Baja Spain Aragón

July 25th-27th, 2025 

2025 FIA World Baja Cup, round 5

OVERDRIVE RACING’S YACOPINI AND OLIVERAS FINISH FIFTH IN BAJA SPAIN ARAGÓN AND LEAD FIA WORLD BAJA CUP

TERUEL (SPAIN) – Sunday, July 27: Overdrive Racing’s Juan Cruz Yacopini and Dani Oliveras took a major step towards FIA World Baja Cup glory by finishing fifth overall to secure maximum points in both the Ultimate class and the Drivers’ and Navigators’ Championships at the Teruel-based Baja Spain Aragón. The duo both now lead the eight-round series after five events.

Poland’s Martin Kaczmarski and Spanish Armand Monleón suffered a technical setback on the opening special on Saturday and were unable to continue in the second of the Overdrive Racing Toyotas. The Spanish crew of Felix Macias and José-Luis Conde also drove an Overdrive Racing Toyota and finished 12th and fellow countrymen Santiago Carnicer and Sergio Peinado were 20th.

João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro made their first appearance with Toyota Gazoo Racing in Spain and it was a superb debut for the Portuguese duo. They trailed overnight leader Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah by 13.1 seconds at the start of the final day but a stunning final stage run gave them outright victory by just two seconds.

South African Saood Variawa and his French navigator François Cazalet also entered the event in a Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux IMT Evo. They finished fourth overall to give the Japanese manufacturer three places inside the top five.

Action got underway with a Prologue of 6.46km on Friday afternoon and Ferreira topped the times on his Toyota debut with a run of 4min 08.8sec. Hiluxes filled the top three places with Eryk Goczal pipping Kaczmarski to second place. Yacopini was down the field in 41st place.

With hanging dust a factor on the narrow rural tracks, starting positions were of paramount importance for the opening stage of 132.11km. Ferreira was seventh on the road with Kaczmarski in eighth and Yacopini down in 13th. Road-opening duties went to former Overdrive Racing driver Lionel Baud.

Ferreira, Saood Variawa and Yacopini came home in third, fifth and sixth but a technical issue sidelined Kaczmarski.

Ferreira topped the times on the second special of 199.48km by just half a second and headed into the night halt in Teruel in second position, sandwiched between leader Al-Attiyah and Joan Roma. Yacopini and Variawa held fourth and fifth overall after losing time in the dust.

A stage of 132.11km wrapped up the action on Sunday morning. Yacopini stayed clear of trouble to give Overdrive Racing a fifth-place finish and the Argentine the outright lead in the Ultimate class and the Drivers’ Championship in the FIA World Baja Cup. Oliveras already had control of the Navigators’ Championship.

The FIA World Baja Cup resumes with the BP Ultimate Baja Portalegre 500 in Portugal on October 23rd-25th.

2025 Baja Spain Aragón – result (top 20):

  1. João Ferreira (POR)/Filipe Palmeiro (POR) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 5hr 50min 39.6sec+
  2. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL) Dacia Sandrider 5hr 50min 41.6sec
  3. Joan ‘Nani’ Roma (ESP)/Alex Haro (ESP) Ford Raptor 5hr 52min 21.6sec
  4. Saood Variawa (RSA)/François Cazalet (FRA) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 5hr 57min 04.8sec
  5. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 5hr 59min 12.2sec*
  6. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Viktor Chytka (CZE) Ford Raptor T1+ 6hr 03min 49.4sec
  7. Marek Goczal (POL)/Maciej Marton (POL) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 6hr 03min 55.6sec
  8. Benediktas Vanagas (LTU)/Aisvydas Paliukenas (LTU) Toyota Hilux 6hr 05min 37.0sec+
  9. Lionel Baud (FRA)/Lucie Baud (FRA) Mini JCW Rally 3.0d 6hr 05min 55.4sec
  10. Francisco Barreto (POR)/Carlos Silva (POR) Toyota Hilux 6hr 06min 42.7sec*
  11. Michal Goczal (POL)/Daniel Dymurski (POL) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo 6hr 07min 49.6sec
  12. Felix Macias (ESP)/José-Luis Conde (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 6hr 10min 02.9sec
  13. Gonçalo Guerreiro (POR)/Joel Lutas (POR) Polaris RXR Pro R Sport 6hr 10min 14.9sec
  14. Charles Munster (LUX)/Loris Pascaud (FRA) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 11min 17.9sec
  15. Alexandro Pinto (POR)/Bernardo Oliveira (POR) Polaris RXR Pro R Sport 6hr 11min 32.4sec
  16. Pau Navarro (ESP)/Jan Rosa (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 13min 58.5sec
  17. Fidel Castillo (ESP)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Taurus T3 Max 6hr 14min 08.2sec
  18. Puck Klaassen (RSA)/Augusto Sanz (ARG) G-ECKO Challenger One 6hr 15min 33.8sec
  19. Jourdan Serderidis (BEL)/Fréderic Miclotte (BEL) Ford Raptor 6hr 16min 09.5sec
  20. Santiago Carnicer (ESP)/Sergio Peinado (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 6hr 16min 43.9sec

*denotes registered for FIA World Cup

+ denotes registered for FIA Middle East Cup

Ends

For further information:

Jean-Marc Fortin (E-mail: jmf@overdriveracing.be), Overdrive S.A., rue de L’Enterprise 1, 4530 Villers-le-Bouillet, Belgium, Tel: + 32 475 762 391. www.overdriveracing.be, Facebook: Overdrive Racing, Twitter: @OverdriveToyota

 

 

 

Published On: 27 July 2025