The Brazilian finished his participation in the third stage of the Raid Rally World Championship, finishing first in today’s stage and third in the general classification
Lucas Moraes finished the third stage of the Raid World Rally Championship this Sunday (07/04) with victory in the sixth and final special stage. With the result, the Brazilian, who is a driver for the official Toyota Gazoo Racing team, secured third place in the overall race, climbing to the podium of the race that took place in Portugal and Spain.
The route that marked the last day of the rally was taken in Grândola, the Portuguese village that hosted the base camp. Throughout today’s 105 km timed race, Moraes and Spanish navigator Armand Monleón maintained a constant and fast pace, leading for a large part of the race. There were 46min18s on the clock, beating Nasser Al-Attiyah and Edouard Boulanger, winners of the Portuguese-Spanish stage, by 16 seconds.
“An incredible rally. It was really cool to be able to participate in a race like this, very exciting and with so many people watching the special stages, thousands of people rooting for us… Winning today was incredible and we added important points for the championship”, declared Moraes, who is two-time champion of the Rally dos Sertões, and competes in the World Cup with the support of Red Bull, Repsol, Strava, Oakley, Zapalla – in addition to having led the Brazilian tire brand SpeedMax to sponsor the Toyota team, current champion of the competition.
Rollercoaster Rally – Since the start of the race, last Wednesday, the terrain on the route chosen by the organization in Portugal and Spain proved to be a challenge even for the most experienced drivers. Lucas Moraes started his journey on Wednesday with a satisfactory third place.
The second day was tougher on the Brazilian. However, on Friday, which featured the longest route of the rally, Lucas put himself back into contention with yet another third place. On the fifth day, the riders faced a lot of mud on the way, and Moraes was only sixth. But the Brazilian was undeterred, winning the special on the last day and leaving Portugal in third place in the overall result of the race.
The next stage of the Raid Rally World Cup is the Ruta 40 Challenge, which takes place in Argentina between the 1st and 7th of June. Lucas Moraes is fourth in the Championship table, with 76 points. The leadership is in the hands of Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah, who has 112.
Results this Sunday:
Top-5 of the 6th special stage out of a total of 6 – Grândola to Grândola – 105 km
1st – Lucas Moraes (BRA) / Armand Monleon (ESP) – Toyota Gazoo Racing, 46m18s
2nd – Nasser Al-Attiyah (CAT) / Edouard Boulanger (FRA) – Nasser Racing by Prodrive, +12s
3rd – João Ferreira (POR) / Filipe Palmeiro (POR) – X-Raid Mini JCW Team, +20s
4th – Lionel Baud (FRA) / Lucie Baud (FRA) – Overdrive Racing, +1min08s
5th – Francisco Barreto (POR) / Carlos Silva (POR) – Francisco Barreto, +1min23s
Top-5 overall of the stage
1st – Nasser Al-Attiyah (CAT) / Edouard Boulanger (FRA) – Nasser Racing by Prodrive, 10:02:57
2nd – João Ferreira (POR) / Filipe Palmeiro (POR) – X-Raid Mini JCW Team, +2min49s
3rd – Lucas Moraes (BRA) / Armand Monleon (ESP) – Toyota Gazoo Racing, +3min36s
4th – Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Alex Haro (ESP) – X-Raid Mini JCW Team, +6min12s
5th – Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU) / Timo Gottschalk – Overdrive Racing, +17min11s
Top-5 of the Raid Rally World Championship
1st – Nasser Al-Attiyah (CAT), 112 points
2nd – Carlos Sainz (ESP), 100 points
3rd – Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU), 79 points
4th – Lucas Moraes (BRA), 76 points
5th – Guerlain Chicherit (FRA), 69 points
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