Involved in organizing off-road events since 1988, Orlando Romana highlights the special nature of the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal. The event director highlights the varied route, with more than 1,000 timed kilometers, on different types of terrain, and the valuable collaboration of local authorities in Portugal and Spain.
Portugal’s debut in the World Rally-Raid Championship represents an enormous logistical and organizational challenge. However, the experienced Automóvel Club de Portugal team managed to outline a route with unique characteristics in the championship, due to the diversity of surfaces and roads that the competitors will face, in the regions of Alentejo, Ribatejo and Spanish Extremadura.
“We have everything, from sand sections on the Alentejo coast, to roads in Ribatejo, to mountain areas in Mação, faster stages on the Spanish side, with clay and stone. We just don’t have dunes, but I think the pilots who come from Abu Dhabi prefer it”, said the event director.
Fundamental cooperation
With more than 1,700 kilometers of route and more than 1,000 kilometers of selective sectors, the task of preparation on the ground over the last few months has been demanding: “Yes, it is a very difficult job. We have to speak to the land owners, we ask for permission to pass, we obviously have to take responsibility for some things, but here the help from the Municipal Councils has been fundamental, because they have much more direct knowledge of the regions.”
The ACP organizes two of the three FIA World Championship events taking place in Portugal: the Vodafone Rally de Portugal (WRC) and the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal (W2RC). “It is difficult to compare the two, they are different organizations, although the ACP team and structure are similar. This is a very specific race, we have to talk to a lot of people, there are more than 1,000 timed kilometers, more than 1,700 road book kilometers. A new road book, because of these 1,000 timed kilometers there is almost no repetition, that is, the riders do not pass through the same place twice, with the exception of the Prologue route in Grândola. At this level, it is much more difficult to do”, revealed Orlando Romana.
