● Stage 5, a 287 km loop around Lisbon featuring 103 km against the clock, brought down the curtain on the second edition of the bp Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal on Sunday.
● Daniel Sanders finished second in the stage, behind his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Luciano Benavides, to win the rally and secure the RallyGP world championship title with one round to go —an unprecedented feat!
● Edgar Canet landed the KTM factory team another victory in Rally2 and moved into the overall lead. Thomas Zoldos culminated his victorious debut in Rally3, while fellow Frenchman Gaëtan Martinez (CFMoto Thunder Racing) claimed the stage and the rally in the quad competition.
Daniel Sanders will forever be remembered as the first rider to claim the RallyGP title before the last event of the series. The Australian, who had been going from strength to strength in the three previous rounds, took it up to the fourth dimension in Lisbon. He crossed the finish line with 3′40″ to spare over runner-up Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda HRC), who proved unable to defend his title. "Chucky", who nabbed four specials out of six, is the fourth rider to sit on the FIM throne in rally raids, following Sam Sunderland (2022), Luciano Benavides (2023) and Ross Branch (2024). His stats are out of this world, including records for the most RallyGP specials won in a single season (15 out of 31, ongoing) and overall (23). The only box left for him to tick this year is to win the Rallye du Maroc and complete a Grand Slam in 2025.
Luciano Benavides put the cherry on the cake for KTM with the stage win and third place in the bp Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal (+12′41″), defeating the Honda factory rider Ricky Brabec (+14′34″) and moving up to second in the championship. An epic fight for the silver medal awaits in Morocco, with a mere 3 points separating Benavides, Schareina and Brabec. Ignacio Cornejo, sixth among the W2RC entrants in Portugal, flew the flag for Hero MotoSports, while Bradley Coxdid the same for Sherco TVS Rally Factory in eighth place.
RALLY2: CANET TAKES THE WIN AND THE LEAD
Edgar Canet could afford to ride conservatively in the finale, but his burning ambition propelled him to his fifth win of the week and thirteenth of the season. Combined with his victories at the Dakar and in South Africa, the Portuguese trophy makes him the first competitor to bag three Rally2 rounds in a single season since Mason Klein in 2022. The Spaniard crossed the finish line with 5′21″ in hand over the local hero and top-ranked Portuguese rider Bruno Santos (BS Frutas Patrícia Pilar) and 10′22″ over Michael Docherty (BAS World KTM). Canet also wrested the championship lead from Tobias Ebster (Hero MotoSports) by 21 points. Both the Austrian and Docherty, second at 14 points, have a shot at the title in Morocco.
RALLY3: ZOLDOS GETS IT RIGHT FIRST TIME
The Amaral Bros. (Wingmotor) were unable to repeat their flawless performance from last year, but they did stamp their authority on the final stage in Lisbon, with Salvador taking the win by 6 seconds over Gonçalo. It was nowhere near enough to rattle Thomas Zoldos, who had prevailed in the five previous specials and all but wrapped up the overall. The Frenchman burst onto the W2RC scene and seized the Rally3 championship lead, with Carlo Cabini (RS Moto) and Ralf Molander (Desert Fox Rally Project) as his closest pursuers. The title is his to lose in Morocco.
QUADS: MARTINEZ NABS THE TITLE AND TAKES CFMOTO TO THE TOP
Gaëtan Martinez and Antanas Kanopkinas, brothers in arms, were tied on points going into the Portuguese round, the season finale in the quad class. The Lithuanian had beaten the Frenchman in Abu Dhabi, only for the pendulum to swing the other way in South Africa. In other words, whoever prevailed in Lisbon was destined to win the title. Martinez claimed the race with 22′17″ in hand over Kanopkinas, who won the finale, to bag his first title and succeed his countryman Alexandre Giroud (2022), Laisvydas Kancius (2023) and Manuel Andújar (2024). Senegal's Alexis Varagne (Drag'On Distribution) rounded out the top 3, while Marek Łój (Poland National Team) stayed on the championship podium.
FIM World Rally-Raid Championship:
1. Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing): 113 points
2. Luciano Benavides (Monster Energy Honda HRC): 69 points (-44)
3. Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda HRC): 66 points (-47)
FIM Rally-Raid World Cup, Rally2:
1. Edgar Canet (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing): 88 points
2. Michael Docherty (BAS World KTM Team): 74 points (-14)
3. Tobias Ebster (Hero MotoSports): 67 points (-21)
FIM Rally-Raid World Cup, Rally3:
1. Thomas Zoldos: 25 points
2. Carlo Cabini (RS Moto): 20 points (-5)
3. Ralf Molander (Desert Fox Rally Project): 16 points (-9)
FIM Rally-Raid World Cup, quads:
1. Gaëtan Martinez (CFMoto Thunder Racing): 70 points
2. Antanas Kanopkinas (CFMoto Thunder Racing): 65 (-5)
3. Marek Łój (Poland National Team): 29 points (-41)
FIM World Rally-Raid Championship (manufacturers):
1. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing: 182 points
2. Monster Energy Honda HRC: 152 points (-30)
3. Hero MotoSports Team Rally: 52 points (-130)
FIM Rally-Raid World Cup, Rally2 teams:
1. BAS World KTM Team: 99 points
2. Xraids Experience: 59 points (-40)
3. SRG Motorsports: 41 points (-58)