Morocco Rally: Paulo Goncalves Takes Over
Cycle News Staff | October 17, 2013
Paulo Goncalves rode his factory Honda CRF450 Rally to victory in today’s stage of the Morocco Rally with the win also propelling him in the overall lead after four stages.
The win was the second stage victory of the rally for Goncalves and the fourth for the factory Honda team.
“Today was a very important and long stage,” Goncalves said. “A lot of dust, rocks, fast track, but in the end it turned out well for me and for the Honda CRF450 Rally. I won the rally and we are in a great overall position. There’s two days left and you never know what is going to happen. We have to stay really focused.”
Goncalves beat Red Bull KTM’s Marc Coma by two minutes and 26 seconds. He leads Coma, who is third overall, by two minutes and 40 seconds in the overall standings. Goncalves’ teammate Joan Barreda is second overall, two minutes and 10 seconds behind after finishing seventh in today’s stage. Barreda lost his overall advantage today after struggling to find a hidden waypoint.
Team HRC’s Helder Rodrigues finished third in today’s stage and American Kurt Caselli was 10th on his Red Bull-backed KTM.
