With his mind set on making history at the 30th Baja Portalegre 500, Ricardo Porém has finished the first day of competition on top of the leader board, making it quite clear that his target is getting his third consecutive victory at the mythical Off Road event. The Mini driver was the fastest in SS2, finishing the day with a 17.8 seconds advantage over Miguel Barbosa.
The second overall started the Baja well, registering the fastest time on the Prologue, as Porém. Out of the fight for the National Title, Barbosa is set on winning the Baja Portalegre 500, a glory the driver has been after since 2007. Should the Mitsubishi Racing Lancer driver manage it, it will be his fourth victory, but the task doesn’t seem to be easy, since Xavier Pons (Ford Ranger) is third, only 54 hundred adrift from the second place.
In the end, Porém explained: “Everything went well. It was a very good first part, quite amusing. The objective is victory and making history with a third consecutive win.” Meanwhile, Miguel Barbosa finished the stage “very happy”. The SS was very fast. It all went well, and the goal is to win.
With a very intense fight for the podium, João Ramos is fourth, more then 40 seconds behind. The Toyota Hilux driver had a problem free day, but admits to being at the Baja to control his championship rival Nuno Matos. “If I have the margin, I will look at the other competitors and see what I can do,” he said after finishing the first day in front of the local hero Nuno Matos. The Opel Mokka Proto driver ended up in sixth, 2m20.41s from Ricardo Porém, while Alejandro Martins is fifth.