At the end of a thrilling FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup season, the Baja Portalegre, held this weekend (01st/02nd November) in Portugal, will be the decider in the fight for the title. Poland’s Krzysztof ‚Holek‘ Holowczyc and his German co-driver Andreas Schulz will give their very best to take over the current World Cup leader Jean-Louis Schlesser and secure the title, with their MINI ALL4 Racing. In addition to Holowczyc, his compatriot Martin Kaczmarski and his Portuguese co-driver Filipe Palmeiro will race the Baja Portalegre.
Holowczyc travels to Portugal with a nine-point gap to the French World Cup leader. Should he succeed in stealing Schlesser’s lead and winning the title it would be the sixth consecutive World Cup triumph for the Trebur based team. The Baja Portalegre will be kicked off on Friday with a 5.52-kilometre ‘Super Special’. On Saturday, the competitors will have to contest two special stages with distances of 200.41 and 212.61 kilometres respectively.
“It definitely will be a thriller,” said Monster Energy X-raid Team Manager Sven Quandt. “The Baja Portalegre is an event with a limited special-stage mileage. Therefore, everything must work perfectly from the first to the last kilometre.”
FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies Classification:
POS Drivers PTS
1. J.-L. Schlesser (FRA) 126
2. N. Roma (ESP) 120
3. K. Holowczyc (POL) 117
4. N. Coffaro (VEN) 70
5. M. Zapletal (CZE) 64
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POS TEAMS PTS
1. Monster Energy X-raid Team 184
2. Sonangol Schlesser 126
3. Overdrive Racing 110
4. Infoctec 35
5. ProtechMsport Rally Team 34
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