Another stage of the 2024 Dakar has been completed, and Rui Gonçalves was the main highlight among the Portuguese riders in competition, on a day when all the riders (*) were penalized.
Rui Gonçalves (Sherco Rally Factory) took 5h43m37s to complete the day, with a 483 km Special, which connected Riyadh to Al Duwadimi. The Portuguese rider took advantage of the rest day to recover from a particularly difficult round (the 48-hour chrono, where he had many mechanical problems, among others).
Then followed three other Portuguese riders, very close to each other: António Maio was 25th, Bruno Santos 31st, and Mário Patrão 34th. Alexandre Azinhais is further behind but on his way, it seems, to finish another stage.
Regarding the overall classification, it is worth noting that António Maio has moved up three positions, now being 17th. Then follows a trio of Portuguese riders, with Rui Gonçalves also climbing to 29th place, right after is Mário Patrão in 30th, and Bruno Santos in 31st.
Portuguese riders in Stage 7: 15th Rui Gonçalves (Sherco Rally Factory): 5h43m37s (+ 25m04s – 15m00s penalty) 25th António Maio (Drag’on Rally Team/Yamaha): 6h17m17s (+ 58m44s – 15m00s penalty) 31st Bruno Santos (XRaids Experience/Husqvarna): 6h34m29s (+ 1h15m56s – 15m00s penalty) 34th Mário Patrão (Crédito Agrícola mariopatrao.com/Honda): 6h37m24s (+ 1h18m51s – 15m00s penalty)
Portuguese riders in the overall: 17th António Maio (Drag’on Rally Team/Yamaha): 36h29m22s (+ 3h52m02s – 28m20s penalty) 29th Rui Gonçalves (Sherco Rally Factory): 38h55m47s (+ 6h18m27s – 15m00s penalty) 30th Mário Patrão (Crédito Agrícola mariopatrao.com/Honda): 39h02m02s (+ 6h24m42s – 32m00s penalty) 31st Bruno Santos (XRaids Experience/Husqvarna): 39h30m25s (+ 6h53m05s – 40m00s penalty)
*At the time of writing this piece, there were still no updated data on the performance of Alexandre Azinhais (Club Aventura Touareg/KTM).
