Increasing his form, the Sherco driver was once again at an excellent level, managing to enter the group of the 10 fastest for the first time, closing today's stage in brilliant eighth place.
After two very difficult days with long and devastating stages, what was the first marathon stage of this Dakar was slightly shorter in terms of the selective sector with 299km raced against the clock but with more than 400 km of connection, which made up for one day again tiring and with many hours on the bike.
Rui Gonçalves adopted a more aggressive tone and managed to “intrude” on the front group from the beginning, riding safely and with a lot of focus on navigation. At the end of this section, which took place in the desert, Rui Gonçalves was quite satisfied with the result achieved.
Rui Gonçalves: "Today's stage was shorter but on the other hand we had a great connection and ended up being a day again with many hours on the bike. It was a day with a fast route and a lot of sand, which made it easy to make navigational errors but, fortunately, I managed not to make any mistakes and that was the key to achieving my first result within the Top 10, a result that leaves me very satisfied and motivated for the remaining days. I would like to thank the entire team who has done a great job every day to give me the best, all the sponsors and everyone who has supported me."
The Dakar continues tomorrow with a new stage, which this time will connect Al Hofuf to Shubaytah, with only 118 km covered in a timed section but a long connection of 517 km.
Automatic translation of the Portuguese version available on www.todoterreno.pt
Source: Rui Gonçalves's official press release
Photos: Rally Zone
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