Ricardo Moura starts again the Azores Rallye, “in a participation that is in continuity. Since 2000, I haven’t missed any edition and it wasn’t going to be in this rally, which was abandoned by everything, that I was going to miss it. Due to personal and professional commitments, it is a participation that is far from being in an optimum scenario but it had to happen. The race has a new format that is interesting, with half the length, where everything will be more intense, even more sprint. The entry list brings together some very fast drivers, which makes the fight for the first five/six places very intense. I have been doing one rally a year and my pace will be unknown. I don’t know what to expect. I have a good knowledge of the terrain but there are other very experienced drivers who run well at the first time in every event. Our mission is more difficult in this rally which, for all that, will be less permissive, not forgiving any mistakes.”
Moura, the greatest local hero, takes part in the 57th edition of the event with a Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo. Aged 44, the driver who won this rally in 2016 took his first steps in the sport in 1999. He has driven several models and throughout his career he has won many titles. He was Azorean champion ten times, between 2008 and 2017, and national champion three times, from 2011 to 2013. In 2022, he was at the lead of the Azores Rallye, where he finished second.