Baja Spain Aragón (July 26rd-28th, 2024)

FIA World Baja Cup, round 3

For immediate release

Sunday, July 28th, 2024

SOUTH RACING CAN-AM TEAM’S ALVAREZ AND MARTINEZ SCORE POINTS FOR FOURTH AND SIXTH IN THEIR SSV AND CHALLENGER CLASSES IN SPAIN

TERUEL (SPAIN): The South Racing Can-Am Team’s Fernando Alvarez and Xavier Panseri and Diego Martinez and Sergio Lafuente scored valuable points for fourth and sixth-place finishes amongst the contenders registered for the FIA World Baja Cup in the SSV and Challenger categories at Baja Spain Aragón on Sunday.

Alvarez had been the outright leader of the entire championship heading into the third round in the heat and dust of central Spain but a drive shaft breakage and ensuing brake problems cost the Spaniard valuable time on Saturday and he then recovered well and guided his Can-Am Maverick XRX Turbo RR to fourth of the registered entrants in the SSV category.

Alvarez said: “We finish fourth in the championship. We started well with a really good speed but, 30km from the end, we stopped to check a tyre because I thought it was punctured. We restart and someone hit hard in our back and our engine went into emergency mode. We got good points that we were looking for and we wait for Poland. But it was a really heavy weekend.”

Diego Martinez and Sergio Lafuente came into the event lying third in the overall Drivers’ and Co-drivers’ Championship with Martinez holding a 15-point lead in the FIA World Baja Cup’s SSV category. They managed to claim points for sixth place against a massive field of entries in the Challenger class, the majority of whom were not registered for points.

Austrian driver Lukas Lauda teamed up with Germany’s Stefan Henken to drive a South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 entered in the Challenger category but Lauda was not registered for Baja points. He finished the event in 18th, five places in front of the Dutch crew of Anya van Loon and Floor Maten.

The South African pairing of Douglas and Andrew Ross got their first taste of Baja events in Spain and managed to reach the finish in Teruel in their South Racing Can-Am in 39th.

Dutch veteran Erik van Loon recruited the services of Hein Verschuuren on his return to the FIA World Baja Cup. But he suffered technical issues on the opening stage on Saturday morning and was forced to climb back up the leader board as the event progressed.

The itinerary was modified slightly before the start with the Prologue on Friday afternoon reduced to 5.83km and Saturday’s opening two stages slightly changed to 163.33km and 181.21km, respectively. The final timed stage on Sunday was trimmed to 162.41km.

Prologue times were only used to determine the starting order for the opening selective section and were not added to the general classification.

After slight delays on the opening stage, overall FIA World Baja Cup and SSV category-leading Alvarez said: “We didn’t have the best luck. After 27km, a drive shaft blew. I don’t know why and it also broke the front brake. We tried to continue with just rear traction and we had to stop to fix the brakes. We lost a lot of time. We will continue pushing.”

Erik Van Loon suffered technical issues on the opening stage, as Martinez finished the first day in 15th amongst the Challenger crews and fifth of the drivers registered for the FIA World Baja Cup. Alvarez was eighth in SSV and third of the drivers registered for championship points.

The rate of attrition was high on one of the most popular events in the FIA calendar but both Alvarez and Martinez were able to pick up valuable Baja points, despite the intense heat, dust and rough nature of the stages with such a massive field of cars and bikes taking part.

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.

Action resumes in the FIA World Baja Cup on August 23rd-25th in Poland.

Baja Spain Aragón (Challenger – result):

  1. Eryk Goczal (ESP)/Oriol Mena (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 23min 56.1sec
  2. Ghislain de Mévius (BEL)/Johan Jalet (BEL) G Rally Team OT3 6hr 38min 33.8sec
  3. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 39min 11.6sec*
  4. Emilio Fernandez (CHL)/Álvaro León Quintanilla (CHL) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 39min 23.1sec*
  5. João Dias (PRT)/Pedro Ré (PRT) G Rally Team OT3 6hr 42min 17.7sec
  6. Rui Carneiro (PRT)/Ola Floene (NOR) G Rally Team OT3 6hr 42min 22.8sec*
  7. Eduardo Pons (ESP)/Jaume Betriu (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 49min 59.7sec
  8. Roberto Rodrigues (PRT)/Herman Rodrigues (PRT) Herrator Inzane 901 6hr 52min 41.4sec*
  9. Puck Klaasen (NLD)/Augusto Sanz (ESP) G Rally Team OT3 6hr 56min 29.9sec*
  10. Michal Goczal (POL)/François Cazalet (FRA) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 56min 36.8sec

*not registered for FIA World Cup

Baja Spain Aragón (SSV – result):

  1. Gonçalo Guerreiro (PRT)/José Sa Pires (PRT) Polaris RZR Pro R Sport 6hr 48min 12.2sec*
  2. Ruben Rodrigues (PRT)/Rui Paulo (PRT) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 7hr 01min 50.3sec*
  3. Paul Severn Max Delfino Polaris RZR Pro R Sport 7hr 07min 11.3sec*
  4. Eric Galgani Bruno Larroquet Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR17min 7hr 14min 20.0sec*
  5. Christine Gz Marion Andrieu Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 7hr 17min 11.6sec*

*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: 28 July 2024