2024 BP Ultimate Rally-Raid: Bruno Santos the home country hero in Rally2

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

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