Overdrive Racing is sending four Toyota Hiluxes to Portugal’s 28th Baja Portalegre 500, the 10th and final round of the 2014 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, which takes place in the Nerpor area of Portalegre on October 30th-November 1st.
Portugal’s premier off-road event will decide the outcome of the FIA World Cup title between the Russian driver Vladimir Vasilyev and Qatari Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, while the Overdrive Racing quartet of Marek Dabrowski, Reinaldo Varela, Bernhard Ten Brinke and Joao Ramos will be aiming to end the season on a high note in their Toyota Hiluxes.
Dabrowski and fellow Polish navigator Jacek Czachor have been entered in the Team Orlen-backed Hilux, while Varela teams up with fellow Brazilian Gustavo Gugelmin in a second car.
Dutchman Ten Brinke missed out on a potential podium finish at the recent Rally of Morocco and will be hoping to continue his build-up preparations for the forthcoming Dakar Rally with at least a podium finish in the third Overdrive car. Portugal’s Joao Ramos and co-driver Vitor Jesus crew the fourth Toyota.
“This is the final round of the FIA World Cup and the last chance for us to prepare for the 2015 Dakar Rally in a competitive environment against the type of opposition we expect to face in South America in January,” said Overdrive Racing’s team director Jean-Marc Fortin.
“Overdrive Racing has enjoyed a successful season with outright wins in Russia, Italy, Egypt and Hungary and we would dearly like to end the year with a fifth win out of 10 FIA World Cup starts. This is a popular and difficult rally and an excellent chance for us to carry out more checks and tests before our focus of attention switches to the Dakar.”
The event timetable begins with administration and scrutineering checks on Thursday, October 30th. The meat of the competitive action in the remote rural areas of eastern Portugal takes place on Saturday, November 1st after the official starting ceremony on Friday, October 31st.
Cars will tackle two punishing selective sections of 200.41km and 212.61km in length on Saturday after a shorter 5.52km super special stage on Friday afternoon. In a compact route of just 458.18km, 418.54km (91.3%) will be competitive.
