Lucas Moraes won Rally Raid Portugal to continue Toyota's 100% manufacturers' title record - but he was asked to cede first
Photography by Toyota & Red Bull
Words by David Evans, DirtFish Head of Media
It’s the biggest call a crew can make. Thirty years ago Colin McRae tried and failed, but Toyota driver Lucas Moraes wasn’t for moving in Lisbon on Sunday night.
The Brazilian had been requested to slow down at the head of the Rally Raid Portugal field, allowing the sister GR Hilux EVO of team-mate Henk Lategan to pass him and take the win. He declined, in a move which he understands could cost him his job.
A second Lategan success of the season would have closed him to within four points of World Rally-Raid Championship leader Nasser Al-Attiyah, with just one round remaining. As it stands, Lategan and Moraes are, respectively, nine and 10 points behind the Dacia-driving Qatari with just Morocco to run in a fascinating 2025 season.
The mixed emotions in the Toyota camp were further fuelled by success in the manufacturers’ title – maintaining the Japanese marque’s 100% record in W2RC history.
Reaching the finish after 650 miles of competition in Portugal and Spain, an emotional Moraes celebrated his success – but admitted it could come at a cost.
Toyota has never been beaten to the manufacturers' title in W2RC
“We dedicate our whole lives to be on this moment and to be fighting for the win,” he said. “I know it’s hard not to follow team instructions, I really know. I know this can cost [me] my job, but when you are in this position to win you’ve just got to go for it. I will never give up.
“I hope the team is proud too. We are 1-2 for the team, really happy. I fought my whole career to win one round of the world championship. It’s really hard, we are the best drivers in the world and to be fighting with this level is unbelievable. [I’m] happy, happy for Brazil.”
Moraes pointed out that he did offer Lategan assistance earlier in the event: “I help Henk in the second stage, he needed the driveshaft – I gave mine to him,” he added.
Head of TGR W2RC Bart Eelen was focused on the positives: “I’m delighted that the team could secure the manufacturers’ title one race before the end of the season. And it was definitely a challenging season.
“I believe this sport has become much more interesting with the arrival of Dacia and Ford, who have given us a real run for our money. But we could count on our great crews, great engineers and great mechanics – it’s unbelievable how much each of these people put into it day after day.
“Now we still have the drivers’ championship to fight for, so the next race in Morocco promises to be as exciting as this one.”
Championship leader Al-Attiyah started strong in Portugal with a stage win on Tuesday’s prologue, but getting stuck on a rock and suffering brake problems aboard his Dacia dropped him back. He would eventually recover to fifth place, securing valuable points in the drivers’ title race.
Sébastien Loeb’s event also got off to a tricky start when he clipped a tree and broke the wishbone on the right-rear of his car. With the help of team-mate Cristina Gutiérrez, they fixed the issue and kept the Frenchman mobile. He finished third, with the Spaniard seventh after she suffered a final-day puncture.
M-Sport Ford’s Carlos Sainz was running with plenty of podium pace, but his hopes of a result went south when he hit a rock and lost the power steering fluid on his Raptor – that also meant changing a puncture without the aid of the car’s jacking system.
Rally of Morocco is almost 50% longer than Portugal, providing a potential sting in the tail for this year’s W2RC series. Starting from Fez, but based around the oasis town of Erfoud in the Sahara Desert, the event runs from October 12-17.
Words:David Evans
Publish Date September 29, 2025 DirtFish
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