Two-Second Thriller as Ferreira Lifts Portugal to Baja Aragón Glory

A pair of heartbeats decided last weekend’s Baja Aragón and, in the process, reminded every Portuguese motor-sport fan living abroad why the country’s off-road scene is enjoying a golden moment. João Ferreira and co-driver Filipe Palmeiro steered their brand-new Toyota Hilux T1+ EVO to victory in Spain by a wafer-thin 2 second margin over legend Nasser Al-Attiyah, breathing fresh life into Portugal’s ambitions in the FIA World Cup for Bajas while giving expats plenty to cheer about.

Why a 2-second gap changes the season

Two seconds may be trivial at a traffic light, yet over almost 500 km of gravel and dust it is a lifetime. The nail-biting finish hands Ferreira his first triumph in Teruel and Toyota its fifth consecutive Aragón win, but more importantly it vaults the 25-year-old from Leiria into realistic contention for the 2025 World Cup title. With five of the eight rounds now completed, Portugal has a driver who can stare down serial Dakar winners and, crucially, build momentum before the championship returns to home soil for the Baja Portalegre in late October.

A Spanish desert, a Portuguese conquest

For newcomers, Baja Aragón is Spain’s longest-running cross-country rally. Teruel sits 300 km east of Madrid in a high-plains landscape that resembles Arizona more than Andalusia, with July temperatures routinely topping 40 °C. The event’s 41st edition unfurled over three days: a short prologue on Friday, followed by two monster stages of more than 250 km. Ferreira won the curtain-raising dash, conceded time on the opening sector Saturday and then clawed everything back in Sunday’s finale, threading the Hilux between rocky outcrops at an average 130 km/h. Nani Roma, celebrating 30 years since his first Aragón podium, completed the top three, while South African driver Variawa and Argentine Juan Cruz Yacopini rounded out the top five.

Reverberations across the World Cup table

The FIA’s revamped scoring system blends overall position with group performance, so Ferreira pockets the maximum haul for Ultimate class and overall victory. Preliminary calculations from team engineers suggest he now sits within single-digits of the championship lead, a remarkable turnaround given he skipped the season-opening Jordan Baja. In the Stock category, fellow Portuguese pairing Fernando Barreiros and José Sá Pires claimed their class win, moving them to the top of that sub-championship. The Iberian takeover continued as Gonçalo Guerreiro and Joel Lutas dominated SSV, finishing a remarkable 13th outright despite a late-day mechanical scare.

Portugal’s paddock: more than one success story

It would be easy to view Aragón purely through Ferreira’s lens, yet the breadth of Portuguese talent on display points to a thriving ecosystem. Team SVR’s engineers, most of them based between Porto and Aveiro, supplied the technical backbone behind the winning Toyota, while Lisbon’s Polaris importer supported the SSV squad that claimed category honours. Even in the bikes, Lorenzo Santolino’s wire-to-wire win carried a Portuguese twist: his Sherco’s engine management software was fine-tuned in Braga. For expats contemplating a return home, the message is clear: Portugal is exporting know-how as well as drivers.

Counting down to Portalegre—and Dakar

Attention now shifts to the Baja Portalegre 500, scheduled for 23-25 October. The Alto Alentejo town is an easy two-hour drive from Lisbon and typically draws crowds larger than any other World Cup round. Ferreira will arrive as the local hero, but he is also using the event as a living laboratory for the Dakar 2026 project. The plan involves further mileage in the Hilux, data gathering on Portugal’s rougher limestone tracks, and simulator sessions in Johannesburg. Victory in Portalegre would not only gild his championship bid but also sharpen his weapons for a Dakar assault where Toyota, Audi and Dacia are expected to unleash next-gen prototypes.

How to experience a Baja weekend up close

If you are based in Portugal—or eyeing a scouting trip—Portalegre offers a festival atmosphere wrapped in rural charm. Spectator zones, clearly marked by the ACP, provide safe vantage points along olive-grove fire roads. Entry is free, though parking near the service park fills before dawn. English commentary is broadcast on local FM 91.2 MHz and via the official rally app, handy for expatriates whose Portuguese is still work-in-progress. Budget €10 for a bacon-infused bifana and a cold Sagres, bring a hat, and expect dust in every pocket. For Aragón 2026, Zaragoza Airport lies 170 km north, with RENFE trains linking the city to Teruel in under two hours.

Fast facts for the stat-hungry

Ferreira & Palmeiro, Toyota Hilux, 5:50:39. Al-Attiyah & Lurquin, Dacia Sandrider, +0:02. Roma & Haro, Ford Raptor, +1:42. Martin Macík’s Liaz took trucks, while André Lotterer sneaked a T3 class fourth in his off-road sabbatical from Formula E. Aragón’s closest previous finish had been 14 seconds in 2013—another record that now belongs to Portugal.

From Teruel’s red dust to Portalegre’s cork forests, the 2025 Baja season has become a showcase for Portuguese grit. For the community of foreigners living under the same flag—or thinking of planting roots here—it is a reminder that the country’s sporting ambitions stretch far beyond football pitches and surf breaks. All it took was two seconds.