Baja Greece 2024, Stage 1, SS 2 (Ultimate)

A re-run of the Mesopotamia special (151.31 km) brought another surprise. The winner of SS2 and the new leader of the Ultimate category is Akira Miura on Toyota Hilux Overdrive T1+!

The Japanese Ultimate category debutant is now just 29 seconds ahead of Miroslav Zapletal in the Ford F150 Evo+. It is in this classification that the hardest battle for victory is expected, with almost 230 kilometers of the competition distance scheduled for tomorrow.

Magdalena Zając (Toyota Hilux T1) stopped in the last third of the special stage. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota Hilux Overdrive T1+) moved up to third position and is now trying to reduce his morning time loss.

Stage 1, SS 2 (Ultimate, T1/T1+)*
1. Miura/Polato (Toyota)
2. Zapletal/Sýkora (Ford) +1:55.7
3. Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk (Toyota) +2:49.7
* - provisional results

After Stage 1 (Ultimate, T1/T1+)*
1. Miura/Polato (Toyota) pen. 0:20
2. Zapletal/Sýkora (Ford) +0:09.0
3. Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk (Toyota) +43:00.6 (pen. 2:50)
* - provisional results

Akira Miura (JPN) #203 Toyota Hilux Overdrive, Ultimate group.

🎤We just finished the afternoon loop and have returned. Based on the checks we did in the morning, I felt a greater sense of unity with the car in the afternoon. Unfortunately, we had one flat tire and a wiper issue, which cost us about 5 to 6 minutes, but we have been able to gradually increase our pace without pushing too hard. I think we are finding a good rhythm.

Timo Gottschalk (DEU) #200, Toyota Hilux Overdrive, Ultimate group

Yes, in the midday service, the mechanics fixed our car and the brake was a bit better, but anyway, it was not perfect because the conditions are really hard for our heavy car and with the brakes. But today in the afternoon, we suffered some different problems with the engine temperature, so we had to stop two times to check the water level and to release some pressure to get the temperature down and we had to slow down a bit to keep the temperature low. That's why we lost again a little bit, but luckily we are here on this day and looking for tomorrow, we have maybe a better day tomorrow.

You overtook many cars?

No, I think we overtook maybe two side by side, it was quite a big gap in front of us when we were starting, so at the end it was quite a clean run in terms of dust.

Baja Greece 2024, Stage 1, SS 2 (Challenger)

On the Greek roads, the Challenger Lightweight Prototype category kept their advantage - they again took the top three positions in the overall standings on the SS2.

The most stable crews were Eduardo Pons (Taurus T3 Max) and Lionel Baud (GRally OT3), who at the end of Stage 1 are leading both in the Challenger and overall standings.

The successful start of Ghislain de Mévius on GRally OT3 (he won the morning special and became the first leader of the race) was quickly turned into a failure - on SS2 the Belgian stopped due to technical problems (according to preliminary information, damage to the electrics).

João Ferreira (Can-Am Factory Team) took a little revenge for the morning's failure - the Portuguese finished second on SS2 both in his category and overall. But he is already more than 2.5 hours behind in the overall race standings.

Stage 1, SS2 (Challenger, T3)*
1. Pons/Betriu (Taurus)
2. Ferreira/Palmeiro (Can-Am) +1:07.2
3. Baud/Baud (GRally) +2:49.3
4. Miklós/Horn (Taurus) +10:20.3
5. Al-Jafla/Rudnitski (Can-Am) +19:22.4
* - provisional results

After Stage 1 (Challenger, T3)*
1. Pons/Betriu (Taurus) pen. 0:20
2. Baud/Baud (GRally) +4:13.7
3. Miklós/Horn (Taurus) +20:27.7 (pen. 2:00)
4. Martinez/Lafuente (Can-Am) +43:15.1
5. Al-Jafla/Rudnitski (Can-Am) +43:42.4 (pen. 2:30)

* - provisional results

Baja Greece 2024, Stage 1, SS 2 (SSV)

In the production SSV category, Fernando Álvarez controlled the situation. He finished second on SS2, which allowed him to keep his lead and almost four minutes of advantage. He also moved up to sixth position in the overall standings at the result of Stage 1.

The family battle for second position in the race continues. Alex Toril confidently won SS2 (15 minutes faster than in the morning) and moved up to second position ahead of his older brother Miguel Toril. Interestingly, Alex Toril has halved his gap to Fernando Álvarez and plans to fight for victory tomorrow.

For Amerigo Ventura, the race is already over. After a accident on SS1, it became clear that his Yamaha had damage to the safety cage.

Stage 1, SS 2 (SSV, T4)*
1. Toril A./Lopez (BRP Can-Am)
2. Álvarez/Panseri (BRP Can-Am) +3:56.3
3. Toril M./Al-Kuwari (BRP Can-Am) +6:34.7
4. Fournier/Gounon (BRP Can-Am) +18:17.3
* - provisional results

After Stage 1 (SSV, T4)*
1. Álvarez/Panseri (BRP Can-Am)
2. Toril A./Lopez (BRP Can-Am) +5:51.0 (pen. 2:00)
3. Toril M./Al-Kuwari (BRP Can-Am) +6:34.8 (pen. 0:20)
4. Fournier/Gounon (BRP Can-Am) +30:03.6 (pen. 2:10)
* - provisional results

Fernando Alvarez (ARG) #400, Can-Am Maverick, SSV group

🎤Well, we finished today. It was good. We did a good job. So, I think we are now sixth in the overall and continue first in our category. So, we are happy about that. But, OK, still 200 kilometres tomorrow. But, OK, it was a little bit difficult to drive like that because it's very easy to pass. So, you have to be very, all the time, just looking very, very careful. But, OK, we did the job. Xavier did a very good job also. So, we are happy for the moment and we will see tomorrow if everything continues like that.

Claude Fournier (FRA) #404 Can-Am Maverick, SSV group

🎤Well, the first day is over, 320 kilometers plus the liaisons of, I don't know how many, 40, 80, 120 km of liaisons. I think we're done, in total we're fourth in SSV. So, quite happy for now, we'll see what happens tomorrow for the last day. We had less mud this afternoon, but well, it was much more rough with a lot of rocks because we passed through the same place as this morning. So it was tough, I went faster than this morning, I think I did 3-4 minutes less than this morning on the same route.

Ghislain de Mevius (BEL) #301, G Rally OT3, Challenger group

🎤It's a shame we had a technical issue today, this afternoon, going through water, I think there was many pressure with the water, we went quite fast, and I think water goes in to the, somewhere in the electrical system, and then we stopped, and then we start again a bit, but then it's completely stopped there after, so it's a shame because I think we could have done something great, but let's race tomorrow for the fun.

Lucie Baud (FRA) #303 G Rally OT3, Challenger group

🎤It's the end of this first day here in Greece. It's truly magnificent. We climbed to 2000 meters altitude this morning. We were even very cold in the car. And then we also saw a bear. It was quite incredible. I had never seen a bear in my life. But then you think, maybe I shouldn't break down, because otherwise, the bear might come close. Rallying is also about that.

It's also about experiencing extraordinary moments. It's experiencing lots of emotions. And that's why we love being here. And tonight, we're coming in second or third. Overall, it's really great. With a superb car from G Rally. We're really happy. The navigation is, let's say, quite simple. Because we're on tracks. But as a result, it strongly reminds us of the rally-terres we've been able to do in France. So it's great to have many memories flooding back. It's fantastic.

Time Differences before the final stage:

Battle for victory in Ultimate:
🔥🔥🔥 P1 - Akira Miura ➡️ P2 - Miroslav Zapletal +0:09.0

Battle for 4th position in Challenger:
🔥🔥🔥 P4 - Diego Martinez ➡️ P5 - Khalid Al-Jafla +0:27.3

Battle for 2nd position in SSV:
🔥🔥🔥 P2 - Alex Toril ➡️ P3 - Miguel Toril +0:43.8

Jaume Betriu (ESP) #304, Taurus T3 Max, Challenger group, BBR Motorsport.

🎤Today is a good day for us, a good first special this morning, and then this afternoon is a really good special, one minute better than this morning, and then is really good, really happy for the car, tomorrow morning.

Csaba Miklos (HUN) #305, Taurus T3 Max, Challenger group, BBR Motorsport

🎤Hello, so we finished the first day, I think it was okay, first time with this car, it's a nice job, unfortunately in the second round we changed the tire, so we lose like 5-6 minutes, but yes, we started at 13th place and we are in 5th place now, and on the Challengers we are in 3rd place, so I am very happy and I will wait tomorrow.

12_Start_List_TC1G_FIA.pdf

Penalties

Penalties 2

Provisional classification

📖Baja Greece 2024: Difficult day for the ladies

While yesterday’s prologue was rather uneventful for the three female competitors in Baja Greece Offroad, the first day of the real action was not kind to the three ladies.
https://medium.com/@crosscountryrally/baja-greece-2024-difficult-day-for-the-ladies-6a722386de92

Eduard Pons (ESP) #304, Taurus T3 Max, Challenger group, BBR Motorsport

Hello, here we are in the Parc Fermé. We did the first part, 114 km, very twisty, loose, complicated stage because some of the parts are the same parts as yesterday but vice versa. And the gravel is really loose. I think we did a good result. Still I don't know exactly the position but in front of our competitors we took some time. At the end we need to be conservative on the last stage today, 114 km more, because I think we have some space to administrate.