RACE IN PEACE

Hero MotoSports rider, Paulo Goncalves passes away after a crash 276 kilometres into the seventh stage

ONLY A FEW HOURS AFTER HIS late-night arrival following his mid-stage heroics in the third stage, Hero MotoSports’ Paulo Goncalves was bang on the start line for yet another stage. “I never give up” he said after swapping the failed motor of his Dakar-spec motorcycle all by himself, and also finishing the stage. The determination, the will to win comes from years of experience in racing motorcycles. Paulo’s passionate and exhilarating racing career kicked off with motocross, supercross and enduro racing where he won 23 titles. His thirst for speed and progression gave him the nick name ‘Speedy’. The varied disciplines sculpted him into a highly progressive rally pilot too, which he proved in 2013 after winning the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, and finished second the following year.

The Dakar rally for Paulo was his ultimate break, a proving ground for the Portuguese rider. His Dakar journey started with the Honda team in 2006. From 2006 to 2009 and then 2013 to 2019, he was a part of Honda’s Dakar squad. However, from 2010 to 2012 he was a part of the Husqvarna team and also rallied with the legendary KTM Factory Racing squad before he joined Hero MotoSports Team Rally in April 2019 with his first appearance being the Silk Way Rally in 2019. Speedy had a laser-like focused approach to his craft, and even at the 2020 Dakar Rally, nothing could get in his way once he set off from the start line each day, not even a blown engine. Paulo passed away after a crash almost 276km into the seventh stage. It was stated that he had a cardiac arrest due to the shock of the accident.

As a friend and mentor, his teammates had immense love and respect for him, as did his country. His death was mourned by the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who stated that Goncalves "died trying to achieve the dream of winning one of the hardest and most dangerous rally events in the world, in which he was always a worthy representative of the country, reaching second place in 2015”.

Had he lived, Paulo would have added yet another respectable Dakar finish to his storied motorcycle racing career.