Lorenzo Santolino secures victory for Sherco in Spain; Tomas Coutinho Paulo tops the Quads

Lorenzo Santolino secures victory for Sherco in Spain; Tomas Coutinho Paulo tops the Quads

Postponed because of the fierce wildfires ravaging Spain in July, the rescheduled 2026 Baja Spain Aragón was a thrilling spectacle with suspense peaking after the first stage left Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco) and Junior rider Davod Braceras (Honda) tied for the lead.

The final stage rewarded the Sherco’s rider’s greater experience and left young Braceras empty-handed. The weather in the Aragón region was warm and sunny for this fourth round of the FIM Bajas World Cup, as riders set out for the 6.5km Prologue on Friday afternoon. With factory Honda rider Tosha Schareina withdrawing, the path to victory appeared clearer on paper for Santolino, the 2025 winner. However, the spirited Junior rider Braceras was transitioning from MX2 to this new discipline and had other ideas. The young Spaniard won the Prologue, finishing 16 seconds ahead of Santolino and 22 seconds in front of fellow Junior Alfredo Pellicer (KTM). Saturday’s schedule was packed and featured two special stages of 180km and 151km, respectively. Baja is a demanding discipline and requires long hours of concentration, consistency and a way of reading the terrain that differs significantly from motocross. Braceras learned this the hard way and started the day with two crashes. Despite this, the young Spaniard managed the impressive feat of propelling himself to the top of the overall Baja standings, tying with Santolino, before incurring a 1min 37sec penalty. “I’m discovering the discipline,” he explained after the first day. “I didn’t think it would be this fast-paced, but I’m really enjoying it. I’m trying to minimise mistakes, but there’s a lot of information to take in.” Alfredo Pellicer held on to his third position. Sunday’s second leg consisted of just one special stage – the 151km Argente-Concud run. It brought bad luck for Braceras, who crashed and was forced to retire, clearing the way for Santolino to take victory in both the FIM 450CC category and the Baja Spain Aragón. He finished 11min 29sec ahead of Pellicer, 24min 06sec ahead of Frenchman Hugo Blanjoue (Honda) and 50min 16sec in front of Ethan Lane. Sara Garcia (Yamaha) finished fifth overall and won the Women’s category, finishing ahead of Joanna Modrzewska (Triumph).

Following the retirements of Dani Vila, Toni Vingut and Abdulaziz Al-Atawi in the quad category, victory fell to the Portuguese Junior rider Tomas Coutinho Paulo. He finished ahead of Antoine Sanchez and Marcin Wilkolek. Matteo Bottino (Kove) won the Trail category from Julio Lopez (Kove). Pellicer was classified first of the Juniors and Paulo Cardoso won the Veterans’ category.

Full results are available on Sportity using the code BAJAARAGON26_BIKE