Team Bianchi Prata Honda - Marco de Canaveses WINS Baja TT Escuderia de Castelo Branco
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
Gustavo Gaudêncio first overall and in the TT1
Pedro Bianchi Prata finishes the Baja with a 100% electric bike
João Duarte Second in the TT3 and Juniors and fifth overall
Christophe Lajouanie First in the Veterans and seventh overall
Daniela Mateus first in the Ladies in the National
Mariuxi Taranto second in the Ladies in the National and in the World
Rafic Eid third in the Veterans in the World
Tomás Silva ( Tobim) 4th in the Mini Baja
The biggest team in the national TT - 13 riders at the start and 11 riders at the finish
Divided into three days and with three special stages, a 6-kilometre prologue, a 174-kilometre stage and a 155-kilometre stage, more than 355 timed kilometres and more than 6 hours of racing
The Honda team was in the spotlight, with Gustavo Gaudêncio taking the top spot on the podium and in the TT1 class, leaving the second-placed rider more than 3 minutes behind. The Chamusca rider set a great pace from the start of the race and won two of the three special stages.
Honda CRF250RX - Gustavo Gaudêncio
"We won the overall Honda CRF250RX, what an emotion.... many thanks to the hard work of all the OffRoad Bianchi Prata staff, to Pedro Bianchi for believing that it's always possible to do something extraordinary and to all our teammates for the good mood in our paddock. It was a very exciting race, leading the race with the opponents we have in the championship is gratifying."
In an absolute first, Bianchi Prata took a 100% electric motorcycle to the end of this Baja. |
100% electric motorcycle MOEVE - Pedro Bianchi Prata
"It was an absolute first for me, for the bike, for the Federation and for the organization. This weekend we made history and took a 100% electric motorcycle to the end of one of the toughest Baja World Cup races in living memory. It's a project in partnership with MOEVE, which is taking the first steps towards 100% electric motorcycles in the Bajas World Championship. I'm very happy to have finished and to have made history in world motorcycling. It was a very tough Baja, but well organized by Escuderia de Castelo Branco."
Also in the TT1 class, Lagos rider David Xavier showed that he is getting faster and faster on his CRF250RX and took fourth place in TT1
Honda CRF250RX - David Xavier
"I'm happy to have finished fourth in my TT1 class, the bike is spectacular, now we have to start preparing for the next race. Thanks to all the staff, without them it would have been impossible to achieve these results. ✊"
In the TT2 and Veterans classes, ACL rider João Miranda on a CRF450RX was fifth in Vet and 11th in TT2.
Honda CRF450RX - João Miranda
In the TT3 class, the team was represented by João Duarte, on a Honda CRF490RX, who was always in the front of the overall standings and won a brilliant 5th place overall, 2nd in TT3 and 2nd in the Juniors, moving up to second place in the championship.
Honda CRF490RX - João Duarte
"We finished the Baja TT Escuderia Castelo Branco in the best possible way, top 5 overall, 2nd TT3 and 2nd Juniors. I have to thank the whole team for their efforts over the weekend. Now it's time to prepare for the next race in Góis. Gazzz "
In the veterans, Christophe Lajouanie showed why he is the defending champion, dominating the whole weekend on his new CRF450R.
Honda CRF450R - Christophe Lajouanie
"Second race of the 2025 Portuguese National Cross-Country Championship in Castelo Branco. After an uneventful prologue, we faced a very tough second day with extreme weather conditions (rain, wind, cold, hail!) and some time wasted repairing the support for the navigation equipment. Even so, I managed to stay focused and maintain a pace that left me in the lead of the Veterans class by just a few seconds. It was with welcome sunshine that we started the second day of the race, on extremely slippery terrain. I managed to set my best pace to keep the lead in the Veterans class and recover to 7th place overall. Thank you to the entire OffRoad Center Bianchi Prata team who perfectly prepared my new HONDA CRF 450 R for its debut in Castelo Branco."
In the TT2 class, Tomás Dias, who was in 3rd place overall, crashed and had to give up.
Honda CRF450RX - Tomás Dias
" I can't say much about the race because I only have a few flashes! The bike was once again at 200% and the team at 300%! But this time I failed because of my own mistake! We'll be back in Góis ready to attack!"
Also riding Honda bikes, the team had Rafic Eid on a Honda CRF450RX 3rd in the Vet Worlds, Frédéric Fontarosa on a Honda CRF450RX 7th in the Veterans, Mariuxe Taranto on a Honda CRF250RX in an excellent second place in the Ladies Worlds.
Honda CRF450RX – Rafic Eid
Honda CRF450RX – Frédéric Fontarosa
“It was my first race in Europe. My rides in the middle east mostly consist of sand, sun, and heat 😂 in the last 2 days, i had freezing temperature, mud, fog, rain, cold, river, slipery rocks, and many others. But what a fantastic experience. Great race, beautiful and challenging track, and astonishing landscape. I can only imagine what it must be like with dry track and sunshine. I will have to come back to experience. But all together, it was fabulous 3 days and lots of memories and stories to bring home. Thank you for all the team, your support and assistance is exceptional. Thank you to all. See you next time”
Honda CRF250RX - Mariuxe Taranto
“A very hard race because of the weather that was not favorable, it rained a lot, the routes were technical but it was a fabulous experience of much learning, I am very happy and grateful for the good organization and Team Bianchi Prata for their support during the race”.
Going through the assistance services of Team Bianchi Prata, we had in the Mini Baja the pilot Tomás Silva, with only 8 years old to be 4th in the Infantis class, Daniela Mateus second in the National ladies and Nuno Mateus who was forced to give up on the second day due to a problem on his bike after a crash.
Tomás Silva - 4th Children's Mini Baja
Daniela Mateus - 2nd in the Ladies
"It's the second baja I've taken part in and this baja was very complicated, we had a lot of strong wind, hail, snow and rain. I didn't do very well, I got lost several times and the road was very slippery, but I finished in 2nd place in the women's class. But I was disappointed that, as it was a national race, I didn't receive any prizes. A big thank you to the Bianchi Prata team for all their support and help. Without them nothing would have been possible!"
Nuno Mateus - DNF
"It was my first race in Castelo Branco and in addition to the harshness of the circuit we were treated to some very adverse weather conditions on the first day. Fortunately I managed to finish without any major problems, although I lost some time because I got lost twice. The second day didn't go so well as I couldn't finish due to technical problems with my bike. I would like to thank all the staff at the OffRoad Center Bianchi Prata who helped me once again to enjoy this rich experience!"
At the end of the race, Team Manager Pedro Bianchi Prata commented:
"I couldn't be happier, we won the overall with Gustavo, we had podium places in almost all the classes and all our bikes made it to the end without any mechanical problems, only Nuno and Tomás fell by the wayside.
It's for results like this that we work every day, this result belongs to the whole team and all the staff who work before each race to make sure everything is 100% at each event. Thank you to everyone!!!"
Team Bianchi Prata's next race will be the Raide de Gois on April 11, 12 and 13.
Text - Team Bianchi Prata
Photos - Bruna Silva - @bruna.in.focus
Videos - João Sá - www.cliffmediastudio.pt
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Find out more about the team at www.bianchiprata.com
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