TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W2RC holds one-two lead after Stage 1 in Portugal
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W2RC out front after the 302 km Stage 1 of BP Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal
Henk Lategan and navigator Brett Cummings won Stage 1, with Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleón in second
Seth Quintero and Andrew Short out of contention following a brake disc issue
Stage 2 will see the GR Hilux EVOs tackle a demanding 429 km route to Spain on Thursday
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W2RC (TGR W2RC) recorded a one-two victory on Stage 1 of the BP Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal to seize the advantage in the penultimate round of the 2025 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC).
TGR W2RC’s three GR Hilux EVO vehicles will compete over 1,413 km through five stages on demanding Iberian gravel roads and they set the pace on the first full day of competition, following the short Prologue on Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday’s 297 km opening special stage was divided into two competitive sections, with the first taking place east of Grândola followed by a road section southwest to the town of Ourique. From there, another timed section on fast gravel roads brought the crews back to Grândola. The day concluded with a special stage over the same five-kilometre course as Tuesday’s Prologue, this time run in the reverse direction.
Henk Lategan and navigator Brett Cummings maintained the form which earned victory in the previous W2RC round in South Africa. Their #202 GR Hilux EVO took the lead after around 100 km of Stage 1 before they stretched the advantage to over a minute heading into the road section. The pair continued to consistently build a gap to the chasing pack and win Stage 1. They lead the overall standings by 1 min 51 secs going into Stage 2.
Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleón strengthened their chances of repeating last year’s Portugal podium with a consistent day which saw their #203 GR Hilux EVO move into the podium positions soon after the 75 km mark, following a steady start. They continued that progress and ended the day in a strong second place.
Seth Quintero and Andrew Short headed the field early in Stage 1 but suffered a challenging afternoon. Around 84 km into the stage, a brake disc issue saw their #204 GR Hilux EVO stop on the roadside and they had lost 90 minutes when they reached the road section. They fought on without further significant time loss and completed a challenging day in 32nd position in the Ultimate class.
Competition for podium trophies and World Championship points will resume on Thursday with the longest stage of the event. A challenging 429 km route for Stage 2 travels from Coruche across the border to finish at Cáceres, before competitors proceed to the bivouac service park in the Spanish city of Badajoz.
BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal 2025 – Stage 1 Results
| 1 | #202 | H. Lategan / B. Cummings (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W2RC) | 2hours 30mins 21secs |
| 2 | #203 | L. Moraes /A. Monléon (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W2RC) | +01:51 |
| 3 | #240 | J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing) | +01:52 |
| 4 | #206 | S. Variawa / F. Cazalet (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing) | +03:03 |
| 5 | #201 | Y. Al Rahji / T. Gottschalk (Overdrive Racing) | +03:52 |
| 6 | #219 | S. Loeb / E. Boulanger (Dacia Sandriders) | +04:15 |
| 7 | #205 | J.C. Yacopini / D. Oliveras (Overdrive Racing) | +04:53 |
| 8 | #200 | N. Al-Attiyah / F. Lurquin (Dacia Sandriders) | +04:57 |
| 9 | #212 | C. Gutierrez / P. Moreno (Dacia Sandriders) | +05:57 |
| 10 | #225 | C. Sainz / L. Cruz (Ford M-Sport) | +06:09 |
| 32nd* | #204 | S. Quintero / A. Short (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W2RC) | +01:42:36 |
*in Ultimate class
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