2024 BP Ultimate Rally-Raid: Joao Monteiro wins SSV on home soil

João Monteiro is a two-time Portuguese Cross Country Champion, the reigning FIM European Bajas SSV champion, and was the best-finishing rookie at the Dakar Rally in January when he finished thirteenth in the Challenger class. When the World Rally-Raid Championship arrived in Portugal for the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid, he was more than ready to defend his home turf.

Usually a tyre manager for South Racing Can-Am, he represented the team well as he won the SSV category by leading the overall and finishing on the podium in all five stages. On his worst day in Stage #4, he made an error that caused him to lose a minute but still finished third and just a minute behind stage winner Ricardo Ramilo.

His first and second in the first two stages also earned him the T4 win on the CPTT side, held in conjunction with the W2RC. The win continues a streak of SSV race winners who are not registered for the W2RC, joining Xavier de Soultrait (Dakar Rally) and Mansour Al-Helei (Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge).

“We enter each race with the goal of winning, but when it comes to a World Championship race, everything becomes even more special,” wrote Monteiro. “I want to express my gratitude to the team for the excellent car they provided me, ready to face each stage. A huge thank you to my sponsors, whose support was essential for us to be here. To my family, who has always been by my side, and to the warmth and unconditional support of all the fans throughout these days, my sincere thanks.

“I am really happy!”

Ramilo battled with Yasir Seaidan to be the top W2RC-eligible driver. Seaidan, the points leader entering the race, won Stage #2 but retired the next day with a mechanical failure. With Rebecca Busi the next highest points-earning driver but forty-one minutes behind, Ramilo simply needed to complete the final two stages without issue to secure maximum points in the standings; not only did he achieve this, but he did so in style by winning both legs.

Although too far back to catch Monteiro for the outright win, Ramilo moves from eighth to third in the SSV standings. Sebastián Guayasamín, who also exited Stage #3 for vehicle problems but managed to continue the race, remains second and narrows the gap to Seaidan from 59 to 37 points.

SSV regulars João Ferreira and Eduard Pons opted to move up to the Ultimate class for Portugal, while Sara Price is sitting out most of the season due to a lack of funding. Price’s absence made Busi the only female driver in the class for the event, and she enjoyed her best race finish of second among W2RC registrants.

SSV overall results

Finish	Number	Driver	Co-Driver	Team	Time	Margin
1	405	João Monteiro*	Nuno Morais	South Racing Can-Am	10:50:31	Leader
2	403	Ricardo Ramilo	Fausto Mota	Scuderia Ramilo	11:03:50	+ 13:19
3	418	Rui Serpa*	Rui Pita	Santag Racing	11:14:08	+ 23:37
4	415	Ruben Jorge Rodrigues*	Rui Jorge Moreira Paulo	Ruben Jorge Rodrigues	11:37:05	+ 46:34
5	402	Rebecca Busi	Sergio Lafuente	OnlyFans Racing	11:55:17	+ 1:01:46
6	413	Filipe Manuel Aniceto Lopes*	Fábio João Simões dos Santos	Filipe Manuel Aniceto Lopes	12:20:48	+ 1:30:17
7	414	Reinaldo Varela*	Felipe Bianquine	Reinaldo Varela	12:51:55	+ 2:01:24
8	416	Vitor da Silva Moutinho*	Max Delfino	Vitor da Silva Moutinho	13:04:14	+ 2:13:43
9	404	Claude Fournier	Serge Gounon	Claude Fournier	20:05:59	+ 9:15:28
10	417	Adrien Choblet*	Laurent Magat	Adrien Choblet	20:25:05	+ 9:34:34
11	408	José Óscar Nogueira*	Arcélio Couto	José Óscar Nogueira	34:19:23	+ 23:28:52
12	401	Sebastián Guayasamín	Fernando Acosta	FN Speed Team	34:22:48	+ 23:32:17
13	412	José Morgado*	Gonçalo Magalhães	José Morgado	41:04:42	+ 30:14:11
DNF	400	Yasir Seaidan	Michaël Metge	Race World Team	DNF	N/A
DNF	406	Gonçalo Guerreiro*	José Sá Pires	JB Racing	DNF	N/A
DNF	407	Alexander Josef Toril Boquoi*	Pedro Gabriel Lopez Chavez	Escudería JMP Racing	DNF	N/A
DNF	409	Miguel Toril Boquoi*	Rosa Romero Font	Escudería JMP Racing	DNF	N/A
DNF	410	João Paula*	Nuno Mota Ribeiro	João Paula	DNF	N/A
DNF	411	Jérémie Renou*	Antoine Sanchez	Jérémie Renou	DNF	N/A

* – Not competing in World Rally-Raid Championship

SSV stage winners

Stage	Driver	Time
Prologue	Gonçalo Guerreiro*	3:55.2
Stage #1	João Monteiro*	1:20:00
Stage #2	Yasir Seaidan	1:54:26
Stage #3	João Monteiro*	3:42:50
Stage #4	Ricardo Ramilo	2:54:50
Stage #5	Ricardo Ramilo	56:01

W2RC SSV standings

For readability, competitors registered for the championship who have not earned points are excluded.

Drivers’ standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Margin
1	Yasir Seaidan	155	Leader
2	Sebastián Guayasamín	118	– 37
3	Ricardo Ramilo	92	– 63
4	Rebecca Busi	84	– 71
5	Sara Price	74	– 81
6	João Ferreira	73	– 82
7	Cristiano de Sousa Batista	52	– 103
8	Claude Fournier	46	– 109
9	Enrico Gaspari	45	– 110
10	Michele Cinotto	22	– 133
11	Eduard Pons	16	– 139
12	André Thewessen	13	– 142

Co-drivers’ standings

Rank	Co-Driver	Points	Margin
1	Fausto Mota	123	Leader
2	Fernando Acosta	118	– 5
3	Adrien Metge	91	– 32
4	Sergio Lafuente	84	– 39
5	Jeremy Gray	74	– 49
6	Filipe Palmeiro	73	– 50
7	Michaël Metge	64	– 59
8	Serge Gounon	46	– 77
9	Aku Facundo Jaton	31	– 92
10	Maurizio Dominella	22	– 101
11	Marc Solà Terradellas	21	– 102
12	Jaume Betriu	16	– 107
13	Alberto Marcon	14	– 109
14	Dmytro Tsyro	13	– 110