Armindo Araújo wins Rali Vidreiro but misses out on eighth national title by two points

By ADMIN Last updated Oct 13, 2024

Portuguese driver Armindo Araújo (Skoda Fabia) won the Rali Vidreiro today, the eighth and final event of the Portuguese Rally Championship (CPR), but missed out on winning his eighth national title, by two points.

Araújo finished the asphalt race with a time of 1:05.47.1 hours, leaving José Pedro Fontes (Citroën C3) in second place, 1.8 seconds behind, with Northern Irishman Kris Meeke (Hyundai i20) in third, 27.8 seconds behind.However, with these results, Araújo also needed to win the `power stage`, the final special of the race, which awards three points to the fastest, two to the second and one to the third, to secure the eighth title of his career.But victory in this special stage went to Meeke, with Algarve native Ricardo Teodósio (Hyundai i20), champion in 2019, 2021 and 2023, in second, 3.7 seconds behind, and Araújo in third, eight seconds behind.

This was the decisive factor, with the driver from Santo Tirso missing out on winning the title by two points.

Since Meeke does not have Portuguese nationality, the Portuguese Automobile and Karting Federation (FPAK) could not award him the champion title, despite the British driver finishing the CPR as the highest scoring driver, and decided not to award it to the best Portuguese driver, who would be Armindo Araújo.

In this way, Ricardo Teodósio is left without a successor in history.