It is with immense sadness that we inform you of the death of Portuguese rider Paulo Gonçalves this morning during Dakar 7th stage.

He has passed away from a fall sustained 276 kilometres into today's special. The organisers received an alert at 10:08 and dispatched a medical helicopter that reached the biker at 10:16 and found him unconscious after going into cardiac arrest. Following resuscitation efforts in situ, the competitor was taken by helicopter to Layla Hospital, where he was sadly pronounced dead.

40-year-old Paulo Gonçalves was taking part in his 13th Dakar. He made his debut in 2006 and had finished four times in the top 10, including an impressive performance as runner-up to Marc Coma in 2015. Paulo Gonçalves, the 2013 FIM Cross-Country rallies World Champion, was sitting in 46th place overall after stage 6 of the 2020 Dakar.

On behalf of the FIM Family the President Jorge Viegas extends its deepest condolences to Paulo’s Family, the Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.), the Portuguese Motorcycling Federation , the entire Dakar caravan and his many friends.