Rali da Água Transibérico route changed after Spanish permit refusal

The Rali da Água Transibérico, the sixth round of the Portuguese Rally Championship, has undergone significant itinerary changes due to bureaucratic issues in Spain. The organizing committee, CAMI Motorsport, was forced to remove timed stages located in Spanish territory after the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT) refused to issue the necessary authorizations.

To maintain the event, the organizers redesigned the route to focus on Portuguese territory. The Verín stage scheduled for Friday and the Transibérico stage scheduled for Saturday have been removed. Instead, the competition will consist of repeating the remaining stages three times. The shakedown has also been relocated to the first three kilometers of the Transibérico stage within Portugal.

Despite these changes, the event maintains its cross-border character, with road connections in Spain and the starting ceremony remaining in Verín. In the championship standings, driver Pedro Almeida, competing with Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal, enters the race in second place with 80 points, trailing leader Rúben Rodrigues, who has 100 points.