The Baja Portalegre 500 29th Edition will go down in history. Decisive for the National Championship, in which Miguel Barbosa and Nuno Matos are the leading actors, the Alentejo off-road classic will also stage the world wide debut of a hybrid prototype, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. The car, enrolled by the Japanese brand and driven by Hiroshi Masuoka, represents the return of the three-diamond make to the off-road as a Factory team.
And if these weren’t more than enough reasons to make this a memorable edition, there is also the presence of Carlos Sousa. The successful Portuguese driver is back to off-roading in Portugal with a clear target: winning the Baja Portalegre 500, something he was never able to do during his career.
Part of the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup, the Portuguese event features five FIA priority teams on its entry list… all of them national! Carlos Sousa will be driving with the number 501 on his Mitsubishi ASX Racing doors, with Miguel Barbosa (Mitsubishi Racing Lancer), Pedro Grancha (BMW EVO 1), Ricardo Porém (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) and Rui Sousa (Isuzu D-Max) bearing the following numbers on their cars. Another curiosity about these five drivers: they are all Off-Road National Champions!
Nuno Matos, with his Opel Mokka Proto, is the first non-priority driver and will be set on fighting all the above competitors. In fact, he will have to do his best, at least with Miguel Barbosa, who stands in second place, nine points behind the National Championship classification leader. But since each driver is allowed to scratch one result of the season, Matos will have to beat his rival in order to get the crown. On the other hand, Barbosa knows he just needs to manage the race according to Nuno Matos’s performance.
As far as the fight for victory, there are several names involved. Besides the six teams mentioned, Hélder Oliveira, with his Nissan Navara, is another name to take into consideration, as well as João Ramos and his Toyota Hilux .
Among the international armada, and besides Hiroshi Masuoka, the main names are the Chilean Boris Garafulic, at the wheal of a Mini All4 Racing with Filipe Palmeiro as co-driver, and Andrey Novikov, with a G-Force Proto NL. Guilherme Spinelli, just like Carlos Sousa, is coming to Portugal with a Mitsubishi ASX, while the South Racing team, from South Africa, will be racing with two Toyota Hilux and a Ford Ranger. They are all names to be taken into account.
The Baja Portalegre 500 29th Edition will go down in history. Decisive for the National Championship, in which Miguel Barbosa and Nuno Matos are the leading actors, the Alentejo off-road classic will also stage the world wide debut of a hybrid prototype, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. The car, enrolled by the Japanese brand and driven by Hiroshi Masuoka, represents the return of the three-diamond make to the off-road as a Factory team.
And if these weren’t more than enough reasons to make this a memorable edition, there is also the presence of Carlos Sousa. The successful Portuguese driver is back to off-roading in Portugal with a clear target: winning the Baja Portalegre 500, something he was never able to do during his career.
Part of the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup, the Portuguese event features five FIA priority teams on its entry list… all of them national! Carlos Sousa will be driving with the number 501 on his Mitsubishi ASX Racing doors, with Miguel Barbosa (Mitsubishi Racing Lancer), Pedro Grancha (BMW EVO 1), Ricardo Porém (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) and Rui Sousa (Isuzu D-Max) bearing the following numbers on their cars. Another curiosity about these five drivers: they are all Off-Road National Champions!
Nuno Matos, with his Opel Mokka Proto, is the first non-priority driver and will be set on fighting all the above competitors. In fact, he will have to do his best, at least with Miguel Barbosa, who stands in second place, nine points behind the National Championship classification leader. But since each driver is allowed to scratch one result of the season, Matos will have to beat his rival in order to get the crown. On the other hand, Barbosa knows he just needs to manage the race according to Nuno Matos’s performance.
As far as the fight for victory, there are several names involved. Besides the six teams mentioned, Hélder Oliveira, with his Nissan Navara, is another name to take into consideration, as well as João Ramos and his Toyota Hilux.
Among the international armada, and besides Hiroshi Masuoka, the main names are the Chilean Boris Garafulic, at the wheal of a Mini All4 Racing with Filipe Palmeiro as co-driver, and Andrey Novikov, with a G-Force Proto NL. Guilherme Spinelli, just like Carlos Sousa, is coming to Portugal with a Mitsubishi ASX, while the South Racing team, from South Africa, will be racing with two Toyota Hilux and a Ford Ranger. They are all names to be taken into account.