“It would be good to improve on last year's result”

Rui Goncalves was thrown in at the deep end at Dakar 2021, making his debut for the Sherco factory team despite breaking his elbow in the run-up to the rally. The 36-year-old Portuguese rider still acquitted himself admirably in Saudi Arabia, finishing 19th in the bikes and as the third-best rookie behind Daniel Sanders (4th) and Tosha Schareina (13th). He returns for Dakar 2022 with more experience and more kilometres under his belt, having competed at the Andalucia Rally, Baja Aragon and the Morocco Rally this year. Rui is still getting to grips with rally raid, having spent 17 years starring in motocross before he got the call from Sherco. Ahead of his 2021 debut he spoke of the importance of being 'patient' as he strives to become one of the world’s top cross-country riders. He has already discussed the switch from motocross to rally raid with the likes of Matthias Walkner and Andy Short, and is now hoping to improve on last year’s showing with Sherco. The French manufacturers are sending the same three factory riders to this 44th edition, so Rui once again lines up alongside Harith Noah and Lorenzo Santolino.

R.G.: “My first Dakar was a great experience. Obviously I didn't have much preparation in race mode, but I did my best and managed to learn a lot on every stage. Considering that I had some problems and made some mistakes, I would say it was positive experience for a first participation, as we got safely to the finish line. This year I did some more races, which was important to feel better, learn and try to improve together with my team. We will try to do our best at the next Dakar. The first goal is to reach the finish and try to get some more experience out of this big rally. It would be good to improve on last year's result. For now my focus is rally raid, everything I'm doing is to train and try to improve in different ways.”