- Leonid Novitskiy defendeu a liderança na Taça do Mundo FIA
- Bernardo Moniz da Maia estreou o Mini All4 Racing
Just one week after the one-two success at the Silk Way Rally in Russia, the team was again in winning ways at the Baja Spain.
The Portuguese duo of Filipe Campos and Jaime Baptista claimed victory in the round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies at the wheel of their BMW X3 CC.
Portuguese team mates Bernardo Moniz da Maia and Joana Sotto-Mayor secured eighth position in the MINI All4 Racing and the Russian-German duo of Leonid Novitskiy and Andreas Schulz finished seventh in their BMW X3 CC and maintained the lead in the 2011 FIA World Cup.
Campos gave his opposition no real chance in the three-day event around Zaragoza. The
Portuguese won the super special and three of the four stages. The result was all the more impressive, bearing in mind that the BMW driver had to open all four specials as the first car on the route and had no tracks to follow. Only on the last stage did he set the fourth fastest time.
Novitskiy maintains his lead in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies after this fourth round, courtesy of seventh position. Main French rival Jean-Louis Schlesser could only finish 10th. Novitskiy lost several minutes on the last stage with three flat tyres and, because his car was only carrying two spares, he had to wait for team mate Moniz da Maia to lend him a spare wheel.
Baja Spain marked Moniz da Maia’s first appearance in the MINI All4 Racing. The Portuguese tackled all the stages without problems and set several useful stage times to record an eventual eighth overall.
"All three cars in the top eight. That’s a really good weekend for us," said Monster Energy X-raid team boss Sven Quandt. "Filipe has driven very fast and steady and has rightly secured the victory. The Baja Spain was also a success for Leonid.
“We must also remember that our rivals in the Mitsubishis were able to run with a six-speed manual gearbox and a larger air restrictor. Bernardo also had a good run to eighth. That was a really good result. "
Baja Spain – overall standings:
1. Filipe Campos (POR) / Jaime Baptista (POR) BMW X3 CC
7h 18m 16s
2. Bernhard Ten Brinke (NLD) / Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Mitsubishi
7h 20m 40s
3. Erik van Loon (NLD) / Harmen Scholtalbers (NLD) Mitsubishi
7h 27m 40s
…
7. Leonid Novitskiy (RUS) / Andreas Schulz (GER) BMW X3 CC
7h 55m 52s
8. Bernardo Moniz da Maia (POR)/Joana Sotto-Mayor (POR) MINI All4 Racing7h 58m 25s
