 kilometers for motorcycles, SSVs, and quads (366.02 timed kilometers), and 229.79 kilometers for the Promo and Hobby categories (169.9 timed kilometers). A special viewing area at the Santa Margarida Military Camp, which will feature an exhibition by the Mechanized Brigade, along with a newly designed route in Bemposta (municipality of Abrantes), are among this year's highlights.
The service park and race operations center are located in Portalegre at NERPOR, which will also host the final press conference and award ceremony on Saturday.
João Ferreira fighting for the world title
The Baja Portalegre 500 is the fifth round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas and the last one held in Europe. It counts toward the world championship for drivers, co-drivers, and teams (in absolute terms and in the Ultimate, Challenger, and SSV categories) and is also the premier event for the FPAK and FMP Portuguese Cross-Country Championships.
In the car category, João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro stand out as contenders for the world title in Bajas with their MINI JCW T1+. The Portuguese driver, winner of the last two editions of the Baja Portalegre 500, claimed victory in the Baja Poland and now heads to Alto Alentejo as the main challenger to Argentine Fernando Alvarez, whose Can-Am is co-piloted by the experienced Xavier Panseri. This marks a true technological showdown between a powerful T1+ and an agile SSV.
Other T1+ prototypes are also expected to compete for top spots in the car category, including the Toyotas of João Ramos, Spain's Luis Recuenco, and young Francisco Barreto, as well as Alejandro Martins' MINI. The Challenger category also features several contenders for the win, such as World Cup leader, Argentina's Diego Martínez (Can-Am), Belgium's Ghislain de Mévius (OT3), and Portugal's João Dias (Can-Am), Armindo Araújo (Can-Am), Tiago Reis (Taurus), and Miguel Barbosa (Taurus), to name a few.
In the Portuguese Cross-Country Championship, João Ferreira and João Dias are separated by just nine points heading into Portalegre, and they promise to renew their recent battles for victory. Edgar Condenso (T1), Eduardo Rodrigues (T2), João Monteiro (T4), Johannes Senders (T8), Sérgio Mourato (T9), and Maria Luís Gameiro (Feminine) also lead their respective categories in the CPTT.
Soon, we will report all the other categories in this year's Baja Portalegre 500!