Twice Portuguese Cross Country Champion and reigning Baja Portalegre 500 winner Bruno Santos brought more than just his A-game when the World Rally-Raid Championship came knocking on his door for the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid. Defending his turf like there was no tomorrow, he topped the Rally2 class with four stage victories and over twenty-one minutes on points-earning riders Bradley Cox and Romain Dumontier.
Cox initially drew first blood by beating every bike, including those in the premier RallyGP category, in Stage #1 until he received a twenty-minute penalty for leaving the neutralisation zone between Selective Sections too soon. Prologue winner Edgar Canet also made the same mistake, costing him twelve minutes and his early advantage.
Santos inherited the stage win as a result, but proved it was no fluke as he won the next three legs. He narrowly beat Cox by twenty-two seconds for the Stage #2 victory, then dropped a nearly eight-minute advantage in the third leg to lead by seventeen. A fourth win in Stage #4 made the margin an almost insurmountable 20:49 over Canet barring a retirement on the last day.
With such a big advantage, Santos was able to take the final day easier yet he still recorded a podium as he finished third and only a minute behind Dumontier. The overall adds to an increasingly impressive international rally raid résumé; after having to abort his Dakar Rally début in 2022 due to injury, he re-earned his eligibility for the 2024 race after finishing fifth in class in his maiden W2RC start at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, then was the second-best rookie at Dakar in sixteenth.
“Several of my idols were in this race. I could hardly contain my excitement to realise that I was able to fight second by second over several days with these legends,” wrote Santos, who called the race “an astonishing week of competition”. “I know that I am probably at the peak of my sporting career right now, but let’s continue to push a little further, climbing the steps within our reach!”
Dumontier’s Stage #5 win enabled him to hold off Canet for the final overall podium spot by a single second. The reigning champion also moves past Jean-Loup Lepan for the lead in the standings, also by one point. Cox, as the highest finisher among W2RC riders, leapfrogs Konrad Dąbrowski for third and is three points back.
While missing the podium by the narrowest margin, Canet’s fourth still earns him the Junior Trophy for riders under twenty-five as the nineteen-year-old beat Jeremías Pascual by ten minutes. David Casteu rounded out the top ten to win the Veteran Trophy for those over forty-five.
Dakar Rally winner Harith Noah was at the bottom of the leaderboard but was glad to just reach the finish. He crashed in Stages #1 and #4 and retired from the second with a mechanical failure, suffering a minor wrist injury in the second accident.
“I wish it would have gone differently but here we are now,” said Noah. “Taking a lot home from this home and a lot has been learned.”
Rally2 overall results
| Finish | Number | Rider | Team | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 40 | Bruno Santos* | Momento TT Motos | 10:11:42 | Leader |
| 2 | 18 | Bradley Cox | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 10:32:50 | + 21:08 |
| 3 | 16 | Romain Dumontier | Team Dumontier Racing | 10:38:22 | + 26:40 |
| 4 | 69 | Edgar Canet* | Edgar Canet Ardèvol | 10:38:23 | + 26:41 |
| 5 | 28 | Mathieu Dovèze | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 10:40:56 | + 29:14 |
| 6 | 63 | Jeremías Pascual* | Pedrega Team | 10:48:28 | + 36:46 |
| 7 | 65 | Josep Pedró Subirats* | Pedrega Team | 11:10:38 | + 58:56 |
| 8 | 76 | Jean-Loup Lepan | DUUST Rally Team | 11:11:26 | + 59:44 |
| 9 | 62 | Alexandre Vaudan* | Alexandre Vaughn | 11:11:31 | + 59:49 |
| 10 | 32 | David Casteu* | David Casteu | 11:16:15 | + 1:04:33 |
| 11 | 26 | Konrad Dąbrowski | DUUST Rally Team | 11:17:16 | + 1:05:34 |
| 12 | 33 | Jan Brabec | Strojrent Racing | 11:38:31 | + 1:26:49 |
| 13 | 56 | Paul Costes* | Nomade Racing | 11:43:42 | + 1:32:00 |
| 14 | 57 | Adrien Costes* | Nomade Racing | 11:54:15 | + 1:42:33 |
| 15 | 47 | José Ramón Colomar Pallarés* | Joyride Race Service | 11:59:38 | + 1:47:56 |
| 16 | 127 | Ronald Venter* | Ronald Venter | 12:10:02 | + 1:58:20 |
| 17 | 41 | Nicolas Horeaux* | Nomade Racing | 12:11:44 | + 2:00:02 |
| 18 | 54 | Dwain Barnard* | Nomade Racing | 12:30:35 | + 2:18:53 |
| 19 | 129 | Sébastien Herbet | Sébastien Herbet | 12:32:54 | + 2:21:12 |
| 20 | 58 | Christopher Jautard* | Nomade Racing | 12:51:11 | + 2:39:29 |
| 21 | 49 | Rémy Moreau* | Nomade Racing | 13:33:58 | + 3:22:16 |
| 22 | 80 | Rafic Eid* | Rafic Eid | 13:41:57 | + 3:30:15 |
| 23 | 61 | Vaughn Roux* | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 14:38:41 | + 4:26:59 |
| 24 | 43 | Ferran Zaragoza* | Pedrega Team | 15:03:18 | + 4:51:36 |
| 25 | 59 | Pedro Pinheiro* | Pedro Pinheiro | 15:58:42 | + 5:47:00 |
| 26 | 60 | Sergio Fernandez Garcia* | Pedrega Team | 16:27:54 | + 36:16:12 |
| 27 | 45 | Jatin Jain* | Jatin Jain | 23:16:56 | + 13:05:14 |
| 28 | 55 | Carlos Lopez Belloso* | Pedrega Team | 24:06:25 | + 13:54:43 |
| 29 | 48 | Joan Viñals Jul* | Joyride Race Service | 24:07:17 | + 13:55:35 |
| 30 | 20 | Harith Noah* | Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team | 30:40:26 | + 20:28:44 |
| 31 | 44 | Matthieu Cauvin* | Nomade Racing | 54:42:56 | + 44:31:14 |
| DNF | 52 | Marshall Méplon* | Marshall Méplon | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 53 | Adriá Pascuet* | Joyride Race Service | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 64 | Romain Souvignet* | Romain Souvignet | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 71 | Jorge Escobedo* | Pedrega Team | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 84 | Martim Ventura* | Martim Ventura | DNF | N/A |
Bold – Junior Trophy
Italics – Veteran Trophy
Rally2 stage winners
| Stage | Driver | Time |
| Prologue | Edgar Canet* | 3:33.5 |
| Stage #1 | Bruno Santos* | 1:19:55 |
| Stage #2 | Bruno Santos* | 1:49:57 |
| Stage #3 | Bruno Santos* | 3:26:48 |
| Stage #4 | Bruno Santos* | 2:40:19 |
| Stage #5 | Romain Dumontier | 50:02 |
W2RC Rally2 standings
For readability, competitors registered for the championship who have not earned points are excluded.
| Rank | Rider | Points | Margin |
| 1 | Romain Dumontier | 58 | Leader |
| 2 | Jean-Loup Lepan | 57 | – 1 |
| 3 | Bradley Cox | 55 | – 3 |
| 4 | Konrad Dąbrowski | 47 | – 11 |
| 5 | Jan Brabec | 35 | – 23 |
| 6 | Mathieu Dovèze | 33 | – 25 |
| 7 | Toni Mulec | 20 | – 38 |
| 8 | Diego Llanos | 15 | – 43 |
| 9 | Tobias Ebster | 14 | – 44 |
| 10 | Charan Moore | 12 | – 46 |
| 11 | Sébastien Herbet | 11 | – 47 |
| 12 | Charlie Herbst | 8 | – 50 |
| 13 | David McBride | 6 | – 52 |
| 14 | Oran O’Kelly | 5 | – 53 |
| 15 | Sebastián Urquía | 3 | – 55 |
| 16 | Rachid Al-Lal Lahadil | 2 | – 56 |