"For 2026 we’re aiming for the top step of the podium”
Crew facts
A.P.
- 26 years old Alexandre Pinto started racing the Portuguese off-road championship back in 2021 without any family member being involved in motorsport.
- But that doesn’t seem to have hindered his progress and since then he has finished 4 times on the championship’s podium.
- In 2024 Alexandre broadened his horizons by entering the European Baja Cup. It turned out to be a good move as he finished 2nd in his category.
- In preparation for the 2025 Dakar he also entered the Rallye du Maroc where he finished Best Rookie and second T4 as well as winning the Road to Dakar category.
- A chance Alexandre and Bernardo didn’t waste, finishing 3rd in class on their very first attempt.
- That result brought them the chance to race the remaining rounds of the W2RC championship and saw them crowned SSV champions before the last round!
B.O.
- Alexandre’s team mate is even younger and will have just turned 21 for his second Dakar.
- He only started racing 3 years ago with his dad before the chance came up to co-drive for Alexandre.
- He does however have more experience on long format rallies, having raced on the Africa Eco Race two years ago. You might not be surpsied to know he won his class…
- Half way through the 2025 season Bernardo decided to complicate his life a bit more by moving to the States to study management!
Ambition
A P: “Our priority for the 2025 Dakar was to finish, because nobody cares what your position was when you DNFed. So we approached Saudi Arabia with a lot of caution and the tactic paid off. It gave us the opportunity to race the whole world championship and with a 2nd place on Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, 3rd place in South Africa and a win in Portugal we wrapped up the championship before the last round. It meant we had no pressure in Morocco for the overall result and with almost all our Dakar rivals present we could see how our pace was. In the end we had a mechanical problem on stage 3 but up until then we could see our speed was good, which is reassuring for January. Clearly, in 2026, we’ll be aiming for the top step of the podium.”
B O: “If you said to me this time last year we’d finish on the Dakar podium at our first attempt and go on to win the world championship I’d have said you were mad. It has been a fantastic season but a little tricky studying in the States at the same time. I started there on the 10th of September and I had to tell them that on the 20th I would be going back to Portugal to race. I think at first they thought I was joking. Then they thought I was being irresponsible, so I sat down with the director and showed her some literature, our place in the world championship, our sponsors etc and she started to realise it was quite a serious thing. Eventually she said; ‘ok, next time let me know sooner!’. I’ve talked the situation over with my family and we’ve agreed I will continue to try and combine both studying and racing. But if push comes to shove and I have to make a choice between the two, I’ll chose racing!”
