Intercontinental Rally Challenge event winner Bruno Magalhães took a break from his commitments with Peugeot Sport Portugal to take part in Race of Champions Portugal last Sunday.
As well as trying to establish Portugal’s best motorsport exponent, the event at Portimão’s Autódromo Internacional do Algarve was used to determine Portugal’s representatives in Race of Champions Iberia, a knock-out competition against drivers from Spain, which took place the following evening.
Magalhães, 30, faced a tall order. After flying in from Madeira, where he had been contesting the IRC-counting Rali Vinho Madeira, he drove a Formula BMW racing car – the first time he had driven a single-seater – and a RX150 buggy on a challenging concrete-lined course.
Despite his best efforts, the Sata Rallye Açores winner lost all of his three heats – to César Campanico (Formula BMW), Ricardo Teodosio (RX150) and Filipe Albuquerque (Formula BMW).
Magalhães is due to return to IRC action in his Peugeot 207 Super 2000 on Rallye Sanremo in Italy from 23-25 September.