Once again, Rui Gonçalves was the best of the Portuguese riders in the tenth stage of the Dakar. The rider from Trás-os-Montes once again came close to the top ten, being just over eight minutes behind the leader of the stage.
The Sherco rider had a solid performance and particularly recovered in the last kilometers to finish 11th, 8m22s behind the winner and overall leader, Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda). Gonçalves remains 24th overall, with António Maio being the best Portuguese rider.
On board a Yamaha from the Drag’on Rally Team, the rider from Borba achieved the 24th best time of the day, 17m32s behind the leader, in order to maintain his 18th position in the rally standings. As for Mário Patrão (Crédito Agrícola mariopatrao.com/Honda), he was the winner of the stage in the Veteran’s Trophy, which he leads with a lead of over 4h45m over David Pabiska (SP Moto Bohemia/KTM). In the overall standings, the rider from Beira is in 30th place, the same position he occupied in stage 10.
Right after him was Bruno Santos (XRaids Experience/Husqvarna), who with the 31st best time was the fourth best rookie of the day. He maintains his 29th position overall, second among the rookies, 2h46m48s behind Tobias Ebster (Kini Rally Racing Team/KTM). Discreet, but without major setbacks, Alexandre Azinhais (Club Aventura Touareg/KTM) finished 84th in the stage, maintaining his 64th position in the standings for the third consecutive day.
Portuguese in Stage 10:
11th Rui Gonçalves (Sherco Rally Factory) – 3h59m41s: + 08m22s
24th António Maio (Drag’on Rally Team/Yamaha) – 4h09m11s: + 17m32s
30th Mário Patrão (Crédito Agrícola mariopatrao.com/Honda) – 4h25m56s: + 34m17s
31st Bruno Santos (XRaids Experience/Husqvarna) – 4h26m52s: + 35m13s
84th Alexandre Azinhais (Club Aventura Touareg/KTM) – 5h43m14s (+ 1h51m35s)
Portuguese in the overall standings:
18th António Maio (Drag’on Rally Team/Yamaha) – 50h05m10s (28m30s penalty): + 5h19m42s
24th Rui Gonçalves (Sherco Rally Factory) – 51h22m50s (15m00s penalty): + 6h37m22s
29th Bruno Santos (XRaids Experience/Husqvarna) – 53h20m56s (41m00s penalty): + 8h35m28s
30th Mário Patrão (Crédito Agrícola mariopatrao.com/Honda) – 53h28m50s (38m00s penalty): + 8h43m22s
64th Alexandre Azinhais (Club Aventura Touareg/KTM) – 67h03m44s: + 22h18m16s
