Rui Gonçalves remains the best Portuguese in the 2024 edition of the Dakar. This Wednesday he signed the 19th time in the fifth stage and remains among the top 15 overall.
With only 118km timed, the transmontano was 7m29s behind the day’s winner, Pablo Quintanilla (Monster Energy Honda). In the overall classification, he lost one position and is now in 15th place.
Rookie Bruno Santos achieved his best result so far: he finished 23rd in the day (second among rookies), 9m39s behind the top, which earned him three positions in the rally classification – he is now 36th as the fourth best rookie.
António Maio (Drag’on Rally Team/Yamaha) also finished in the top 30, in 26th place. The pilot from Borba had a worse result than yesterday, but still managed to climb from 25th to 24th in the overall classification.
Enrolled in Original by Motul, Mário Patrão (Crédito Agrícola mariopatrao.com/Honda) finished second in the category and 35th overall, suffering a two-minute penalty. The man from Seia also prevailed among the veterans, where he leads the rally classification, and climbed one place to now be 37th overall.
As for Alexandre Azinhais, aboard a KTM from Club Aventura Touareg, he achieved the 98th mark – far from yesterday’s 67th place, which was his best result so far. He dropped three places in the overall classification, where he is now 77th.
Portugiesen in Etappe 5:
19. Rui Gonçalves (Sherco Rally Factory): 1h40m22s (+ 7m29s)
23. Bruno Santos (XRaids Experience/Husqvarna): 1h42m32s (+ 9m39s)
26. António Maio (Drag’on Rally Team/Yamaha): 1h43m10s (+ 10m17s)
35. Mário Patrão (Crédito Agrícola mariopatrao.com/Honda): 1h47m58s (+ 15m05s – 02m00s Strafzeit)
98. Alexandre Azinhais (Club Aventura Touareg/KTM): 2h24m02s (+ 51m09s)
Portugiesen insgesamt:
15. Rui Gonçalves (Sherco Rally Factory): 20h02m03s (+ 57m00s)
24. António Maio (Drag’on Rally Team/Yamaha): 21h02m26s (+ 1h57m23s – 13m20s Strafzeit)
36. Bruno Santos (XRaids Experience/Husqvarna): 23h01m22s (+ 3h56m19s – 19m00s Strafzeit)
37. Mário Patrão (Crédito Agrícola mariopatrao.com/Honda): 23h02m23s (+ 3h57m20s – 17m00s Strafzeit)
77. Alexandre Azinhais (Club Aventura Touareg/KTM): 27h38m16s (+ 8h33m13s)
