Shirley Wins Portugal & ULTRA4 Europe Championship

 
 
 
 
 
SHIRLEY CLAIMS VICTORY OVER BOTH PORTUGAL AND THE ULTRA4 EUROPEAN SERIES
Levi Shirley is on track to be one of the best in the world of off-road racing.  He will not soon forget the town of Vimioso, Portugal where he was pronounced both the Winner of King of Portugal and the first ever ULTRA4 European Champion.  Shirley returned to Europe from the United States after coming in 2nd  in 2013 at the King of Portugal. In fact, all three of this year’s top drivers were on the podium at last year’s event, just in a different order.
At the beginning of Saturday, the final day of racing, Shirley and his Lucky Dog Racing team enjoyed a comfortable lead over Paulo Candias and Emanual Costa.  The morning rounds for Shirley continued much as the day before’s stage with Shirley taking an early and healthy lead over his opponents. Shirley made fast work of the Saturday morning’s two laps, seemingly never removing his foot from the accelerator.
Saturday afternoon however, last year’s winner, Emanuel Costa overtook  Shirley on course and was able to cross the finish line first. However, when adding up the total of all the stages from Thursday through Saturday, Shirley would come out the victor in Portugal.
When asked about his win, Shirley had this to say, “The experience had last year helped me prepare for this year’s King of Portugal. I knew I had to be calm. I did not want to risk it all, because this was a test of endurance. It is fabulous to have this win this country and this city. I will never forget this day.”
Shirley secured the ULTRA4 European Championship by winning at King of the Mountains, King of The Valleys and King of Portugal giving him a perfect score in series points.
 EMANUEL  COSTA  AND CANDEIAS  TRADE PLACES
The duel of the day was between Costa and Candeias for 2nd place.   Both Candeias and Costa have raced against each other in the past, both in Vimioso and at other races. Both drivers are well known off-road racers in Portugal. Their battle throughout the competition was fierce. On the final morning, it was Candeias who looked to have the lead.  However in the afternoon, Costa was able to finish ahead of both Candeias and Shirley to clinch 2nd place with Candeias coming in 3rd.