Stage 1
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- Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) launched his 2025 bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal campaign with victories in the prologue and stage 1. Six months later, the reigning world champion has done it again, grabbing the win at the end of 180 km against the clock in Grândola. He put 2′10″ into Tosha Schareina and 2′18″ into the Spaniard’s Monster Energy Honda HRC teammate Adrien Van Beveren, as well as pushing other rivals even further back (see Performance of the day). Honda’s Ricky Brabec (sixth at 5′33″) and Skyler Howes (seventh at 6′47″), and KTM’s Luciano Benavides (eighth at 7′06″) and Edgar Canet (ninth at 8′10″) have their work cut out for them.
- Their intimate knowledge of the terrain enabled Portuguese riders to carry the day in the other classes. The 2024 victor, Bruno Santos (BS – Frutas Patrícia Pilar) outgunned Neels Theric and his Kove in Rally2 (+2′56″). Meanwhile, his compatriot Gonçalo Amaral (Wingmotor) put 6′58″ into his brother and teammate Salvador Amaral in Rally3. The quad race saw the Lithuanians Antanas Kanopkinas and Adomas Gančierius (+1′54″) score a one-two for CFMoto.
- After finishing second to Nasser Al Attiyah (The Dacia Sandriders) in the 2024 car race and crashing out from the front of the race in 2025, João Ferreira had warned: „We’re wiping the slate clean and are going to try to bring the win home“. The Toyota Gazoo Racing SA driver showed it was not an idle threat by claiming a home win today.
- Henk Lategan and Saood Variawa were also in the mix before experiencing setbacks (see A crushing blow). Fellow Toyota drivers Seth Quintero and Guy Botterill escorted the Portuguese star on the podium, second at 17 seconds and fourth at 59 seconds, respectively. In rally raids, when the ground gets slick, the slick get going. Dacia placed their three Sandriders inside the top 7, with Sébastien Loeb third at 28″, the winner of the previous edition, Lucas Moraes, sixth at 1′46″ and Al Attiyah seventh at 3′14″.
- Rokas Baciuška led home the three Defenders to rack up another win in Stock. Paul Spierings (Rebellion Spierings) followed up his three Dakar victories with a new triumph in Challenger. Luís Cidade (South Racing Can-Am) netted Portugal another win (see Stat of the day).
