Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Ferreira and Palmeiro secure last-gasp debut victory and maximum FIA European Baja Cup points at Baja Spain Aragón
On their debut in a Toyota Hilux IMT Evo with Toyota Gazoo Racing and SVR Racing, the Portuguese pairing managed to finish third on the final stage and edge victory by just two seconds from Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and his new Belgian navigator Fabian Lurquin. Overnight leader Al-Attiyah lost vital seconds in the closing part of the stage and had to settle for second place in his Dacia Sandrider on this fifth round of the 2025 FIA World and European Baja Cups.
Ferreira said: “I am super happy because we managed to beat Nasser and win the race by two seconds. It was super tight. Filipe did an amazing job and I also want to congratulate SVR, my team and Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa for the performance. I’m getting used to the car more and more. Maybe some holidays now and then our next challenge will be a round of the Portuguese Championship.”
Al-Attiyah added: “It was not easy for us. We wanted to win this race and finished second by two seconds. This was the first time at this event with our Dacia Sandrider. Now we focus our attention on the next race in Portugal (W2RC).”
Ferreira suffered a late scare when it was discovered at post-event scrutineering that the rear wheel travel on the Toyota exceeded 350mm. Varying measurements were given with three different measuring devices that showed fluctuations between zero and four millimetres. As a result of the different measurements, event Stewards decided to impose a suspended disqualification on the winning crew until the end of the season, provided that there is no further breach of a similar nature.
Spaniard Joan ‘Nani’ Roma (Ford Raptor) and Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Saood Variawa finished third and fourth overall but, like Al-Attiyah, were not registered for FIA points.
Overdrive Racing’s Juan Cruz Yacopini was fifth overall in his Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux and earned maximum points towards the Ultimate class and the Drivers’ Championship in the FIA World Baja Cup. The Argentine now leads the overall series from Czech racer Miroslav Zapletal with his partner Dani Oliveras extending his advantage in the Navigators’ Championship.
Portugal’s Francisco Barreto and Carlos Silva moved up to third in the Ultimate category standings after rounding off the top 10 and picking up points for finishing second of the FIA World Baja Cup crews in their Toyota Hilux.
Mitchel Van Den Brink and Bart van Heun delivered another strong performance in their South Racing Can-Am Maverick R. The Dutch crew finished 25th, third of the registered FIA World Baja Cup crews and claimed maximum points in the SSV section to move ahead of the absent Paul Severn and Max Delfino in the points’ standings. Team-mates Eugenio Amos and Paulo Ceci retired on the final stage.
It was a disappointing event for Miroslav Zapletal in his Ford F-150 Evo. The Czech finished the event down in 38th position but still picked up points for fourth in the FIA World Baja Cup and was third in the Ultimate section with his navigator Marek Sykora. That enabled the veteran to increase his lead in the Master class.
Oman’s Hamed Al-Wahaibi was classified in 39th place with Austrian navigator Ilka Minor and picked up points for second place in SSV and fifth in the FIA World Baja Cup after two punctures and time losses in the dust. The result enabled the Omani to stay in the title hunt with two of his six designated events still to go.
Diego Martinez (Can-Am) and Amerigo Ventura (Yamaha) were third and fourth of the SSV drivers registered for the FIA World Baja Cup. Ventura suffered ongoing gearbox problems that cost him valuable time.
Despite finishing well down the general classification in 62nd, UAE-based Sergei Remennik picked up maximum Challenger points towards the FIA World Baja Cup with navigator Aleksei Ignatov. That marked the third maximum points haul of the season for the Taurus driver and enabled him to close the gap on leader Khalid Al-Jafla.
Fernando Barreiros and Jose Sá Pires won the Stock section for series production cross-country vehicles in an Isuzu D-Max and moved into a duel with the absent Saudi driver Majed Al-Thunayyan for title honours.
The event was based out of the town of Teruel in the Aragón province of Spain and the final 93-car start list included 24 entered in the Ultimate category, 39 running in Challenger, 28 entered in the SSV section and two in the Stock class for series-production cross-country vehicles. Of those, 11 were registered in the FIA World Baja Cup and 10 opted for the FIA European Baja Cup.
After finishing fourth on the Prologue stage behind Ferreira, Eryk Goczal and Martin Kaczmarski, Roma guided his M-Sport Ford Rally Team Raptor to the fastest time on the opening 132.11 special stage. The Spaniard carved out a slender lead of 8.8 seconds over Al-Attiyah with Ferreira in third.
Neither Overdrive Racing’s Martin Kaczmarski nor Challenger front-runner Al-Jafla were able to complete the stage and retired. It was only a minor blow for Al-Jafla, who led the Challenger section, was second in the Master class and third in the overall Drivers’ Championship before the start but had not registered for FIA World Baja Cup points in Spain.
First blood in the Challenger and SSV categories went to Rui Carneiro (OT3) and Alexandre Pinto (Polaris).
Ferreira beat Al-Attiyah by just half a second on the second stage of 199.48km on Saturday afternoon but the Dacia factory driver retained a lead of 13.1 seconds to take into the overnight halt. Roma slipped to third, ahead of Yacopini, Variawa and Marek Goczal in a trio of Toyotas.
Charles Munster (Taurus) won the stage in Challenger but Fidel Castillo (Taurus) led the category at the night halt. Gonçalo Guerreiro (Polaris) claimed the fastest time in the SSVs and moved ahead of Pinto in the overall standings.
After suffering serious brake issues on the opening stage, former FIA Baja champion Fernando Alvarez was forced out of the second special with electrical issues, as were FIA World Baja Cup Challenger category front-runners Lőrinc Mészáros and Tiago Reis. Eryk Goczal also retired his Energylandia Rally Team Toyota with a sheared suspension bolt.
A third stage of 232.11km rounded off the competitive action before the finish in Teruel. Luís Cidade (Can-Am) and Rui Carneiro (OT3) did not start the last day.
A resurgent Eryk Goczal claimed the fastest time on the last stage from event winner Ferreira. Charles Munster (Taurus) and Guerriero earned the overall laurels in the Challenger and SSV categories with the stage wins falling to Pau Navarro (Taurus) and Pinto.
Triumphant Ferreira and Palmeiro prevail in the FIA European Baja Cup
Outright victory for Ferreira and Palmeiro catapulted the Portuguese duo into contention for the Ultimate category prize in the FIA European Baja Cup this season and enabled them to close the gap on leader Magdalena Zając and her navigator Czekan Błażej, who finished down in fourth of the Ultimate crews.
It was also a strong event for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltics crew of Benediktas Vanagas and Aisvydas Paliukenas. The Lithuanians finished eighth overall and second in the FIA European Baja Cup and Ultimate class standings.
Vanagas said: “P8, but to be in the top 10 on this race was a good thing. I am a fan of this race. I think it is very good in terms of tracks and competition. The pace we had was good. Now we look ahead to the event in Hungary.”
Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov registered for FIA European Baja Cupo points in their X-Raid Mini JCW 3.0i and finished 21st overall and third in the points’ standings for the overall championship and the Ultimate category.
In the absence of several of their SSV rivals, Briton Sean Haran and his navigator Martin Hales guided their Polaris RXR Pro R Sport to 32nd overall and picked up maximum points in the category to move ever closer to the absent front-runner Yağiz Birinci in the Drivers’ Championship. Afonso Oliveira and Fabio Belo were second in the SSVs in their Polaris and that enabled Oliveira to move ahead of Birinci in the SSV title race.
Oliveira said: “We got the first place in the European Championship and in the Juniors. It was hard but fun. Now we will continue the fight for the title in Hungary.”
The Spanish duo of Miguel Angel Valero and Carlos Ruiz picked up maximum Challenger class points towards the FIA European Baja Cup in their VN Competición T34 and extended their lead over Lőrinc Mészáros and Tiago Reis in the standings. Valero also stayed in contention for Master Driver honours.
The Polish crew of Barthomiej Wajzer and Ernest Górecki continued to plod on towards FIA European Baja Cup honours. They clinched the Stock category title in a Toyota Land Cruiser KDJ 155 with a fifth successive maximum points haul this year and remain in contention for overall honours. Wajzer also prevails in the Master class.
Górecki said: “We did our job. We achieved the maximum amount of points we could get. Bartek did great. There were no problems. It was a nice, difficult rally, fast, slow and big stones. It was very easy to finish off the track or with a broken wheel.”
The 2025 FIA European Baja Cup continues with the 22nd Hungarian Baja on August 15th-17th, while the FIA World Baja Cup resumes with the BP Ultimate Baja Portalegre 500 in Portugal on October 23rd-25th.
2025 Baja Spain Aragón – final result:
1. João Ferreira (POR)/Filipe Palmeiro (POR) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 5hr 50min 39.6sec+
2. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL) Dacia Sandrider 5hr 50min 41.6sec
3. Joan ‘Nani’ Roma (ESP)/Alex Haro (ESP) Ford Raptor 5hr 52min 21.6sec
4. Saood Variawa (RSA)/François Cazalet (FRA) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 5hr 57min 04.8sec
5. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 5hr 59min 12.2sec*
6. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Viktor Chytka (CZE) Ford Raptor T1+ 6hr 03min 49.4sec
7. Marek Goczal (POL)/Maciej Marton (POL) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 6hr 03min 55.6sec
8. Benediktas Vanagas (LTU)/Aisvydas Paliukenas (LTU) Toyota Hilux 6hr 05min 37.0sec+
9. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA) Mini JCW Rally 3.0d 6hr 05min 55.4sec
10. Francisco Barreto (POR)/Carlos Silva (POR) Toyota Hilux 6hr 06min 42.7sec*
11. Michal Goczal (POL)/Daniel Dymurski (POL) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 6hr 07min 49.6sec
12. Felix Macias (ESP)/José-Luis Conde (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 6hr 10min 02.9sec
13. Gonçalo Guerreiro (POR)/Joel Lutas (POR) Polaris RXR Pro R Sport 6hr 10min 14.9sec
14. Charles Munster (LUX)/Loris Pascaud (FRA) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 11min 17.9sec
15. Alexandro Pinto (POR)/Bernardo Oliveira (POR) Polaris RXR Pro R Sport 6hr 11min 32.4sec
16. Pau Navarro (ESP)/Jan Rosa (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 13min 58.5sec
17. Fidel Castillo (ESP)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 14min 08.2sec
18. Puck Klaassen (RSA)/Augusto Sanz (ARG) G-ECKO Challenger One 6hr 15min 33.8sec
19. Jourdan Serderidis (BEL)/Fréderic Miclotte (BEL) Ford Raptor 6hr 16min 09.5sec
20. Santiago Carnicer (ESP)/Sergio Peinado (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 6hr 16min 43.9sec
21. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (ISR) Mini JCW Rally 3.0i 6hr 17min 02.9sec+
22. João Monteiro (POR)/Nuno Morais (POR) Can-Am Maverick R 6hr 17min 22.0sec
23. Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 17min 51.9sec
24. Pim Klaassen (NED)/Wade Harris (RSA) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 18min 28.2sec
25. Mitchel Van Den Brink (NED)/Bart van Heun (NED) Can-Am Maverick R 6hr 19min 34.0sec*
26. Laia Sanz (ESP)/Luka Larrosa (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 19min 37.2sec
27. Charles Tuthill (GBR)/Alex Sabater (ESP) Oryx T3 Evo2 6hr 21min 19.4sec
28. Romuald Lasne (FRA)/Delphine Delfino (FRA) Can-Am Maverick X3 6hr 22min 05.1sec
29. Daniel Alonso (ESP)/Alejandro Lopez (ESP) Ford Ranger 6hr 22min 43.6sec
30. Andre Lotterer (MON)/Alexandre Giroud (FRA) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 23min 15.3sec
31. Yannick Panagiotis (FRA)/Valérie Panagiotis (FRA) Apache APH-03 6hr 24min 05.8sec
32. Sean Haran (GBR)/Martin Hales (GBR) Polaris RXR Pro R Sport 6hr 24min 10.1sec+
33. Ruben Rodrigues (POR)/Rui Paulo (POR) Can-Am Maverick R 6hr 24min 23.9sec
34. Pierre-Antoine Rampon (FRA)/Loic Minaudier (FRA) Can-Am Maverick R 6hr 24min 28.1sec
35. Paul Spierings (NED)/Dick van Culenborg (NED) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 25min 17.5sec
36. Wilson Galo (POR)/Carlos Paulino (POR) Polaris RXR Pro R Sport 6hr 25min 57.9sec
37. Yasir Seaidan (SAU)/Omar Al-Lahim (SAU) MMP T3 Rally-Raid 6hr 28min 27.2sec
38. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sykora (SVK) Ford F-150 Evo 6hr 28min 35.1sec*
39. Hamed Al-Wahaibi (OMA)/Ilka Minor (AUT) Can-Am Maverick R 6hr 29min 02.9sec*
40. Paulo Rodrigues (POR)/João Miranda (POR) Can-Am Maverick X3 6hr 29min 52.3sec
41. Nicolas Martinez (FRA)/Loriane Forgues (FRA) G Rally Team OT3 6hr 29min 58.2sec
42. Eduardo Pons (ESP)/Jaume Betriu (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 30min 31.0sec
43. Michael Metge (FRA)/Xavier Flick (FRA) Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS Turbo RR 6hr 30min 49.4sec
44. Pedro Gonçalves (POR)/Hugo Magalhães (POR) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 31min 35.7sec
45. Federico Mogni (ESP)/David Nieto (ESP) Polaris RXR Pro R Sport 6hr 36min 41.4sec
46. Alex Toril (ESP)/Daniel Jordão (POR) JMP JMPT T3 6hr 37min 00.8sec
47. Henk Klaassen (NED)/Mark Laan (NED) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 37min 14.8sec
48. Juan Gasso (ESP)/Pol Ros (ESP) G Rally Team OT3 6hr 37min 19.2sec
49. Diego Martinez (ARG)/Bernardo Graue (ARG) Can-Am Maverick R 6hr 38min 08.8sec*
50. José Maria Nananjo (ESP)/Eduard Ferran (ESP) JMP JMPT T3 6hr 39min 33.7sec
51. Rafa Muñoz (ESP)/Sergio Fernández (ESP) Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS Turbo RR 6hr 41min 44.6sec
52. Amerigo Ventura (ITA)/Erika Mingozzi (ITA) Yamaha YXZ 1000R SS 6hr 45min 24.5sec*
53. Hedda Hosås (NOR)/Harry Stubbs (GBR) Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS Turbo RR 6hr 45min 49.6sec
54. Jesus Calleja (ESP)/Eduardo Blanco (ESP) Century CR7 6hr 46min 28.0sec
55. Mónica Plaza (ESP)/Marta Plaza (ESP) Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS Turbo RR 6hr 47min 00.1sec
56. Ronald Schoolderman (NED)/Mark Salomons (NED) Mitsubishi ASX 6hr 48min 54.3sec
57. Vincent Albira (FRA)/Maxime Albira (FRA) Can-Am Maverick X3 6hr 50min 39.9sec
58. Juan Manuel Maña (ESP)/Giovanni Di Blasi (ESP) Polaris RXR Pro R Sport 6hr 51min 55.5sec
59. Benjamin Favre (FRA)/Thibaud Darroux (FRA) MMP T3 Rally-Raid 6hr 52min 11.7sec
60. Renato Duarte (POR)/Miguel Silva (POR) Polaris RXR Pro R Sport 6hr 54min 04.3sec
61. Marco Pereira (POR)/Eurico Adão (POR) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 6hr 54min 10.9sec
62. Sergei Remennik (UAE)/Aleksei Ignatov (KGZ) Taurus T3 Max 7hr 02min 18.4sec*
63. Magdalena Zając (POL)/Czekan Błażej (POL) Toyota Hilux 7hr 02min 21.8sec+
64. José Cami (ESP)/Cristian Cami (ESP) Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS Turbo RR 7hr 04min 27.9sec
65. Afonso Oliveira (POR)/Fabio Belo (POR) Polaris RXR Pro R Sport 7hr 07min 16.8sec+
66. Herlander Araújo (POR)/Tiago Magalhães (POR) Polaris RXR Pro R Sport 7hr 11min 33.5sec
67. Jordi Pons (AND)/Miguel Amblas (ESP) MMP T3 Rally-Raid 7hr 19min 52.6sec
68. Miguel Angel Valero (ESP)/Carlos Ruiz (ESP) VN Competición T34 7hr 20min 11.3sec+
69. Gaël Queralt (ESP)/Marc Solà (ESP) Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS Turbo RR 7hr 21min 45.4sec
70. Agnė Telyčėnaitė (FRA)/Marion Andrieu (FRA) Can-Am Maverick X3 XRS Turbo RR 7hr 47min 05.9sec
71. Fernando Barreiros (POR)/Jose Sá Pires (POR) Isuzu D-Max 7hr 48min 05.8sec*
72. Jedidia Favre (FRA)/Antoine Lecourbe (FRA) MMP T3 Rally-Raid 7hr 48min 45.3sec
73. Barthomiej Wajzer (POL)/Ernest Górecki (POL) Toyota Land Cruiser KDJ 155 7hr 54min 58.8sec+
74. Maria Gameiro (POR)/Rosa Romero (ESP) Mini JCW Rally 3.0d 8hr 25min 37.2sec
75. Emilio Fernandez (CHI)/Ion Del Cid (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 9hr 04min 47.7sec
76. Eryk Goczal (POL)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 10hr 00min 29.6sec
77. Jesus Fuster (ESP)/Joan Rubi (ESP) Herrator Inzane 901 10hr 26min 41.2sec
78. Lőrinc Mészáros (HUN)/Albert Horn (HUN) G Rally Team OT3 12hr 41min 37.1sec+
79. João Dias (POR)/Rui Pita (POR) Polaris RXR Pro R Sport 12hr 57min 57.0sec
*denotes registered for FIA World Baja Cup
+denotes registered for FIA European Baja Cup
Ends
