Paulo Goncalves rounds off the Atacama Rally with a win

Team HRC’s Portuguese ace collects his third special stage win as the #atacamarally – the fifth date of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship – comes to an end.

It turned out to be a successful day all-round for Team HRC and, in particular, for Paulo Gonçalves, who stormed to victory today with a ferocious pace in the 100 kilometre special stage. The start had once again been delayed for two hours due to heavy early morning mist. The HRC rider has put in ever more consistent performances since the opening day’s mishap which robbed him of a win in the first full stage. This persistence has paid off over the course of the week and has seen the rider continue an ascent up the overall scoreboard, posting a well-deserved sixth final place.

Team HRC’s second rider in the Atacama Rally, Jeremías Israel, fell short of his pre-rally expectations and was unable to find the pace in his first race back after an arm operation for an injury sustained in the Qatar Sealine. Nevertheless, the positive factors of the rally should be pointed out including one of Israel’s main objectives of getting some serious kilometres under his belt and bolstering fitness in the countdown to the Dakar.

Next Team HRC outing will be the OiLibya Morocco Rally in October, due to the fact that Peru’s Inca Rally has now been cancelled.