MEDIA INFORMATION                               

Baja TT Sharish Gin Reguengos de Monsaraz-Mourão

September 11th-14th, 2025

FIA European Baja Cup, round 8

OVERDRIVE RACING AND TOYOTA GAZOO RACING USE PORTUGAL’S BAJA TT SHARISH AS INVALUABLE TESTING FOR REMAINDER OF SEASON

REGUENGOS DE MONSARAZ (PORTUGAL) – Sunday, September 14: Overdrive Racing and Toyota Gazoo Racing took full advantage of the proximity of Portugal’s Baja TT Sharish Gin Reguengos de Monsaraz-Mourão to the forthcoming BP Rally-Raid Portugal.

Over the weekend, the team carried out invaluable shakedown testing before the penultimate round of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) at the end of the month.

Three Toyota Hiluxes were entered in the eighth round of the FIA European Baja Cup. The defending Dakar champions, Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk, had both suffered back injuries in an accident at the Jordan Baja in April and this event marked the crew’s return to active competition with Overdrive Racing. They were in the top six when a drive shaft failed and sidelined the Toyota on the first stage of the final morning.

Al-Rajhi said: “It was great to be back after such a tough period. We have been eagerly awaiting this moment. Our goal is to regain the rhythm and be fully ready for Dakar 2026. We will also go to Morocco and take part in the two rounds of the Saudi Championship in Qassim and Jeddah.

“It was an unlucky last day for us. We broke a driveshaft after about 15km of the stage and could not continue. Everything is going well with our health. My health is not yet 100% but, in a few months, we will be 100%”

The Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC team also entered a pair of Toyota Hiluxes for the South African duo of Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings and the young American driver Seth Quintero with his fellow countryman Andrew Short.

Quintero reached the finish in third overall. Lategan was competing on his first ever Baja in Europe as a shakedown for the next round of the W2RC and was challenging for the lead when he damaged the car after an accident on the third stage.

The South African said: “After about 30km, we slid slightly wide in a corner and clipped a rock on the outside and did some damage to the car that we had to stop and repair. We were out of the race but we gained some good experience and learned something about the set-up and the roads here.”

Lategan topped the times on the Prologue stage of 5.71km, near Mourão, that determined the starting positions for the first of two passes through a 116.12km stage on Saturday. The South African carded a time of 4min 21.8sec to get the better of his closest rival by 1.2 seconds. Quintero celebrated his birthday with the third quickest time.

Al-Rajhi settled back into the driving seat with a cautious run but the time did not count towards the general classification. His co-driver Gottschalk said: “Five months after our accident and it’s really nice to be in the car again. The Prologue was difficult for us. We were the first car on the road, quite slippery, a lot of dirt on the track and no marks at all. Just a small test before the Baja to come back to the business. It’s good to be here.”

Lategan was the man on form through the opener and the South African made a favourable starting position count with the quickest time. He edged into a lead of 1min 02.7sec over team-mate Quintero. Al-Rajhi came home in sixth.

Lategan said: “It was a nice stage. We had some problems with the timing. The tablet was not working correctly. There were some really twisty flowing parts, some slow and changes in pace all the time. You had to concentrate a lot.”

Lategan was second quickest on the re-run of the stage behind Guillaume de Mévius but headed into the night halt with a lead of 46.1 seconds over the Belgian. Quintero and Al-Rajhi were third and sixth, the latter suffering a minor electrical problem.

However, both Lategan and Quintero were awarded four-minute time penalties for not respecting the target times on transfer zones and those pushed the duo down to third and fourth with De Mévius leading overnight from Ferreira. Those penalties were later overturned by the event’s stewards.

The final leg saw crews tackle two runs through a stage of 89.70km. Both Lategan and Al-Rajhi were sidelined on the opener but the second quickest time on the second pass enabled Quintero to confirm third place in the final standings.

Overdrive Racing returns to action in Portugal on September 22nd-28th for the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal, the penultimate round of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC).

Baja TT Sharish Reguengos – result (unofficial):

  1. João Ferreira (POR)/Filipe Palmeiro (POR) TGR Toyota Hilux 3hr 49min 28.6sec+
  2. Guillaume de Mévius (BEL)/Mathieu Baumel (FRA) Mini JCW Rally 3.0i 3hr 51min 18.5sec
  3. Seth Quintero (USA)/Andrew Short (USA) Toyota Hilux                    3hr 55min 56.1sec
  4. Gonçalo Guerreiro (POR)/Joel Lutas (POR) Polaris RXR Pro R 4hr 03min 18.6sec
  5. Tiago Reis (POR)/Paulo Fiúza (POR) Taurus T3 Max 4hr 06min 23.1sec+
  6. Daniel Silva (POR)/Gonçalo Magalhães (POR) Taurus T3 Max 4hr 06min 48.1sec
  7. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (KGZ) Mini JCW Rally 3.0i 4hr 09min 04.2sec+
  8. Pim Klaassen (NED)/Mark Laan (NED) Taurus T3 4hr 15min 23.6sec
  9. Rúben Rodrigues (POR)/Rui Paulo (POR) Can-Am Maverick R 4hr 16min 11.4sec
  10. Tiago Guerreiro (POR)/Carlos Paulino (POR) Polaris RXR Pro R 4hr 16min 24.4sec

Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Timo Gottschalk (GER) Toyota Hilux Overdrive               RETIRED – SS3

Henk Lategan (RSA)/Brett Cummings (RSA) Toyota Hilux                                RETIRED – SS3

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: 14 September 2025