Baja Portalegre 500
FIM Bajas World Cup, round 6
October 27-29, 2022
After 413km of competitive action, Fabio Magalhães claimed victory in the motorcycle category at the sixth round of the FIM Bajas World Cup in Portugal. Junior Nelly Caisona topped the quad rankings and Gallini triumphed in the SSV section at Baja Portalegre 500.
On Friday, after the 3.36km Qualifying Stage and the 59.61km of SS2, Magalhães (Honda) took the lead in the FIM motorcycle category, ahead of Veteran rider Pedro Bianchi Prata (Honda),Bahraini Salman Farhan (KTM), Rui Ferreira (Honda) and Rafael Marques (Honda). Unfortunately, Micael Simão was forced to retire after a fall.
In the quads, the Saudi rider Hani Al-Noumesi (Yamaha) was ahead of the Czech – the only girl and Junior in the running - Nelly Caisona (Yamaha), who received a 30-minute penalty for not coming to the time control at the regrouping area after the Qualifying Stage.
In SSV, the Tinaburri/Tinaburri crew (Yamaha) held the upper hand, ahead of Gallini (Yamaha) and Catania/Paulino, who took a two-minute penalty for speeding. They were followed by Piccini/Gentilotti (Yamaha), who were awarded 27 minutes of penalties for not pulling over to let a faster competitor pass.
After a fascinating opening day, Saturday’s action featured a third stage of 350km in length. It had been dry in Portalegre, but no-one had predicted a violent apocalyptic storm which fell in the vicinity of the special stage and the city itself and made the surface very slippery.
At the end of this long day, with many returning at night, Magalhães managed to seal the win ahead of the Veterans, Bianchi Prata, Ferreira and Marques, while Farhan brought up the rear.
In the quads, despite her heavy penalty the day before, Nelly Caisona won the Quad, Women's and Junior categories. Hani Al-Noumesi was second in the quads.
In SSV, after the retirement of the Tinaburri/Tinaburri crew, victory went to Gallini ahead of Catania/Paulino and Piccini/Gentilotti.
The next round of the FIM Bajas World Cup will take place in Saudi Arabia on November 10-12.
All results on Sportity code BAJA500MOTO