Positive day for TGR on Rally-Raid Portugal Stage 3

Stage 3 of the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid, the third round of the 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), took place in Portugal on April 5, and brought good results for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing. Lucas Moraes and co-driver Armand Monleon remain the leading Toyota Hilux factory crew, with two stages remaining in the five-stage race.

The third stage of the event saw the crews leave from the bivouac at Grandola in Portugal and completing the bulk of the stage, which covered 374km of muddy gravel tracks, before coming to a finish at an overnight bivouac near Badajoz in Spain. It was another tough test, with many water splashes that offered an ongoing threat to the electric systems of all the cars in the field. While TGR faced certain challenges over the opening stages, Stage 3 brought a clean run for both Lucas and Seth.

Were it not for a late-stage puncture, Lucas and Armand may well have finished even higher up the order. As it happened, the crew finished just 1min 49sec off the winning pace, and a clean run could have seen the TGR Toyota Hilux crew at the top of the standings. Despite the time loss, they managed the 4th-fastest time on the day, and they are in 3th place overall, just 4min 49sec behind the overall leaders. With two tough stages to go, there may be an opportunity for Lucas and Armand to make a bid for second place, with the crew ahead of them just 20sec in the lead.

Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz struggled with technical challenges over the opening two stages of the event. They were forced to retire from Stage 1, which effectively meant the end of their challenge for victory. Despite this, they have been fighting for good stage performances, in a quest to bag maximum points towards the W2RC. The result from Stage 2 was also tempered when they lost an engine drive belt mid-stage, but Stage 3 brought a much cleaner run. As a result, the crew went 7th-fastest, relinquishing just 5min 25sec to the stage winners.

TGR's young gun, Saood Variawa, who is partnered with Francois Cazalet, set a blistering pace early on Stage 2. But Stage 3 brought disappointment for the TGR crew, when a front radiator leak brought their stage progress to a slow. The pair were forced to nurse their car to the finish, and lost 1h 8min 8sec on the day.

Stage 4 will see the crews return to Portugal, starting at the bivouac at Badajoz and finishing in Grandola. The timed section of the stage is 253 km, but the stage starts with a liaison of 81 km, and an ending liaison of 207 km. The terrain promises more of the same, with muddy tracks marking the bulk of the route. The final stage will take place near the Grandola bivouac, bringing Round 3 of the 2024 W2RC to a close.

QUOTES:

Alain Dujardyn, W2RC Team Principal: 

"Stage 3 was another tough test, but I'm happy to say that TGR had a mostly positive result. With Lucas and Armand posting the fourth-fastest time; and Seth and Dennis going 7th-fastest, we have every reason to be proud. With that said, our results could have been even better, were it not for Lucas and Arman's puncture near the finish. We have two stages to go, and I am hoping for more good results from the team."

Lucas Moraes: 

"Today was a very nice day for us, fighting with Nasser, with Carlos and with João. So, it was very nice, we changed the lead a bunch of times, but towards the end I got a puncture. But no, still good and I got to keep fighting. I think the most difficult part for me at least has been the water, water and the mud. It hasn't really been our best friend, it's been causing us some issues. But other than that, I've been really enjoying the terrain."

Seth Quintero: 

"Honestly, the fans out here are unreal and there's so many of them. So, I've been having a really good time with everybody and seeing everybody on course. But yeah, I'm loving this rally, just needed a little bit more luck on our side with the water. I would love to come race here when it's not wet, but yeah, it's been the toughest part for us. Yeah, for sure, this is definitely like some WRC style racing. Dennis was telling me today, my co-pilot, he's done some WRC stuff that this is way more scary than any WRC stuff that he's done, because we don't have pace notes. So, it's nice to change things up for sure, not race in the middle of the desert by ourselves and go out and battle, and it's been a lot of fun."

BP Ultimate Rally Raid 2024 – STAGE 3 RESULTS

BP Ultimate Rally Raid 2024 – STANDINGS AFTER STAGE 3

Partners

Red Bull has established itself as the premiere supporter of extreme sports and athletes, and as such fits perfectly with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing's Dakar and W2RC efforts. The Austrian energy drink manufacturer has partnered with TGR over numerous years, and the involvement bore fruit when the team won a second Dakar title in January 2022, and a third in 2023.

SpeedMax is a CantuStore's private label, which is the largest omnichannel platform and leader in tire replacement market in Brazil. SpeedMax promotes maximum performance through high-performance tires that suit all types of vehicles, from passenger cars to trucks and tractors, as well as inner tubes and truck wheels.