“Very proud to be entrusted with the new car”
CREW FACTS
L.P.
- Luis Portela Morais is a busy man. He is the CEO of an insurance company in his native Portugal and a committed family man with a wife and four children. But his life balance also depends on being able to take part in sport at the highest level.
- He played rugby for his national team and was vice champion of the Portuguese national enduro championship.
- No surprise then that in 2017 he entered a Dakar on a bike. Unfortunately, on the 6th stage he crashed out and injured his foot, in the process putting an end to his rugby career.
- In 2018, along with his motorcycling racing buddy and best friend David Megre, he decided to have a go on 4 wheels, finishing a mightily impressive 3rd on the Rallye du Maroc in the T4.
- Work, Covid and family commitments thwarted their Dakar ambitions until 2022 when they finished 7th in a T4. And now they’re back again in a the GRally Team’s new Geeko in the T3 class.
D.M.
- No surprise that the best friends have a lot in common. David Megre also played rugby to a high level and also raced enduro, with David winning their national championship no less than 4 times.
- And like his friend Luis, David also entered the Dakar on a motorcycle. In David’s case twice, in 2017 and 2019. He DNFed both attempts, crashing out of the 2019 edition just 20 kilometres from the final finish line.
2025 AMBITIONS
L.M.: “Since 2022 we’ve been working with Guillaume de Mévius and his team on the new car, the evolution of the OT3, dubbed the Geeko and feel it has huge potential. As we speak, we are doing 4 days of tests here in Portugal to make sure the car is ready for the Dakar. We will be the only ones from GRally driving the new Geeko and it is a great honour for us. From what we saw from the presentation the first week is going to be really tough. Our plan is to stay close to the front of the race and see where we are at the rest day.”
