Dakar Rally racer Paulo Goncalves has died, following a crash in Stage 7.

So far, we have not learned many details of what happened. The Dakar organization had this to say:

“Paulo Goncalves, racing on motorbike no 8, 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. The entire Dakar caravan would like to extend its sincere condolences to his friends and family.“

Paulo Goncalves was 40 years old, a veteran of 13 Dakars, including several with Honda’s factory team. He was racing with the Hero factory team this year, displaying the same get-it-done grit that he’d always taken to the race, performing a mid-desert engine swap to stay in the event. Although he’d never won the event, Goncalves had been runner-up to Marc Coma in 2015, and had won the FIM’s 2013 Cross Country Rally championship. He was one of the most popular racers at Dakar no matter which team he was with, and will be missed by fans and competitors alike. CMG wishes to extend its condolences to his friends and family.

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