Rally-Raid Portugal – Prologue: Al-Attiyah triumphs over the dust

As was the case in 2024, the Qatari rider won the Prologue of the Rally-Raid Portugal, contested over a short five-kilometer special stage, winding its way a few steps from the first bivouac of the event. The terrain wasn't very difficult, but it required total attention from the crews due to the dust. Even though they set off first, Al-Attiyah and Lurquin had to deal with... their own dust, which returned to them as they passed the various bends of the special.

For the Dacia driver, the day was doubly good since he set the same time as the local driver of the stage Gonçalo Guerreiro, present in the Challenger category… for the Nasser Racing Team! The Swede Mattias Ekström, who drove on the Dakar for M-Sport Ford, took third place in the Prologue, also belonging to the Challenger category in this round.

“The Prologue went fantastically well, we started first and won the special stage.”, explained Al-Attiyah. "That's our plan, and it was the same last year, when we won. We can choose a good track position for tomorrow, not at the front but also not too far back in the pack because of the dust. Our Dacia is working very well and we're doing our best."

Moraes, Ferreira and Lategan led the contingent of Toyota with the fourth, fifth and sixth places in the standings of this Prologue, which decides the order in which the different crews will be able to choose their position on the track this Wednesday. Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger finished eighth. The serious stuff will begin this Wednesday with the first stage, comprising 123 km of liaison and 302 km of timed sections, a loop around the first bivouac, Grândola.

W2RC – Rally-Raid Portugal
The Prologue ranking

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