“I learnt to drive with a simulator”
CREW FACTS
P.G.
- Pedro Goncalves has always liked endurance sports, especially cycling and long-distance running, combined with high-adrenaline sports like snowboard and kitesurf.
- It was the endurance and adrenaline aspects that first attracted him to rally-raid.
- What he isn’t is one of those guys who’s been a petrolhead all their lives. In fact, he has only been racing in T3 for a couple of years, first in Portuguese races and then this year he entered Rally Raid Portugal in April, followed by the Rallye du Maroc in October.
- He started his career as a software engineer and is now a Tech Entrepreneur / Investor employing about 500 people across several companies.
- If everything goes according to plan, after the Dakar he’d like to compete in the remaining rounds of the W2RC.
H.M.
- Hugo Magalhaes is at the other end of the spectrum. He’s been a professional co-driver in stage rallies, including WRC, for the last 18 years.
- Before that he was a professional footballer, and sport has always played a big part of his life. That’s how he met Pedro. They live in the same town and are in the same cycling group.
- Although Hugo has been involved in motorsport almost all his life and Pedro is a relative newcomer, the thing they have in common is that they are both Dakar rookies.
- Even before Pedro contacted him, Hugo had decided it was time for a change and had already started learning the ‘black art’ of rally raid road book navigation. Hugo thinks that in rally raid the navigator is more important than in stage rallies, while stage rallies are scarier. Though he also says that rally raid can be scary too ‘cos you never know what’s on the other side of the dune!’
2025 AMBITIONS
P.G.: “I actually learnt to drive race cars with a simulator which I suppose is ‘normal’ given the industry I work in! But even I must admit there’s a big difference between the simulator and being in an actual car. What attracts me to rally raid is the combination of the sensations you have when you’re driving and the physical and mental endurance that it requires. It makes it a very complete activity that gives me a lot of what I want and need out of sport: endurance and adrenaline. And that is why, although I’ve just started in rally raid that I think I’ll be here for the long haul. Fortunately, my family is supportive. My wife is a little bit afraid but encouraging, my 7 years old son is very excited about the Dakar and my 4 years old daughter does not really understands the importance of the Dakar, but she loves cars and all the environment surrounding the races.”
H.M.: “I remember one day, when I was about 25 years old, I woke up and I knew that I’d had enough of football and wanted to be a rally co-driver. My parents were really shocked and tried to talk me out of it, but I was determined to change. Since then, I collected 3 victories in the European Rally Championship (ERC) having been European Vice-Champion in 2017 and 3rd place in 2018, 9th in the Portuguese Rally Championship (CPR), 3rd in the Portuguese Cross-Country Championship (CPTT) and became the National and Iberian Champion in 2017.
Then this year, even before Pedro called me, I was looking at making the switch to rally raid. I was out in Morocco training for this new challenge when I got a call from Pedro, who was also in Morocco, asking me if I had a day free to have a try out in the car. Life is all about timing!
These last years I’ve travelled a lot, so it is important to be able to go home to a chilled environment. I live on a small farm with my wife and child with chickens and ducks and a dog and a cat. It is the perfect place to recharge your batteries after racing cars!”
