The Tour of Portugal is Back!

The partnership between Portugal Offroad and RallyMoto goes back to 2012, at a bike show in Coventry.

Rui Matias had travelled to the UK to promote his roadbook training tours, and as fate had it, was positioned in the stand besides Burt’s. They got chatting and the rest is history!

“2012, my first international show in Coventry, Dirt Bike Show. I arrived with my bike with the roadbook holder. There was a guy who appeared and said “You do tours? In Portugal? With roadbooks? We need to talk.” And it starts eleven years ago this partnership between RallyMoto and Portugal Offroad, and we’re still here!”

-Rui.

Making a Comeback.

The Tour of Portugal was their first collaboration event which ran annually from 2015 – 2018, with great success. In 2019, huge forest fires in the mountains of northern Portugal meant they had to cancel, and of course from 2020 there was the pandemic which meant that for several years RallyMoto was limited to hosting UK based events only.

Late in 2022, we reunited with Rui and his team to revisit the area of Pampilhosa da Serra and recce the fantastic network of trails that are so abundant in the municipality. With a few amendments to the routes noted and the excitement of riding there well and truly rekindled, the plan was set to run the full event in late April of 2023.

40 riders – 2 classes – 3 days

over 700km of some of the most enjoyable dirt tracks on offer in all of Europe.

THE EVENT

It may have been a long hiatus between events but it was absolutely worth the wait! With several riders declaring that the event provided some of the best days of riding they’d ever had on the bike, it says it all really!

The guys on bigger bikes were given the option to ride ‘Adventure Class’, which cut out some of the more gnarly sections and missed out the timed stages on the roadbook.

Even so, some riders on T7s and 890s still opted for ‘Rally Class’, taking on the challenge of the tougher terrain and more involved navigation. For RallyMoto members, these were long and hard days on the bike, and for some it was the first time time they’d been to Portugal, let alone ridden there. It doesn’t sound like it will be their last either!

“Portugal is incredibly beautiful. Fantastic riding, endless riding! The event itself has been absolutely amazing. I’ve ridden stuff I’ve never dreamt that I’d be riding, and the organisation has been absolutely fantastic, couldn’t have asked for better.”

-Rob Greaves

Highlights

Day one

With a relaxed 10am start and just over 200km to cover, riders began the event by winding around the large reservoir north out of Pedrógão Grande. A technical hillclimb about 20km in gave them a taste of what sort of challenges laid ahead of them, but with the help of Rui and his team, all riders got through the first hurdle and on their way. A puncture at km 60 was fixed on course, and served as a reminder to why mousse are so essential in these parts!

Then came the rain. At just after 2pm it began, accompanied by blustering winds and coinciding with the part of the course which took riders up and over the highest mountain in the area. As the day got late, several riders were cut from the course and sent back to base at this point due to the adverse weather conditions – which the riders appreciated!

Day two

Thankfully the weather returned to it’s normal warm Portuguese conditions and once the morning fog had lifted what was revealed was some incredible grippy tracks and ideal riding conditions. Today was a bit longer at 250km but was a very special day. With a restart in the town of Pamphilosa de Serra, riders were welcomed with pastel de natas and other gifts, courtesy of the Mayor. This wasn’t the only treat on offer today, as the course included a special high speed WRC stage near the town of Gois, as well as some incredibly scenic mountain tracks near Fajao.

Day three

Another long and challenging day that offered up more stunning scenery as it weaved along the shoreline and high up above the Albufeira da Barragem de Santa Luzia. Rally class riders were served up the most technical challenge of the event, about 20km out of the last section of offroad, but yet again with several marshals on point to offer assistance, all riders made it up the very steep and loose climb and were awarded with possibly one of the best (of very many) stunning views of the event.

Special mentions

Special mention goes to Rally Class winner Flynn Dennison, who has not long had his full bike license, but is obviously destined for big things in the rally scene.

Congratulations to Rob Gawthorpe, the happiest Yorkshireman on a bike, who’s determination to progress with his roadbooking and riding skills is paying off handsomely.

Final results

Rally Class

1st- Flynn Denninson

2nd – George Denninson

3rd – Jon Sheppey

Adventure Class

1st – Rob Gawthorpe

2nd – John Pollard

3rd – Alan Hall

“We’ve had fires, we’ve had covid, and we’ve brought it back. Thanks for supporting us, thanks for being RallyMoto members, and thank you for bringing the Tour of Portugal back to life.”

– Burt

RallyMoto returns to Portugal in October for a brand new event (stay tuned), but most importantly the Tour of Portugal is back as an annual event.

This is Adventure Rallying.

This is what RallyMoto is all about!

3 – 2 – 1 – GOOOOO!