Cycle News Staff | April 10, 2024

Portugal’s 2024 BP Ultimate Rally Raid served as round three of the FIM World Rally Raid Championship. Five stages with more than 600 miles and over 10 hours of racing saw the world’s best rally racers fly through the challenging terrains of Alentejo and Ribatejo in Portugal and the Spanish region of Extremadura. Honda’s Tosha Schareina claimed the overall win, more than four minutes ahead of second-place Sebastian Buhler.

Tosha Schareina at BP Ultimate Rally Raid in Portugal — **Tosha Schareina and the factory Honda team celebrate the win at the BP Ultimate Rally Raid in Portugal.**

Schareina commanded the race from the get-go and claimed wins on stage one and the marathon stage three. He enjoyed a healthy lead over Buhler going into the final day but still looked for victory in front of the Portuguese fans. Instead, it was Schareina’s Honda HRC teammate, Adrien Van Beveren, who grabbed the win on the final day, just 15 seconds clear of second place.

“Final stage, we took home the victory,” Schareina said. “Super happy for my first victory in a World Championship because a big part of the staff is Portuguese. Now it’s time to celebrate and think about the next one in Argentina.”

Tosha Schareina — **This was Schareina’s second victory in Rally-Raids and his first in the W2RC.**

Buhler landed the best result of his career, winning stage two and second overall. Bruno Santos (Husqvarna) completed the overall podium and won the Rally2 category. Antonio Maio also found victory on stage four before finishing fourth in the overall rankings.

Hero Motorsports’ Ross Branch finished seventh in the overall rankings but maintains his championship lead in the W2RC points.

The series now heads to Argentina for the Desafío Ruta 40 on June 1.CN