11th Baja Greece (May 23rd-25th, 2024)

FIA World Baja Cup, round 2

For immediate release

Saturday, May 25th, 2024

SOUTH RACING CAN-AM TEAM’S ALVAREZ AND PANSERI LEAD FIA WORLD BAJA CUP AND SSV CATEGORY AFTER BAJA GREECE

  • South Racing Can-Am’s Martinez second of registered Challenger drivers and leads series
  • Can-Am Factory Team’s João Ferreira recovers from first stage accident to finish

ARGOS ORESTIKO (GREECE): The South Racing Can-Am Team’s Fernando Alvarez and Xavier Panseri delivered a polished performance on a difficult event to secure sixth overall and first in the SSV category in their Can-Am Maverick XRX Turbo RR at the 11th Baja Greece on Saturday. The result also means that the Spaniard leads the FIA World Baja Cup outright and has a slender cushion in the SSV category.

Alvarez and rival Spaniard Alex Toril, who initially beat him to the category win on the final stage when the South Racing driver had to stop and change a puncture, are now closely matched at the top of the FIA World Baja Cup’s SSV Championship. But Toril was disqualified from the results after final scrutineering when the Stewards deemed that the inlet manifold and the belt of the CVT device on his car were deemed to be non-compliant with technical regulations.

Alvarez said: “In the last part of the special we got a puncture and had to stop and change the tyre. We lost time to Alex (Toril) but we are happy. Even with second place (before scrutineering), we are still leading the category and the overall in the cars (FIA World Baja Cup). This is the business. Thanks to Xavier (Panseri) and the team for their great efforts this weekend.”

Argentina’s Diego Martinez and Uruguayan co-driver Sergio Lafuente stayed clear of major trouble to guide their South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 to ninth overall and second of the Challenger cars registered for the FIA World Baja Cup. They began the event second in the Challenger Championship rankings behind João Dias and now lead the series outright after two rounds.

The Can-Am Factory Team’s João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro were tipped as pre-race favourites to challenge for overall honours on the tight and narrow stages, where they could use the nimble Can-Am to good effect. But the Portuguese duo suffered an accident on the first stage, had to wait to be retrieved from the track, incurred costly time penalties and spent the rest of the weekend playing catch-up. The second quickest time on the third stage was the highlight, as they finished 13th overall and fifth of the registered Challenger crews.

The event was making its first appearance in the FIA World Baja Cup calendar and was based out of the northern town of Argos Orestiko. It featured four challenging and varied stages, with narrow tracks, steep downhill sections, water crossings and slippery surfaces where the slightest lapse in concentration could prove expensive.

South Racing Can-Am Team’s managing director Scott Abraham said: “This was another strong race for the South Racing Can-Am Team, consolidating our position in the FIA World Baja Cup and leading both the SSV and Challenger categories. The accident on the first day cost João (Ferreira) a good result but the Maverick X3 again showed that it is the class of the field in a cross-country environment.”

The opening 6.08km Prologue enabled crews to challenge for a favourable starting position for the first slightly shortened selective section that featured two passes through the 151.31km Mesopotamia stage on Friday.

Ferreira was the class of the Challenger field in his Can-Am Factory Team Maverick and was second of all the drivers through the Prologue with Martinez bringing his South Racing machine home in ninth. Alvarez was 12th and fourth of the SSV drivers in his Maverick XRX Turbo RR.

But the real meat of the action began on Friday with the first pass through the varied and demanding special that featured narrow tracks, climbs and numerous tight corners. Ferreira blotted his copybook in the stage, left the track and was forced to wait for assistance. As a result, the Portuguese incurred a five-hour time penalty and plummeted in the rankings to 16th. Martinez finished sixth of the Challenger runners in his South Racing Can-Am.

Alvarez enjoyed a solid start to his Greek challenge and the Spaniard guided his Can-Am into the early SSV category lead by 3min 21.4sec. “We did very well,” said Fernando. “The only problem in the last 60km we were behind another car in the dust all the time. But we head the category in seventh overall.”

Alvarez continued his strong run on the afternoon’s re-run of the Mesopotamia stage to top the SSV category overnight in sixth place in the general classification. Martinez held a top 10 position and fifth in Challenger but Ferreira was inspired after his morning’s setback and recorded the second quickest time behind overnight leader and eventual winner Eduardo Pons.

Alvarez said: “We did a good job to be sixth in the overall and first in our category, Still, 200km to go. You have to be all the time careful and looking. It is not easy.”

The first pass through the 114.58km of the Mavrokampos stage saw a resurgent Ferreira card the second quickest time overall behind Ghislain De Mévius and he consolidated 14th in the overall classification after Friday’s delays.

Alvarez and Martinez came home in 10th and 11th with the Spaniard heading into the repeat of the special in sixth overall, 2min 08.9sec ahead of his closest rival Alex Toril. Martinez was ninth and fourth in Challenger.

Alvarez erred on the side of caution through the final stage and he lost out on the SSV win to Alex Toril after a puncture, while Martinez consolidated points for second in Challenger and Ferreira reached the finish without any further issues. That mattered not to Alvarez when Toril was later disqualified for technical infringements.

The South Racing Can-Am Team receives valuable support for the race programme from BRP, Rotax, Method Wheels, Tensor Tires, Motul, J.Juan Brake Systems, Oakley and Sparco.

11th Baja Greece (Challenger – result):

  1. Eduardo Pons (ESP)/Jaume Betriu (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 7hr 50min 46.4sec
  2. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA) G Rally Team OT3 8hr 03min 51.6sec*
  3. Csaba Miklos (HUN)/Alber Horn (HUN) Taurus T3 Max 8hr 27min 33.6sec*
  4. Diego Martinez (ARG)/Sergio Lafuente (URY) South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 8hr 50min 59.7sec
  5. Khalid Al-Jafla (ARE)/Andrei Rudnitski (LTU) Can-Am Maverick X3 9hr 13min 22.9sec
  6. Ghislain de Mévius (BEL)/Johan Jalet (BEL) G Rally Team OT3 10hr 25min 09.0sec
  7. João Ferreira (PRT)/Filipe Palmeiro (PRT) Can-Am Factory Team Maverick X3 11hr 22min 55.1sec

*not registered for FIA World Cup

11th Baja Greece (SSV – result):

  1. Fernando Alvarez (ESP)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) South Racing Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 8hr 29min 13.9sec
  2. Miguel Toril (ESP)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 8hr 44min 38.8sec
  3. Claude Fournier (FRA)/Serge Gounon (FRA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 9hr 22min 38.6sec

Alex Toril (ESP)/Pedro Lopez (ESP) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR                                                                             DSQ

Luis Henderson (URY)/Daniel Sposito (URY) Polaris RZR Pro R                                                                             RETIRED – AFTER SS3

Konstantin Cholakov (BGR)/Ivaylo Zhekov (BGR) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR                               RETIRED – SS2

Amerigo Ventura (ITA)/Erika Mingozzi (ITA) Yamaha YXZ 1000R                                                                              RETIRED – SS1

*not registered for FIA World Cup

Ends

For further information: contact Scott Abraham, South Racing, Email: Scott.Abraham@southracing.com, Tel: + 49 172 6662880.

www.southracing.com

Facebook group: South Racing Can-Am

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published On: 25 May 2024