FIM World Rally-Raid Championship picks up again at the BP Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal, with factory teams from KTM, Honda, Hero and Sherco bringing full squads to the Iberian race — rRound four schedule and entry list.

All nine factory riders in RallyGP, representing four different marques, will start the Rally of Portugal which begins on September 23 with the prologue.

The five-stage rally begins in Grandola and ends in Lisbon with a trip across the border mid-week into Portugal’s Iberian brother, Spain.

Daniel Sanders has already smashed three records since winning the Dakar in January by becoming the first RallyGP rider to win more than two rounds in a single season, racking up the highest tally of stage wins (19) and the most specials taken in one season (11). Chucky starts as favourite alongside KTM teammate Luciano Benavides, second in the championship ranking.

Honda have their usual strong line-up of four riders in Portugal: Ricky Brabec, Adrien Van Beveren, Skyler Howes and Tosha Schareina. The Spaniard Schareina, victorious in Portugal last year, is back on the saddle after hurting his wrist at the South African Rally.

Hero MotoSports are bringing the reigning world champion, Ross Branch, and Nacho Cornejo.

Sherco TVS team have Bradley Cox, who made his team debut in the previous round and Lorenzo Santolino to complete a 10-rider RallyGP class in a field of more than 50 bikes (entry list below).

Rally Raid Portugal Schedule:

• 21 September from 3:00 pm – 22 September: administrative and technical scrutineering

• 23 September:

12:00 pm: general and Prologue briefing

1:30–2:15 pm: FIM/FIA pre-race press conference

3:00–4:30 pm: FIM/FIA prologue (5.15 km)

7:00–8:15 pm: start position selection for FIM/FIA stage 1

7:30–8:30 pm: FIM/FIA ceremonial start

• 24 September: stage 1 — Grândola–Grândola (total: 426 km / SS: 299 km + 5 km)

• 25 September: stage 2 — Grândola–Badajoz (total: 650 km / SS: 423 km)

• 26 September: stage 3 — Badajoz–Badajoz (total: 510 km / SS: 309 km)

• 27 September: stage 4 — Badajoz–Lisbon (total: 493 km / SS: 288 km)

• 28 September: stage 5 — Lisbon–Lisbon (total: 289 km / SS: 103 km)

4:30 pm: final press conference

7:00 pm: prize-giving

Portugal: UTC+01:00 / Spain: UTC+02:00

Rally 2 class

In Rally2, the three factory riders in the class are in for a serious scrap. The Austrian championship leader, Tobias Ebster (Hero MotoSports), just three points ahead of the up-and-coming Spaniard Edgar Canet (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), and the Indian Harith Noah (Sherco TVS Factory Racing) will come up against Bruno Santos (BS Frutas Patrícia Pilar) and his Husqvarna. Last year, the Portuguese rider clinched the Rally2 win on home soil and climbed onto the overall motorbike podium to boot.

Honda have no intention of giving their rivals a clear run. The team manager, Ruben Faria, has hand-picked two talents who will race under the Honda HRC banner, parallel to the Monster Energy factory team. One hails from Portugal and the other from across the pond. Martim Ventura, the national todo-o-terreno champion, opened his W2RC campaign with fifth place in Rally2 at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

Meanwhile, Preston Campbell happens to be the son of Johnny Campbell, who became a Baja legend riding for Honda in the United States and took Ricky Brabec under his wing. Earlier this season, Campbell Jr. went straight to the top step at the Sonora Rally, his first appearance in a rally raid. Next week, he will be standing on the W2RC stage for the first time in his career.

Motorcycle entry list