Columna Medica Baja Poland (July 23rd-25th, 2024)

FIA World Baja Cup, round 4

For immediate release

Sunday, August 25th, 2024

SOUTH RACING CAN-AM TEAM’S ALVAREZ AND PANSERI CLAIM MAXIMUM SSV CATEGORY POINTS AND CONTINUE TO LEAD FIA WORLD BAJA CUP

  • Martinez and Lafuente pick up valuable points for third in Challenger category
  • South Racing Can-Am Team extends its lead in FIA Teams’ Championship

SZCZECIN (POLAND): The South Racing Can-Am Team’s Fernando Alvarez and Xavier Panseri claimed maximum points in the SSV category at the Columna Medica Baja Poland and continue to set the pace in the overall Drivers’ and Co-drivers’ Championships and the SSV class in this year’s FIA World Baja Cup.

Their South Racing Can-Am colleagues Diego Martinez and Sergio Lafuente are competing in the Challenger category and finished third of the registered crews in the category for lightweight prototype cross-country vehicles. They are currently locked in a three-way fight for the Challenger title after four of the eight rounds and remain in contention for the overall championship.

Alvarez finished the three-day Szczecin-based event in 11th overall in his Conarpesa-backed Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR, while Martinez was 14th but it was another successful weekend for the duo and puts them in perfect positions at the midway point of the FIA World Baja Cup season.

Alvarez said: “We finished Baja Poland. It was a difficult Baja but we did very well. We won for the World Cup category and gained a lot of points, all the points possible, so we are really happy about that.  Now we have Baja Portalegre and then we go to the Middle East. Now I am leading the SSV, I am leading the overall with more points so I need to keep the momentum going in Portugal.”

The South Racing Can-Am Team also extended its advantage over its closest rivals in the FIA World Baja Cup Teams’ Championship.

South Racing Can-Am Team’s managing director Scott Abraham added: “Once again, a great race for the team to consolidate the position at the top of the classification for the FIA World Baja Cup, as well as the SSV Championship and also leading the Challenger championship with Diego Martinez. The Can-Am has, once again, shown its class and we are looking forward to the next event at our home race in Portugal in October.”

Alvarez finished second in the SSV category on the opening 9.40km Prologue stage that was used to determine the starting positions for the opening stage of 152.40km through the nearby military proving ranges at Drawsko Pomorskie on Saturday morning.

While a couple of the leading Ultimate crews retired prematurely from the event, Martinez overcame the demands of the fast and bumpy opening stage that also required full concentration on the navigational front and the Argentine clocked the fifth quickest time in the Challenger category and was the third of the drivers registered for the Challenger category in the FIA World Baja Cup. He was later awarded a six-minute time penalty for missing three route waypoints but retained his position.

Alvarez slotted into second place in the SSV section but the category-leading local driver Tomasz Bialkowski was not registered for the series. “It was a good stage for us to finish first in our category for the World Cup,” said Alvarez. “We did the last 50km with a problem with the wipers because we had no water. I had to take risks because I could not see very well. We will push a bit more on the second pass.”

The final morning’s action was rounded off by a pair of short 25km stages that started in Slawoszewo and finished at Szczecin Zawadzkiego and were split into two sections of 14.78km and 10.22km apiece.

Martinez finished fourth of the Challenger runners through the opener and Alvarez was third amongst the SSVs but retained second in the classification and led the registered FIA contenders. Martinez suffered a minor time loss on the final stage but retained his position in the Challenger rankings, while Alvarez stayed clear of trouble to confirm maximum SSV points over the Polish weekend.

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 with Portugal’s BP Ultimate Baja Portalegre 500 on October 17th-19th.

Columna Medica Baja Poland (Challenger – final result):

  1. Ghislain de Mévius (BEL)/Johan Jalet (BEL) G Rally Team OT3 3hr 57min 04.4sec
  2. Eduardo Pons (ESP)/Jaume Betriu (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 4hr 00min 48.9sec
  3. Hans Weijs (NLD)/Dennis Murphy (ZAF) Arcane T3 4hr 01min 13.5sec*
  4. Alexandre Pinto (PRT)/Bernando Oliveira (PRT) Can-Am Maverick X3 4hr 06min 58.1sec*
  5. Diego Martinez (ARG)/Sergio Lafuente (URY) South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 4hr 29min 10.8sec
  6. Khalid Al-Jafla (ARE)/Andrei Rudnitski (LTU) Taurus T3 Max 4hr 29min 53.5sec
  7. Mark Mustermann (AUT)/Michael Zajc (AUT) Can-Am Maverick X3 4hr 35min 48.5sec*
  8. Filip Vic (AUT)/Gerhard Schmiedberger (AUT) Can-Am Maverick X3 5hr 06min 38.4sec*
  9. Richard Aczel (GBR)/Wouter Rosegaar (NLD) Arcane T3 5hr 58min 43.3sec*

*denotes not registered for FIA World Cup

Columna Medica Baja Poland (SSV – final result):

  1. Tomasz Bialkowski (POL)/Dariusz Baśkiewicz (POL) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 4hr 08min 47.7sec*
  2. Fernando Alvarez (ARG)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) South Racing Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 4hr 14min 41.9sec
  3. Miguel Toril (ESP)/Rosa Romero (ESP) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 4hr 27min 05.7sec
  4. Amerigo Ventura (ITA)/Erika Mingozzi (ITA) Yamaha YXZ 1000 R 4hr 34min 41.2sec
  5. Claude Fournier (FRA)/Serge Gounon (FRA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 4hr 52min 07.6sec
  6. Ibrahim Al-Muhanna (SAU)/Hassan Ali Obaid (ARE) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 4hr 59min 38.1sec
  7. Alex Toril (ESP)/Pedro Lopez (ESP) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR 6hr 58min 16.4sec

*denotes not registered for FIA World Baja 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 August 2024