Dakar 2020: Hero MotoSport Team Rally Rider Paulo Goncalves Passes Away After Crash In Stage Seven

Competing at the Dakar Rally can come at a heavy price with approximately 70 deaths among competitors reported since the event first started in 1978. There were competitor fatalities both when the event was held in Africa and in South America.

Now with the shift to Saudi Arabia this year comes the terrible news of Hero MotoSports Team Rally’s experienced and decorated Portugese rider Paulo Goncalves passing away today after a crash 276km into today’s stage (the seventh out of a total of 12), which took the field from Riyadh to Wadi Al-Dawasir.

The organizers received an alert at 10:08am (local Saudi time) and dispatched a helicopter that reached Goncalves at the site of the crash at 10:16am. He was found in a state of unconsciousness following a cardiac arrest.

Following efforts to resuscitate Goncalves, he was flown to Layla Hospital by helicopter, but was unfortunately pronounced dead at the facility.

This year’s rally marked the 13^th time that Goncalves had participated in the Dakar Rally since his debut in the event in 2006, when it was held in its traditional African location through the northern and western Sahara Desert.

Goncalves had finished in the top-ten of the grueling event four times and had achieved a career best result of second overall in 2015 when he was riding for the factory Honda team.

Goncalves had started stage seven after being ranked 46^th overall over the first six stages. His Hero 450RR had suffered major engine issues at the start of the third stage, which forced him to run repairs in the stage and drop outside the top 100.

Following that he had stormed to three straight top ten finishes over the next three stages, including fourth fastest in stage four, allowing him to blast his way higher up the overall standings.

Goncalves’ addition to the Hero MotoSports Team Rally squad had been seen as a boost to the manufacturer’s relatively recent Dakar Rally participation. His attitude of enjoying the business of riding and dogged determination (as displayed in stage three and afterwards) had been much appreciated by his teammates including India’s CS Santosh, who said Goncalves’ insistence in making him be the first to open a stage in training was a major boost to his confidence.

Goncalves’ passing now leaves Santosh as the only Hero rider eligible for overall honours at the Dakar Rally as both Joaquim Rodrigues and Sebastian Buhler are riding in the ‘Dakar Experience’ category after having failed to finish stage one and stage six, respectively. Neither of those two riders will be ranked overall under the new initiative and can only ride for stage rankings or to support their teammates.