The motorcycling world today is in morning after the passing of a rider on the 7th stage of the 2020 Dakar rally
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Stage 8 of the 2020 Dakar Rally has been cancelled after the death of Dakar veteran Paul Goncalves during the seventh stage of the rally.
Goncalves, 40, was riding for Indian manufacturer Hero in his 13th Dakar Rally when he sadly passed away in a racing accident on the 546km Riyadh-Wadi Al Dawasir test stage of the event.
Motorsport.com reports “the Portuguese rider suffered a crash at the 276km mark at 10.16am local time. A medical helicopter was dispatched, and Goncalves was found unconscious having gone into cardiac arrest.
He was airlifted to Layla Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He is the first competitor to have died contesting the Dakar since Michal Hernik in 2015.”
Goncalves was a long-time enduro rider and former world cross-country enduro champion. Having ridden for Honda, BMW and Husqvarna 2020 was the Portuguese rider’s first Dakar with Hero.