Dakar crash costs Paulo Goncalves his life

40-year-old Portuguese Dakar Rally legend Paulo Goncalves died during the seventh stage of competition today in Dakar 2020.

Paulo Gonçalves died from a fall sustained 276 kilometres into today’s special.

We believe Toby Price might have been one of the first riders on the scene.

A medical helicopter was with Goncalves within eight-minutes of the alert being raised to find him unconscious after going into cardiac arrest.

Following resuscitation efforts in situ, the competitor was taken by helicopter to Layla Hospital, where he was sadly pronounced dead.

This was his 13th Dakar. He made his debut in 2006 and had finished four times in the top 10, including an impressive performance as runner-up to Marc Coma in 2015.

Paulo Gonçalves, the 2013 cross-country rallies world champion, was sitting in 46th place overall after stage 6 of the 2020 Dakar.

Our condolences to his friends, family and fellow Dakar competitors and team members.

Paulo Goncalves won the Cross Country Rally World Championship in 2013