Paulo Gonçalves: "It comes as something new to me"

Dakar 2020 | Stage 4 | Neom > ALULA
January 7 ^th 2020 - 21:59 [GMT + 3]

Having crossed the finish line of the special around Neom in shivers, Paulo Gonçalves takes the time to guzzle down a cup of coffee before heading to the bivouac for a short but well-deserved rest. It is 8:30 pm and there are few stragglers left behind him. The Portuguese veteran's first start with Hero quickly took a turn for the worse. Despite having to change his engine after waiting for his support crew for over five hours, the former HRC old-timer refuses to go down without a fight.

"I left around 1:30 and after a few klicks I had another mechanical due to a fuel connection that I'd probably failed to fix properly. It was a tough day. Having to change an engine during a special comes as somethuing new to me, but we're here to race, to attack. After all these efforts, what really matters now is to make it to the finish.