A placement in the final race of the World Cup, Baja Portalegre 2014, moved the Offroadsport team to a fine fourth place. The battle for the last points took place in the beautiful surroundings of the Portuguese countryside.
The organizers have prepared a very fast course with a mostly dusty, stony surface and frequent crossings over riverbeds. The route led through slightly undulating terrain, through groves of olive trees and cork oaks, and in some places ran into forests made up mainly of eucalyptus. Mostly sunny weather with temperatures around 25 degrees. Celsia made the race experience more enjoyable for thousands of trackside fans. Portuguese fans can create an amazing atmosphere for the competitors. Crowds of people come to the racetrack with flags. They camp along the route, grill on open fires, and praise the performance of each crew with loud shouts and whistles. After the end of the special stage, a large part of them fill the service area and watch the teams' activities with great interest in the dark.
Upon arrival, the Czech team started with service. Before the acceptances, it was necessary to replace the windshield on Mirkov's H3 Evo , which was broken by a Moroccan vandal at the end of the last race. They then completed administrative and technical acceptances as standard. On Friday afternoon, a 6 kilometer long prologue took place near Portalegre. Nasser Al Attiyah took first place, Miguel Barbosa was second and Ricardo Porém was third. Mirek Zapletal and Maciek Marton took fourteenth place. The Kazakh crew Andrej Cherednikov and Dima Tsyro started with another H3 Evo . They ranked 25th.
For Saturday, the organizers have prepared two special stages, measuring 200 and 247 kilometers. The drivers spent almost six hours behind the wheel and given the competition, it was a very tough battle from start to finish. There were only 20 minutes for service between special stages, so cars that had major technical problems had to withdraw from the race. Unfortunately, Andrey Cherednikov's H3 Evo did not continue in the second part of the race. Due to an engine failure, the Kazakh crew had to retire after the first special stage. Mirek Zapletal started the first RZ as thirteenth and finished it in tenth place. The car was fine, it was only when they changed the wheels that they found it was just a bit short of being held up by a puncture. There was a nail stuck in the left front wheel, probably from a horseshoe. Fortunately, the bike lasted until the service. After refueling and regrouping, the competitors set off for the second special stage, in somewhat smaller numbers than at the beginning. Boris Gadasin , who damaged the rear axle on his car, also withdrew from the race. It was clear that mainly the home crews wanted to fight for the best possible ranking at any cost. They certainly didn't spare their cars and, especially in the forest sections, they brushed them with such vehemence that some of them would be unrecognizable at the finish line without their starting number. Our crew managed the second special stage without major problems and arrived at the finish line in ninth place .
Thanks to the points they received for this position, Mirek Zapletal and Maciek Marton moved up in the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies ranking ahead of the Polish crew Marek Dabrowski, Jacek Czachor , to fourth place in the overall ranking and thus ended this season successfully. The winner of the race was the Portuguese crew Ricardo Porém and Manuel Porém in a Mini car, second were Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel with a Ford HRX car, and third was the Brazilian crew with a Toyota Hilux car, consisting of Reinaldo Varela and Gustavo Gugelmin . Home favorite Miguel Barbosa took fourth place.
Source: Offroadsport
