IIIMY OWN RACE:
to everyone in my corner that supplied
me with what I needed for the hardest
race in the world!"
47 GARRETT POUCHER
DNF
"I crashed in the dunes today, Stage
10," Poucher said from his hospital bed
via Instagram. "[I] lost rear brakes and
couldn't stop at a 10-meter-tall dune.
[I] Jumped off the dune at speed and
the bike nose-dived. I ditched the bike
and hit the ground ass first. Thankfully
Rodney [Faggo er, Australian Yamaha
rider] was there at the bo om helping
[Michael] Metge, and he called for
assistance. The ASO helicopter came
quick while #35 parked at the top of
the dune and waved people by. I'm
at the hospital now in Ryadh and just
received the news. I broke my lower
back, le hip and le wrist. All are
unstable and need surgery. I'm wai ng
now to see what their plan is with
surgery. I'm going to try and get home
as quickly as possible and not get stuck
here! Thank you to everyone that
helped. I really appreciate it."
VOLUME 57 ISSUE 3 JANUARY 21, 2020 P73
gone really well, it's been a tough
event for everybody, and the main
goal was always to reach the fin-
ish. A podium at the Dakar is like a
dream come true, especially after
such a hard one this year. I still
want that win, so I'll work hard and
be back next year."
him, and I would like to dedicate
this result to him."
Second for Quintanilla marked
a full-circle return for the Chilean,
who went toe-to-toe with Toby
Price for the win in South America
one year ago only to suffer a tre-
mendous crash on the final stage
of the Rally.
The Husqvarna man came on
strong in the latter part of the rally,
with his stage results reading 6-3-
8-4-2-4-8-1-9-1-5.
"To spend most of 2019 in
recovery and now to be here with
my best-ever result makes me
extremely grateful," Quintanilla
said. "I never thought that I would
be in this position at the beginning
of the race. "Overall, my race has
PAULO GONCALVES, R.I.P.
P
aulo Goncalves passed away
following an accident on Stage
Seven of the 2020 Dakar Rally.
The veteran Dakar rider, who
first competed in the event in 2006,
crashed at the 276-km marker at
10:16 am local time. The Portuguese
rider was found unconscious, hav-
ing gone into cardiac arrest and was
assisted at the scene by Red Bull
KTM's Toby Price and stage winner,
Monster Energy Honda Team rider
Kevin Benavides.
Goncalves was airlifted from the ac-
cident scene to Layla Hospital, where
he was pronounced dead. He was 40
years old.
Goncalves was an integral feature
of the Dakar in recent years, having
competed for BMW, the Speedbrain
Husqvarna team, Honda's Team HRC
and most recently the Hero Motor-
sports team with his best result of
second overall coming in the 2015
race behind Marc Coma.
The Portuguese also clinched the
2013 FIM Cross-Countries Rallies
World Championship for then BMW-
owned Husqvarna.
Goncalves switched to Hero Motor-
cycles for 2020, after his former team,
Speedbrain, announced an alliance
with the Indian manufacturer. He was
teamed with his brother-in-law Joaquim
Rodriguez.
His 2020 Dakar was going well,
having finished in the top 10 for three
straight days prior to the rest day at the
mid-point of the rally.
Stage Four
