RALLY DU MAROC

STAGE 5, FES, MOROCCO

PAULO GONCALVES AND JOAQUIM RODRIGUES FINISH TOP 15 OVERALL.

Hero MotoSports Team Rally’s eventful campaign at the Rally Du Maroc also came to a successful completion today, as all the 3 riders crossed the finishing line, bringing another rally to the books for the team with a 100% arrival rate. With no pressure to fight for a position, exhibiting true sportsmanship, Paulo even let the top riders pass through so as to not influence their closely fought battle for the podium. He finished the stage at an easy pace in 20th place, while JRod finished in the 19th place. CS Santosh too, keeping it steady, brought it home in the 27th place.

At the end of these 5 gruelling days of racing, Hero MotoSports Team Rally managed to secure another Top 15 finish with Paulo on 13th and Joaquim Rodrigues on 15th place, while CS Santosh closed the rally on 24th place in the overall standings.

NOW, WE START GETTING READY FOR THE DAKAR.”
- PAULO GONCALVES

The sheer grit and perseverance showed by all the 3 riders in these long and exhausting stages will also be a big plus to build upon for the upcoming Dakar.

Happy to finish the Rally Du Maroc safely. It was quite a tricky rally for me as I committed a few navigation mistakes in the starting stages, compromising the chances of a top result. But the last 2 days were really good where I got back into my rhythm and could win a stage for my team. Today of course being the last day, I switched off my race mode and focused on bringing it home. It was a really good experience and training overall. Now, we start getting ready for the Dakar.

It’s a good feeling to have finished the Rally Du Maroc 2019. It has been a tough week for me since the beginning but a solid experience nonetheless. It was our last race before the Dakar so we wanted to get as much feedback for our bikes for the Dakar and we are all happy with how well the bikes have performed. So we take a bit of a rest now and then it’s time to focus on the Dakar.

Finally happy to have finished the rally today. It was a really tough rally with long stages and tough navigation and then we had the new roadbook system as well. Totally exhausted at the end of it but today was a good day for me. Made a good stage today, felt comfortable on the bike so I am happy with that. I finished all the rallies that I participated in this year so that’s a really good sign for me. I am making good progress heading into the Dakar. We’ll see you guys in Saudi Arabia next!

PROVISIONAL STANDINGS - STAGE 5

POS NAME TEAM TIMING
1Toby PriceRedBull KTM Factory Racing02h 13m 15s
2Joan Barreda Monster Energy Honda Team+02m 54s
3Luciano BenavidesRedBull KTM Factory Racing+03m 10s
19Joaquim RodriguesHero MotoSports Team Rally+14m 08s
20Paulo GoncalvesHero MotoSports Team Rally+15m 50s
21CS SantoshHero MotoSports Team Rally+29m 38s

OVERALL STANDINGS - STAGE 5

POS NAME TEAM TIMING
1Andrew ShortRockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing 18h 03m 54s
2Pablo QuintanillaRockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing +01m 21s
3Joan BarredaMonster Energy Honda Team+02m 44s
13Paulo GoncalvesHero MotoSports Team Rally+58m 24s
15Joaquim RodriguesHero MotoSports Team Rally+01h 06m 22s
24CS SantoshHero MotoSports Team Rally+04h 49m 03s