Round 2 of CERTT brought GRS Team to Badajoz to compete in a new edition of Baja TT Dehesa de Extremadura. The team had one of its best performances on the championship, fighting to get into the top spots until a crash on the final Special Stage stopped us from finishing the Baja.
Baja TT Dehesa de Extremadura 2025 took place on May 1-3. The Baja, one of the most prestigious events in Rally-Raid, was again a scoring event for the FIA European Cup for Cross Country Bajas and the Spanish Rally-Raid Championship (CERTT). The event, whose headquarters were located in Badajoz, Spain, hosted more than 100 participating cars who faced challenging conditions once again.
GRS took part in the Baja for a second consecutive year as part of its CERTT season. Juslt like it did in Rallye TT de Guadalajara, the team entered the Baja in the T4 class, with a Can-Am driven by Josep Trinidad. Alongside him was Sergi Brugué, returning to the team as co-driver after being with Trinidad on the three rounds the team entered in 2024.
After Thursday’s installation, scrutineering and starting ceremony, Friday came, and it was time to get to into the action. Prologue Stage, which would set the starting order for SS1, took place in the morning. Trinidad and Brugué did well on this opener and positioned themselves in P25 and inside the T4 Top 10.
SS1, taking place partly in Elvas, Portugal, as usual, took place on the afternoon. Due to severe weather conditions and to an incident, the Special Stage was significantly shortened, and GRS’ car had to start it later than scheduled. Trinidad’s pace, however, was impeccable, and he finished the day in provisional T4 podium positions, as well as an overall fifth place.
There was all Saturday ahead to confirm the good result, so it was far from over. The day consisted of more than 300 kilometres Split between two Special Stages. On the first one, the team did not close the gap to the leaders, but maintained its consistency and minimised the loss of time, keeping its options alive for the final stage. Unfortunately, all chances were gone in SS3. Towards the middle point of the stage, the team was involved in an accident that damaged the car and forced it to retire.
The Baja ends with a bitter taste for GRS, which sees how its efforts and pace did not manage to yield the deserved results. Ending up retiring after having fought for the win is undoubtedly disappointing, but it proves how ruthless is an event like Baja Extremadura, where just finishing is the biggest challenge.
We leave, however, satisfied with our pace. The tea mis rapidly growing on the championship thanks to an impressive performance which will sure get us to the top spots in future meetings. CERTT will be back in May 30-31 with the 12th Baja Lorca – Ciudad del Sol.
