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 standings, he lost one position and is now 15th.
Rookie Bruno Santos achieved his best result so far: he finished 23rd of the day (second among rookies) 9m39s behind the leader, which earned him a gain of three positions in the rally classification – he is now 36th as the fourth best rookie.
Also in the top 30 was António Maio (Drag’on Rally Team/Yamaha), in 26th place. The Borba rider had a worse result than yesterday, but still managed to climb from 25th to 24th overall.
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 position – far from yesterday’s 67th place, which was his best result so far. He dropped three places in the overall standings, where he is now 77th.
Portugais à l’étape 5:
19e Rui Gonçalves (Sherco Rally Factory): 1h40m22s (+ 7m29s)
23e Bruno Santos (XRaids Experience/Husqvarna): 1h42m32s (+ 9m39s)
26e António Maio (Drag’on Rally Team/Yamaha): 1h43m10s (+ 10m17s)
35e Mário Patrão (Crédito Agrícola mariopatrao.com/Honda): 1h47m58s (+ 15m05s – 02m00s de pénalisation)
98e Alexandre Azinhais (Club Aventura Touareg/KTM): 2h24m02s (+ 51m09s)
Portugais au classement général:
15e Rui Gonçalves (Sherco Rally Factory): 20h02m03s (+ 57m00s)
24e António Maio (Drag’on Rally Team/Yamaha): 21h02m26s (+ 1h57m23s – 13m20s de pénalisation)
36e Bruno Santos (XRaids Experience/Husqvarna): 23h01m22s (+ 3h56m19s – 19m00s de pénalisation)
37e Mário Patrão (Crédito Agrícola mariopatrao.com/Honda): 23h02m23s (+ 3h57m20s – 17m00s de pénalisation)
77e Alexandre Azinhais (Club Aventura Touareg/KTM): 27h38m16s (+ 8h33m13s)
