Dakar 2020:Hero MotoSports Team Rally consolidates its position in Stage 5 Paulo Goncalves delivers a second Top 10 stage

Stage 5 of Dakar 2020 tested the competitors with a 353 km special stage running from Al Ula to Ha’il. In the sandy surroundings of the day, humongous rocks served as landmarks to avoid costly navigation mistakes. The stage was less technical than the previous ones but just as impressive with the dunes and gigantic sandy hills offering a mix of sand and soil to the competitors.  

Hero MotoSports Team Rally consolidated their good showing from the previous stage to hold it steady today with an aim to keep it safe before the rally halts in Riyadh on 11th January for a much deserved rest day. Paulo Goncalves continued to press forward today as well and delivered a backto-back Top 10 finish for the team at 10th place. Sebastian Buhler maintained his good form and brought the stage home in 21st place. Santosh too had a good stage today, finding his rhythm to finish the stage in 37th place, while Joaquim Rodrigues suffered a minor crash but managed to close the stage in 25th position. 
After today’s steady performance, Paulo Goncalves climbed up several positions for the second day in a row to finish 59th place in the overall rankings. Buhler maintained his Top 20 position with his 19th place overall finish, and Santosh climbed up a few more ranks today to break into the top 40 at 39th place in the overall rankings. 

With just one more stage to go, and the stage complexion changing from being more technical to wide open desert, tomorrow’s stage is expected to see more competitors trying to push hard in tackling the longest stage of the Dakar yet, with 830 kms to be done, including the 478 km special. 
  
Paulo Goncalves (Comp No. 8) said, “Today, there was a change in scenery from the trials and stony tracks of the last 3-4 days to more open desert. In the first part of the stage, I tried to push hard and rode well. After the refuelling, there was 200 kms of open off-piste that could be fast but dangerous as well. So, I decided to calm my pace a bit down to avoid crashes and arrived well for me and the Hero team. Now, we have one more day before we get a rest day to recover well.” 
 
Sebastian Buhler (Comp No. 32) said, “It was a hard stage and we had almost 200 kms in the offpiste towards the end. I think I did well today, tried not to go too fast to avoid making any mistakes. The rally is very long and I want to finish with a good place. So, let’s see how it goes tomorrow.” 
 
CS Santosh (Comp No. 50) said, “What an amazing last 2 days it has been at the Dakar. The last two stages have been tough but really incredible. In the beginning of the stage today, we had some rocks, sands and piste but the second half was just open off-piste, camel grass and undulations for about 200 kms. I really enjoyed the riding the stage today and I am starting to feel better and more confident on the bike. Can’t wait to see what the next few days are going to bring for us.” 
 
Joaquim Rodrigues (Comp No. 27) said, “Difficult day for me today as the stage was really hard. In the beginning, I was riding really well but in the second half, I had a crash and lost some time. But 
I am ok for tomorrow and happy that I was able to get my Hero bike back to the finish line.”

Source Hero MotoSports Team Rally