Dakar 2016: Paulo Goncalves Finishes Fourth in Stage 10

After having a troubled stage 9 yesterday, when a tree branch pierced his radiator, Honda rider Paulo Goncalves was almost on the verge of quitting this year. But the Portuguese rider managed to fix his motorcycle with whatever little help he got from fellow riders, as he was unable to call upon his mechanics due to stage 9 being a marathon stage (where riders can't take help of their mechanics), and finished the stage as the fourth fastest rider.

Riding as if there is no tomorrow, Goncalves had no option but to give it all he had. The overall leader, KTM's Toby Price, rode his best because he didn't want to risk anything or leave any loose ends, and stormed through CP1 in minimum time. After CP2, Stefan Svitko emerged as the fastest rider registering a 4'31" lead over Price. Honda's Kevin Benavides comfortably slipped between them at the second spot for a short while. When Goncalves crossed the Check Point 2 (CP2), he was the third fastest rider.

The stage was then concluded at CP5 due to bad weather, once again. Svitko was the fastest rider to wrap it up with a time of 4 hour 2 minutes and 23 seconds. This was also his first ever win at Dakar.

Svitko not only won the stage 10 of Dakar 2016, he also overtook Goncalves in overall standings, as the Portuguese rider finished 6'01" behind him. Goncalves was then given a penalty of 39'56" which smashed every little hope of whatever was left of winning the Dakar. 

Here are the overall top 10 fastest riders of Dakar 2016, after stage 10:

1. Toby Price (KTM) - 34:49:04

2. Stefan Svitko (KTM) - 35:12:16

3. Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) - 35:31:53

4. Antoine Meo (KTM) - 35:33:08

5. Kevin Benavides (Honda) 35:34:14

6. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) - 35:45:21

7. Ricky Brabec (Honda) - 36:01:12

8. Paulo Goncalves (Honda) - 36:03:49

9. Farres Guell (KTM) - 36:04:13

10. Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) - 36:10:59