Nani Roma couldn’t have asked for a better debut at the Automóvel Club de Portugal event. The X-Raid driver took the win at this year’s Baja Portalegre, but it wasn’t as easy as it first seamed. Two punctures in the final kilometres of SS4 cost him almost two minutes.
In the end the Spaniard finished with just 58 seconds advantage over his team mate at X-Raid, Stéphane Peterhansel.
“He punctured twice on the same rock, which gave us a bit of stress, but we had a good advantage over Peterhansel. Enough to maintain our position and win. I loved the race, it has a huge amount of spectators, to whom I thank for all the support, and it was a great test for the Dakar. The Mini was perfect,” said Nani Roma at the end.
Meanwhile, the French, back at the Baja with a car ten years after his 2008 victory, had to settled for the second place. He did try to take a second victory at the Baja, but the truth is that Nani Roma was very strong since SS2.
The last place of the podium ended up in national hands. Paulo Rui Ferreira, driving a Toyota Hilux, was the best Portuguese driver, finishing third.?Behind him, the 2018 Off-Road National Champion. João Ramos had the title in mind when he started the Baja and opted for a more conservative pace, which allowed him to take his first national crown. A result that was confirmed a bit before the end, when his main rival Hélder Oliveira had to withdraw with a broken suspension on SS3.