Chicherit wins

The BMW driver finished over an hour ahead of Portuguese Hélder Oliveira (Nissan Pathfinder) despite ignition problems on the run-in to the finish at Estoril.

It was the second successive FIA World Cup success for the Trebur-based X-raid team after Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah won the title in his BMW X3 CC in 2008.

Chicherit took the lead the fifth stage when team-mate Filipe Campos hit a tree stump and did not relinquish the advantage.

"The aim is to be fully-prepared for the Dakar next time, but I will enjoy this triumph for now. (Swedish co-driver) Tina (Thörner) and I worked superbly together in the car and the team rallied round to make this a great result for everyone," said Chicherit.

Bernardo Moniz da Maia (BMW X3 CC) completed the podium as two other home drivers Carlos Sousa and Filipe Campos went quickest in Sunday's concluding seventh and eighth special stages.

Russian Artem Varentsov (Toyota Land Cruiser) took the T2 category with Jose Camilo Martins (Nissan Navara) first in the T8 class.

1 Guerlain Chicherit/Tina Thorner (BMW X3 CC) 15.11.08

2 Hélder Oliveira/Filipe Palmeiro (Nissan Pathfinder) at 1.16.27

3 Bernardo Moniz da Maia/Joana Sottomayor (BMW X3 CC) at 1.32.14

4 Rodolphe Deveaux/Luís Ramalho (Mitsubishi Pajero MRP 13) at 1.50.08

5 José Dinis Lucas/Luís Tirano (Mitsubishi Pajero DiD) at 2.21.47

6 Lino Carapeta/Rui António (QT Wildcat) at 2.24.34

7 Fernando André/Luís Gomes (Renault Mégane) at 2.27.54

8 Alexander Mironenko/sergey Lebedev (Nissan Overdrive) at 2.39.44

9 Pedro Silva Nunes/Paulo Torres (Mitsubishi Pajero) at 2.49.02

10 Artem Varentsov/Roman Elgin (Toyota Land Cruiser 100) at 3.15.08