With Armindo Araújo and Luís Ramalho recovering from the injuries suffered in the accident in Fafe, The Racing Factory will not be present in the 2nd round of the 2023 Portuguese Rally Championship (CPR).
It will be the first time that The Racing Factory will not compete in the CPR, since the structure based in S. Paio de Oleiros, in the north of Portugal, joined the Portuguese championship.

The decision is a logical consequence of the impossibility of the national champion duo Armindo Araújo/Luís Ramalho to be able to compete. At this point, they are totally focused on their full and quick recovery from the injuries they suffered following the accident they had in the Rally Serras de Fafe, Felgueiras, Boticas, Vieira do Minho e Cabeceiras de Basto.

“It is with great sadness that we will not be present in the Rally Casinos do Algarve. I would even say that we feel some frustration, as we had a lot of ambition and expectations for the rally, not only because it was a new challenge for all participants in the championship, but, above all, because we had done some work beforehand at the beginning of the season to be very strong in this terrain”, emphasizes Aloísio Monteiro, CEO of TRF.

The head of the team considers “it is much more important that we fully support Armindo and Luís, as, at this point, the focus is completely on them following the recovery program. Afterwards, we’ll be here for them to get back in the car and give us the excellent performances and excellent results, which made them the most faithful example of The Racing Factory’s competitive philosophy. Wherever we are, we will always be there to win!”.

But the activity of the “Factory of Champions” does not stop.

TRF’s ambitious program for 2023 demands that, as Aloísio Monteiro points out, “all the intensity and capacity of our structure to be put into preparing the start of the Peugeot Rally Cup Iberica, the European Junior Rally Championship (JERC) and, of course, on a meticulous work with a special focus on the Rally Islas Canarias, the next race of the European Championship (ERC). At Serras de Fafe, luck had nothing to do with us, but it was clearly demonstrated that our teams have everything to fight for victories, whether at national level or on the European stage. We are going to be very motivated for the Spanish competition, where we must add important points to be able to be in the fight for the European title!”.